Pastimes with a PellaPusher: I'll Be Loving Him Forever

NKOTB MixTape Tour

May 2019

Honda Center -- Anaheim, CA

Hollywood Bowl -- Hollywood, CA

Remember when I told y'all that the New Kids on the Block were basically my first band obsession? Like, "about to reach stalker status but in a nice way" obsession? Every now and then I forget about how nutso I was back in their heyday, and then when they say they're coming to down, the memory creeps back into my heart and my mind. It does not help that I haven't seen Rockapella since February of this year, nor did it help that drum corps craziness was still a month away at the time NKOTB returned to town.

This is another story about my never ending love for those 5 boys from Dorchester.

Tickets went on sale for NKOTB and KP agreed to go with me to the show at the Honda Ponda on Friday, May 24, 2019. I was very distracted at work as I tried to get the best seats possible without breaking our bank accounts. After I was successful, I told my co-worker, Sonya, about it. She thought that it would be fun, and I asked if she wanted to go to the show with me at the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday, May 26, 2019. She said she'd love to, and we bought tickets. So in one day, I had spent money on 4 tickets, and somehow I was still able to buy food for the rest of the month.

A couple of months went by. Sonya kept referring to NKOTB as the Backstreet Boys, and I threatened to take her ticket away (she confuses them all of the time). I'm glad I didn't take her ticket from her because it turned out that KP could not go to the concert due to family stuff. Sonya decided that she'd rather go to the Friday show at the Pond because of the threat of rain on Sunday, and we could go together after work. I put up my extra Sunday ticket on sale through the Ticketmaster app.

05/24/19

Sonya drove us through horrible traffic to the Honda Ponda, my nickname for the place. Thank goodness for Waze, because we got around 2 or 3 accidents, and still arrived before the doors opened. The lucky VIP folks were called over the PA to go meet the boys, and I was like, "Oh, well. I spend that kind of money on traveling to see Pella, so I totally get it." We got in line when they opened the doors, and had plenty of time to figure out what to eat. I wasn't crazy about the souvenirs, which saved me lots of money. I ended up with a cosmetic bag that looks like a mix tape for $10.00.

Our seats were in the section to the left of the performers, kind of close to the VIP section in our tier. It was a pretty good view, and we signed up for the special app for the show. Sonya's phone worked just fine, but mine needed patience before it finally worked. The app would give out a notification during the show, and indicate what we should do, like "turn on your light" for ballads. I like that they know people aren't going to put away their cell phones, so they might as well have fun with us. You could also take pictures and tweet them so that they would show on the board or somewhere on social media. The stage had a huge mix tape on it.

The warmup act was a DJ duo called Illtown Sluggaz. They had a teddy bear wielding a baseball bat. While this was going on, there was a commotion in the section below us, as a bunch of people walked in through the VIP entrance, and there was Donnie's mom! She brought her friend along; the one that's always saying how much she loves men. She's hilarious.

We were at a vantage point that allowed us to kinda see that stuff was going on underneath the stage, which was cool. So when they had the curtain up, I tried to get a look at the guys getting on the riser, but I didn't. It didn't matter, because there they were, all dressed in white and looking as handsome as ever.

The riser is the window of the mix tape

The stage was really cool, as they projected names of the songs they performed as if they were written on the tape, and the lighting from underneath the stage was fun because it changed so often with each song.

Some Right Stuff action for ya:

Flames!

Thank you, Stage Management,
for making it too hot for Jordan to wear
his outer shirt!

Then everyone on the floor went nuts as the guys got off of the stage and sang in the aisles.

Donnie

They made their way to the "B" stage at the other end of the stadium, and sang some more over there, which looked like a CD.

Danny breakdancing as the other guys rest

That left the "A" stage open for the next act. This mix tape thing was a great concept, and executed very well. Just like a mix tape, you don't save all of your favorites for last; instead, you jumble them around. So the guys got to rest while the next act took the stage, and we went crazy with every entrance.

The next act was Tiffany, whom sounded fantastic!

Tiffany!

See? It's her name, like on the album!

Next up on the "B" stage was Debbie Gibson, and she danced away as the turntable lifted her up.

Shake Your Love

Then NKOTB returned to sing to us, their Valentine Girls. The app had a cute thing with hearts, but I couldn't save it right in order to show y'all.

The loving continued with Joey singing the song he's sung for 30 years, "Please Don't Go Girl". We never will, Joe.

Then it was time for Salt N Pepa!!! They were great, and I loved all of the sexiness with the dancers.

Then our guys came back to the "B" stage, and it went up even higher.

Afterward, the guys somehow needed to get to the "A" stage, and went into the aisles of the audience again, and ohmygosh, Jordan went into the seating area!

He's the one in the middle,
wearing the sunglasses.

At this point, I got on the Ticketmaster app, and immediately took back the ticket I had put on sale. Thank goodness nobody had bought it, because I had just remembered that the Bowl seats were on the aisle, and there was no way I was going to let anyone get in my way if Jordan or any of the guys decided to walk up to our section.

Then he took off his jacket again. I am loving these costume changes. :)

Not to be outdone, Donnie took of his shirt, too.

Naughty By Nature took their turn on the stage after all of the naughtiness of Donnie gyrating during "Cover Girl".

You down with O.P.P.?

Debbie Gibson came back with her piano this time, and sang a few tunes. My favorite was when she sang "Lost In Your Eyes", and Joe joined her in a duet. It was awesomeness!

Salt N Pepa came back, too, and I was so excited to hear my favorite SnP song that this is the only picture I took.

