NKOTB!

Well, it happened. It was last night. What can I possibly say? Where can I possibly start? I still can't wipe the grin off my face, and I am dead-dog, bone-weary exhausted. So tired, in fact, that I just had to re-type exhausted 3 times before spelling it correctly.

Let me just say this:

They've still got it. 150% have they got it. In fact, I would be willing to say it was better than when I saw them in the heyday of their youth. The heyday of my youth. Which in an instant, I regained last night for two glorious hours. From the moment I walked into the Verizon Center last night, 18 years fell away, and I felt 15 again.

It wound up being just the 3 of us: me, my hubby, and my sister. Melissa had to cancel last minute, Jacalyn wasn't sure about going (due to getting up there and back) so told me I could ask Lucas if he wanted to go, which he did, but then cancelled last minute due to insanity in the Senate. We got inside via the handicapped accessible doors and went to guest services to see about handicapped accessible seating. We got 2 accessible seats at street level, which was 1 level down from where our tickets were, so Judy had to sit solo up in our normal seats, unfortunately, but I think she was about twice as close to the stage and she said the seats were very, very good, so she had no complaints. The General and I were in section 104, directly straight back from the stage. We found our seats and I was sitting next to a girl my age who was gleefully expectant, as was I. She was with her friend, and the two of them were going to burst.

After I got the General settled, I went back outside and bought a program. And in perusing the various concert programs I have here and how much I have paid for them ($20-35), I have to say, this one was worth the money. Very heavy, lots of good stuff in it, excellent. I perused the merchandise table, and I was tempted to go on a little shopping spree, but I restrained myself due to the fact that our mortgage is due.

There was an opening act wherein the General and I had a panic attack because we heard what we thought was "Cobie" as in that chick who sings the song about "Starts in my toes, makes me wrinkle my nose" which we both HATE. Instead, some dweeby little dude strolls out on stage with 2 homeboys and they start singing and dancing, and they pretty much sucked. The girls next to me were cracking up as I said, "Well, at least we're not up front and we don't have to pretend we're interested." Finally he left the stage, mercifully only after 3 or 4 songs.

Now, about 3 months ago, I came to the conclusion that I needed to break out of my rut and start listening to the music "the young people are listening to these days", so I started trying to find a station that wasn't too namby pamby, but wasn't too edgy either. In Fredericksburg, your choice is B101.5. I have, after listening to them for 3 months, come to the conclusion that they have purchased approximately 10 songs and they just loop them. However, this stood me in good stead last night with opening act number 2: Natasha Bedingfield. I actually knew 2 of her songs. And I have to say, she was really very good. I enjoyed her a lot.

Well, she sang 7 or 8 songs and then got off the stage. The girl next to me said she had heard rumors that NKOTB wasn't going to take the stage will 9:50, which gave me a few flashbacks to the Magic Summer Tour in 1991 (I think) when I saw them in concert and Dick Scott in his wisdom decided to pimp his products before his most successful product and NKOTB had 5 opening acts. So, I can say I have seen Perfect Gentlemen in concert, but when you tell most people that, they think "Um, who the hell is Perfect Gentlemen?" On the plus side, I also got to see Tommy Page in concert, and prior to parting ways, Judy and I shared a little "Wouldn't it be awesome if Tommy Page opened for them again?" But 'twas not meant to be.

And good thing too. For I was not in the mood. I was ready to see New Kids. And I suspect the others there were ready to see New Kids. The audience was 99% female and 99% in their 30's. Most of the men there had beer. :-)

Well, at 9:00pm on the dot, everyone was in there seats, and it was show time. Thank God we did not have to wait another hour beyond that. And it was pandemonium. From the minute the little video show went up on the screen for the next 2 1/2 hours, I relived my youth. I was on my feet with everyone else, and we were all screaming, clapping, dancing, and singing at the House of the Block.

And let me tell you: they have not lost their touch. They have only gotten better. 150% showmanship, 150% fun, 150% music and sound, 150% gorgeous. If anything, they're all better-looking. I got a message from one of the girls in my book club who attended and she summed it up thusly:

OMG that concert was AWESOME. I went bat sh*t crazy when Jordan had his shirt off.

Yeah, me too, and I was not even a Jordan Girl, I was a Jon Girl.

Now, about a decade ago, probably even a bit more, my sister and I took my dad to see The Beach Boys, who were giving a concert in Watertown, NY to support D.A.V. (they must have owed someone a BIG favor). And I remember watching my dad dance around and sing and clap and thinking, "Gee, Dad's back in the '60's." And afterwards, my dad said, "Well, you can tell they're getting old, they stand there and sing and they let the hot chicks do all the dancing."

If I had one quibble with the concert it was that NKOTB had hot chicks doing some of the dancing. Let's be frank here, Jon is the oldest and he ain't turning 40 till next November (no, I did not have to look that up--pathetic). They are all in terrific shape. They did not need hot chicks dancing up there. But I didn't really care about that either. It was petty niggling.

The really moving part in the concert was when they all got back to the main stage and I thought sure they were going to do Step By Step, since they were all lined up on a staircase, but instead Donnie came down and he was preparing to make a little speech, but instead we all started screaming and he couldn't really say much. After 2 or 3 minutes of this, he started speaking about how people have been saying "Thank you" to them, and then we all started screaming again, and then he actually started to look choked up. Finally he just put his hand over his mouth and ducked beneath his Celtics cap for a bit. I know, I know, he's an actor, it could have been a charade, but I really don't think so. It appeared to be genuine emotion. I would imagine that the whole lot of them are probably somewhat surprised that this comeback has worked out so well--I was on their tour page this morning and they have dates scheduled all across the US, Mexico, Canada, and Europe. (Including Providence, which I could go to and stay with my in-laws, and Connecticut, which I could go to and stay with my uncle.)

Anyway, they wound up doing two encores--the first being Step By Step and the second being Hanging Tough, and the place was really going wild. It was unbelievable. The screaming, I haven't heard screaming like that since I saw them the first time--and I was just as guilty of screaming as anyone else. In fact, it is now 3:00 and my throat is only just starting to feel better.

It was magic. What a night. This morning, I ordered their new CD off Amazon, plus one of their old ones, which was only $4. If they do the tour again, I'll be there. I've got "I'll Be Loving You Forever" stuck in my head. Judy was impressed Jordan could still hit those notes and we were both impressed at Joe's improved stage presence (now that he's not 14 any more, plus he had Dancing With the Stars to help him out--and he did some dancing on stage last night which was GREAT).

So there it is. I took a few pictures and shot a little video, but I'm speculating they didn't come out that great. We'll have to see. If they're worth anything, I'll post 'em later.

Blockily yours,
K/S

PS: WW Thought: How many AP's do I get for dancing for 150 minutes?