Black Eyed Peas set to party at the Xcel

How did will.i.am, leader of the world's No. 1 party band, Black Eyed Peas, celebrate his 35th birthday this week?

"He likes to keep it really low key," said Taboo, the Peas' rapper/dancer/keyboardist. "He's not really the party type when it comes to his birthday. So there was no birthday party or big celebration."

Will.i.am a party pooper? No way.

"Every day is a celebration for us," Taboo declared. So will.i.am, thoughtful bandleader that he is, wanted to spend his birthday at home. With a daunting 100 concerts in 135 days, the Peas -- super-glam vocalist Fergie and rapper apl.de.ap round out the quartet -- scheduled four days of family time this week in Los Angeles.

Now that they are the biggest pop group on the planet, the Black Eyed Peas felt compelled to create the ultimate party in an arena. Their high-tech, futuristic spectacle at January's Grammys was just a glimpse into The E.N.D. World Tour.

"On our previous tours, it was just us onstage with our band and a lot of raw energy," said Taboo, who returned to the road Thursday en route to St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center on Monday.

"With this new album ["The E.N.D."], we wanted to give the Pea-bodies -- the fans -- an experience as opposed to just a show. Fergie said we need to look at people like Madonna and Michael Jackson and these artists that pushed the envelope with their stage performances."

"It's my moment to give people the awe factor," said the 34-year-old musician (Jaime Gomez, or "Jimmy" to his wife, Jaymie). "I've never been the attention-getter of Black Eyed Peas. Before I was the guy who used to stage-dive and go in the audience and make people bounce."

Every Pea-body knows that will.i.am (Will Adams) and Fergie (Stacy Ferguson) will get major moments at center stage on this tour. He's a rap star, and she's a pop star with a high-profile side career as a singer -- 2006's "The Dutchess" spawned six hits and sold 4 million copies -- and an actress. (Her turn in the recent movie musical "Nine" was well-received even though the film didn't get a 10 from any critic.) She will do some "Dutchess" favorites, with a possible assist from opening-act Ludacris.

Chemistry lesson

Each Pea has outside projects. Will.i.am made three solo CDs that went nowhere, but he has enjoyed tremendous success as a producer/songwriter with Rihanna, John Legend, Flo Rida, Estelle, Pussycat Dolls, Fergie and Michael Jackson; he also acted in the X-Men movie "Wolverine" and recorded the attention-grabbing "It's a New Day" after Barack Obama's election. Taboo has appeared in movies ("Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li" ) and has his own line of athletic shoes (with Jump Deluxe). Apl.de.ap (Allan Pineda Lindo) is heavily involved in his homeland of the Philippines, having recorded a song to promote tourism and supporting his own foundation to help children there.

Taboo feels the outside endeavors enhance, not hurt, the Black Eyed Peas. "The more notoriety each individual brings to the table, the bigger the brand becomes," he said.

Will.i.am: "Leader. Genius. Pioneer. Visionary. Character."

Fergie: "Superstar. Strong. Charisma. Creative. Unstoppable."

Apl.de.ap: "Athletic. Versatile. Lyrical. Heroic to the people of the Philippines. Amazing."

Taboo: "Showstopper. Dancer. Family man. Talented. Abstract."

The Peas' chemistry works, he says, because they are friends first and musical collaborators second.

As the Peas' sound evolved from street-flavored hip-hop to radio-conscious pop, their career took off with 2005's triple-platinum "Monkey Business" and the party-oriented hits "Don't Phunk With My Heart" and "My Humps." Last year the Peas exploded as America's top pop group with the Grammy-winning "The E.N.D." and back-to-back smash singles -- the electro-styled "Boom Boom Pow" and the eternally optimistic "I Gotta Feeling" -- that kept the quartet in the No. 1 slot on Billboard's Hot 100 for a record-setting 26 consecutive weeks. "The E.N.D." went to No. 1 in seven countries, and, last month "Imma Be," another electro-funk workout, became the CD's third chart-topping U.S. single.

Despite all the success, critics carp that the Black Eyed Peas play lowest-common-denominator global pop -- songs built around thumpingly catchy dance beats and generic slogan-like choruses.

How does Taboo respond to the criticism?

"No. 1 for 26 weeks, six Grammys, selling out arenas every night, over 35 million records sold, performing at the World Cup, shutting down Times Square [for a Samsung TV promotion]. Nobody has ever done that in the history of music. Need I say more?"