I refrained from rapping aloud all of the
lyrics that I knew, except for "with a Denzel face."

They played a video of how NKOTB performed for Tiffany and she agreed to let them open for her in her mall tours. It ended with a very sweet Thank You. I almost cried.

Tiffany on the B Stage

Pardon me, my man is back on stage. I need to drool for a moment.

I'll Be Loving You Forever

Ahhh! Step By Step! Every time I hear this song, I think of me and my friend trying to figure out all of the solo voices as we played it over and over again when it was first released, because their voices had changed a bit since the album preceding it.

I love the transition from NKOTB's "Step By Step" to SnP's "Push It".

Then the boys came back with some Beantown crap to piss me off as usual, but it wasn't so bad to see them wearing Bruins gear. Now, if they had beat the Kings for that title, I might have been testy.

They're tired now.

Then all of the other performers joined them on the stage to celebrate, and more confetti rained down.

It took a long time for us to get out of the parking lot, and I bought a bootleg shirt because I liked it more than the ones inside. I also liked the price more. Sorry, guys.

Sonya brought me home, and the next day, I told my bestie about not giving up my other ticket for the Bowl. She agreed that I shouldn't let anyone else sit there.

05/26/19

Sunday came, and the forecast was rain. Lots of rain. But not for the entire night, but I was determined to be there no matter what, just to show my dedication to the guys. I took the shuttle from outside Griffith Park because there wasn't any shuttle from my normal place.

It was showering a little bit while I was wandering around outside the Bowl area, and looking over at the VIP Meet and Greet. I couldn't see the guys, but I saw the excited fans and had a little tinge of jealousy, but not crazy jealous like I would have been 30 years ago. I chalked it up to age.

While we were waiting in the line for the gates to open, a downpour came. I wasn't really in a good position to pull out my poncho, so I put my hood on over my hat. I don't know why people wear those jackets with the furry lining around the hood when it rains, because they just looked like drowned animals. The downpour started to dissipate when I finally got through the gate, but I went to the restroom and put on my poncho anyway before going to my seat.

Poncho status: ON

There were people in my seats. I told them so. They moved to the ones behind me and explained that they had gotten seats for $20 way up high in another section, which they had bought from some guy who won a radio contest and didn't want them. They kindly took my picture for me.

I wore this for maybe 2 songs.

But when people came to those seats and they kept getting kicked out, they asked if I thought the two of them could just share my extra seat. I said no, and they frowned at me. Look, ladies. You told me that you paid $20 each and want to sit in seats that cost me almost 10 times that much?!?! I don't freaking think so. I also didn't think they were really real NKOTB fans from their conversation to each other, so I didn't think they deserved to be there. A guy was seated in the seat next to my empty one, and he said that when he bought his ticket, he hoped that we would be right by the B stage, but it was about 2 sections to the left. I pointed out to him that they could still choose to go to the area in front of us because they could just climb up there. We are hopeful fans, yes, we are.

The Teddy Bear is the DJ

The B stage at the Bowl was much smaller, and not shaped like a CD, and did not go up and down, nor did the A stage go up and down, so I was glad that I attended both venues.

B Stage in the middle of the picture

I can see the pictures head on now!

Since this stage is smaller than they're used to, they walked onto the divider between the pit and the box seats and performed some songs there.

Then it was Block Party time!

I had seen the security guards stop people from coming down the steps next to me, so I knew they would be nearby soon.

Very blurry picture of Donnie
at the top of the steps.

It doesn't matter that it's been 30 years. I was still giddy like I was back then. Look at how much closer they were to me than the previous show! I used my phone camera's zoom for these pics.

Danny, Jordan, and Donnie

Donnie and Jon

Then Tiffany was on the A stage. Hi, Tiffany!

Also, Salt n Pepa.

Then I saw that the guys were being led back to the B Stage through the corridor on the left. The people seated to the right of the guy I had been talking to hurried over to the section to my left so that they could get better pictures, thus making me have crappy ones. This is the moment that my phone decided to betray me by uploading pictures to the cloud instead of letting me take pictures.

"Tonight"

This is also the time that Donnie came over to the area right where I told the guy that they would go!!! I screamed at my phone for its non-help, and Donnie moved away. But who should come up behind him but Jordan! Seriously, folks, he wasn't even 10 feet away from me, but my camera wouldn't take the damn pictures for what seemed like forever.

Then he stepped onto the back of the benches and was standing on the bench in my row!!! He was right where those other people had left to get pictures at the B stage. The guy graciously told me to "Get over there!" So I did.

There was Jordan, right next to me, taking selfies with other people, and I couldn't get an angle so that we could share a picture together. Right. Freaking. Next. To. Me!!!!!

These pictures were not with zoom.

This is the closest I got to Jordan Knight

Then, THEN!!! He needed to get back over to the makeshift stage where he was before, and he used my shoulder to lean on so that he could get there.

That's right, folks. Jordan Knight, my favorite New Kid, touched me voluntarily.

I can die happy now.

I helped him (of COURSE I helped him!) get back to his place, and I went back to mine because he was singing again and taking selfies with people who ran over to the area in front of me.

Then I texted a bunch of my friends to tell them that Jordan Knight had just touched me and that I might die now. They were very happy for fangirl Sherry. I even told the guy next to me, and he said, "I know! I saw that!!"

I tried not to completely lose my mind as I watched the rest of the show. I really like when Joe gives a shout-out to his bandmates during "Please Don't Go Girl", after he's told us that he's been singing this song for 30 years.