New Kids on the Block
Sunday, October 19, 2008
American Airlines Center -- Dallas, TX
Several months ago, when the New Kids on the Block announced that they would be returning for a reunion tour, I went nuts with anticipation. I hadn't seen them in almost 2 decades, and I was hanging out with my friend Mercedes back then. We were as crazy as our younger counterpart fans, but more convinced that we would be wed to a New Kid someday, because we were more mature and yet still young enough for them to be attracted to us. We sent fan mail. We sent fan videos. We sent fan care packages. Did I tell you that they were my first quintet love? Wow. Jordan was my favorite, and Donnie was Merc's. We spent a lot of money back then. And now here I am in 2008, again feeling that craziness about my New Kids. I've lost touch with Merc, but she's been in my thoughts pretty much every time I think of seeing NKOTB.
Angela had been a fan back then, too, but she wasn't as nutso as me, and we weren't hanging out with each other at the time. When she heard that the New Kids would be back, though, she wanted to go with me. So I decided to go to Dallas to watch them with her, since we knew that she'd have a new baby by then and wouldn't be able to come to So Cal.
I flew to Dallas on a very early flight, so that I could have time to check into the hotel and get dressed. Angela came to the hotel a couple of hours early, with baby and boyfriend Ryan in tow. This was my first chance to meet both of the guys, and I'm happy to say that Ryan is every bit as nice as he was on our telephone chats. He also seems to be a very loving dad, and treats Angela well, so I've got very positive feelings that my friend has found a wonderful man to be the father of her child. Tyler is cute as cute can be. He's got the chubby face going on, and he was very willing to let me carry him around the hotel room. We set the guys up so that they could be comfortable in the room while we were at the concert.
Angela and I went to the AAC, and parked in the prepaid lot, which was right across the street from the arena. We approached the souvenir stand and were overwhelmed by the amount of merchandise. I ended up getting a tank top for which the proceeds go to Breast Cancer research, as Danny's mom died from the disease. I also bought a pink hooded zip-up sweatshirt with a silhouette of the guys. I didn't really feel like having a shirt with all of their faces on it as I like to be more subtle. I also bought a hugigant button of Joe McIntyre to give to my Pella friend Wendy, so that she could vicariously go through her NKOTB obsession again. Angela got a really cute onesie for Tyler, which had blue baby footprints on it with the words "Step By Step" on it. She worried that Ryan would think it would be too girly, but I said that the footprints were blue, so he shouldn't have a problem with it. (He didn't).
Our seats were facing the stage, about 10 rows up in the stands at the opposite side of the arena from the stage. They were in the center of our section, which was nice. I was overwhelmed by the amount of people that were there, because I haven't been to a concert in this big of a venue in quite awhile.
The opening act was some chick that called herself the "Jamaican Princess." She wore a really short tutu-like skirt that, while gyrating/squatting/dancing, enabled everyone to see her underwear, and when she turned around, I was subjected to looking at her butt on the big screen. I didn't much care for her singing or dancing. Or wardrobe, for that matter.
The second act was Natasha Bedingfield, whom I've loved ever since I saw her on the Ellen Degeneres show. She's got quite the voice, which is even better experienced in a live setting. After one of the songs that didn't get much response, she said, "Oh, I guess you didn't like that one much, so how about a little of this:" and she sang a little bit of her first hit single "Unwritten" a cappella. The gal next to me sang along with much of the music, which didn't bother me in this setting, especially because she had a good voice herself. I loved hearing "Unwritten" (the full song) live. That was my theme song last year, and had every bit of Girl Power attitude that I needed to hear whenever I was down or happy or girly or whatever mood I had at the moment. Natasha plain sang her butt off. Great, great job. I need her new CD. She said she'd be in Section 109 if people wanted her to sign her CD later. Cool! We didn't go down there, though.
The energy in the stadium was amazing. After all, we had all waited a long time to see our guys again. It wasn't just me that had been waiting (or thinking I'd never see them together again). We were all there, about to witness what we had been waiting for since NKOTB made their announcement on the Today Show. They had a text contest for people to enter to win seats in the first row for a few songs. We couldn't read the numbers from all the way in the back, which is kinda stupid if these are the people who should actually win such a prize. Oh well.
The lights went out and the crowd went apeshit. LCD screens from digital cameras glowed and lit up the arena. Then Joey Mac started to sing the first notes of "Single," and the crowd went wild. I could not stop screaming. I was so incredulous that tears started to well up in my eyes. The boys were back, and I couldn't believe it. Oh, and when I heard/saw Jordan, I screamed even louder. They all looked great. All of them have kids of their own now, 4 of them still married, with leader Donnie acting just like Donnie always had. They were all in their own styles of black clothing, with Donnie wearing a baseball cap with the Boston "B", as we all remembered him. Oh, and now they also have 5 female dancers on stage, too. I wasn't much interested in them, but they did add to certain aspects of the show.
I really liked the way that the last notes of "Single" morphed into the first notes of "My Favorite Girl." The crowd went wild with this old school song, as they would throughout the evening. Then they sang "The Right Stuff," and I "oh oh oh-oh"d like nobody's business. The big board behind them and on the sides showed clips of their old videos when they were, like, 14. What a trip back to the past.
For the second segment, they were all dressed in suits, with fedoras. I knew at that instant that it must have something to do with Joe since he was the big Sinatra fan. They sang "Didn't I Blow Your Mind", "Valentine Girl" and then, of course, I was right: "Please Don't Go Girl." Joe may not sing as high as he used to, but he sounds great. It was really cool to see him take off his jacket and hang it on his mic stand, which he did with his hat as well, so that he could get into his signature song.
They then showed that the next song would be featuring Nicole Scherzinger from The Pussycat Dolls. They showed video of her singing her part of "Grown Man" while the guys sang/rapped along. It's interesting to see how sexy they're all allowed to be now that their fan base has matured. They performed "No More Games," which included audience participation in the Oh-Ee-Ohs. They showed clips of the different Boston teams, which irked me when they showed the Celtics. Paul Pierce even did some special footage for them, which is cool of him, even though he plays for the Lakers' rivals. The song also included a portion of Danny breakdancing. As soon as I had seen Danny walk out in the black track jacket I had been eyeing, I decided to buy the jacket when they would get back to L.A. I had already spent enough money just to get to Dallas, after all. They ended the segment with "If You Go Away," wherein they honored some people that had passed away, including Heath Ledger, their former manager Dick Scott, and Danny's mother, Betty.
The next segment opened on our side of the arena, with a piano on a little revolving stage, with the guys singing "2 in the Morning." The fans in the seats beside the stage were close enough to touch the guys, and Donnie even took someone's camera to shoot some pictures before giving it back to them. I was way envious of the people in those seats, yet still happy that the guys were closer for us to see them. They stayed there and sang "Dirty Dancing," with one of the dancers doing sexy dancing on top of the piano. I liked the grin on Jon's face as he watched her dance. She was wearing the tank top that was the same as the one I bought, and Danny thanked everyone for buying it.
Before going back to the regular stage, they sang "Tonight," which was a song that was written for the fans on the "Step By Step" CD, so we all sang it. During this song, they walked back to the front, and then Jon held a videocamera and got shots of different audience members for some "face time."
They started the next segment with "Twisted" from the new CD. After the singing portion, Joe had a pas-de-deux with one of the dancers, and it was really cool to watch him dance that way. Shows that his training for musicals is still going strong. Then came something that was my favorite part back in the heyday: Jordan singing "Baby, I Believe In You." This is my favorite Jordan song, and one day when I meet him, I will sing it in harmony with him. OK, back to reality, Sherry. There he was on the highest point of the stage, wearing a white shirt. Unbuttoned. With wind blowing. So, like, there's his naked chest in all its beautiful glory. WOW. Thank God for Big Screens, is all I can say to you. Then he buttoned up, which made me a little sad, and sang "Give It To You," from his solo album. How cool is that when they can share their solo stuff, too? Love it. Then Joe came back on stage and sang "Stay the Same" from his own solo CD. He sang that song better than I'd ever heard it before, including on the CD. Oh, Joe, how much you've grown! Nice. Then there was Donnie, looking for a "Cover Girl," playing on a guitar. Yeah, actually playing it. I don't remember that happening a long time ago, but he did a great job. He did give us a little glimpse of his underwear, too. Thanks!
The next segment opened with the screen showing the word "Forever" translated in different languages, and then the lights showed the guys all sitting on stools on the second level of the stage, dressed all in white, as they sang their first number one single, "I'll Be Loving You Forever." I grinned as I pictured Merc playing an imaginary piano whenever they played the intro. I wished that she was there with me. But I was in Dallas, and she still lives in CA, I think. When they all came down the stairs, I felt like Jordan was wearing thermal underwear due to the style of his clothing. They sang "Click Click Click," which ends with a freeze frame of the guys all posing. We were honored that Danny actually changed his pose for this show. Joe did the commentary on each guy's pose. He was really cute, and I think he actually won because he had his back to us, and bent over so that we could all see his smile upside-down, while also seeing that butt of his. Thanks to you, too! They then sang their first comeback hit, "Summertime."
They changed into silver outfits for "Step By Step," and they had the audience sing all of the individual steps. I wished, though, that we could have heard the guys sing the steps, because I would have liked to hear Jon and Danny sing by themselves, if only for a few words.
The audience then sang the "oh"s from the song that we hadn't heard yet. Then the guys took the stage wearing Boston Celtics jerseys with their own names on them, as the Boston teams were again shown on the big screen, as they sang "Hangin' Tough." zthey introduced their dancers, and their instrumentalists, who all happened to be from Texas. So do they get a new band everywhere they go?
I was really hyper from the whole NKOTB experience, and couldn't believe that it had just happened. Angela and I had a great time seeing each other, if only for that evening, since I had to take an emergency flight back home. At least I still had the concert in L.A. to which I culd look forward.
Getting on to the plane in Dallas, I saw that the girl in front of me in line was wearing the black track jacket. I tapped her on the shoulder and said, "I was at that concert last night, too!" She said that she had been to the San Diego show and thought about the jacket, then decided to get it when she got to Dallas to see them again with her best friend. Ah, a kindred spirit. She told me to go to Wal-Mart to get the special NKOTB magazine that was just released. So in all of the errands that I needed to do when I got home, I included that one, and got my special edition magazine not at Wal-Mart (they didn't have them), but at the Arcadia Newsstand, which is the place where Merc and I used to go to stock up on Bop and Tiger Beat and all of those teen magazines that had NKOTB on the cover back in the old days.
The Block is Back, baby!
That was a cool write-up that I really enjoyed, even though I knew almost nothing of which you wrote! But I could definitely see your excitement. Glad you had a great time!
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