The Best Concert I’ve Ever Seen
When the New Kids reunited in 2008, they started a tour that
lasted through July of 2009. At
the time, no one knew what was going to happen after the tour – whether they
would continue to record, or tour, or if that was it for them. Their last show was in Houston on July
18th, and, since I thought it could be their last show ever, I felt
like I needed to be there. So I
went, and it was, hands down, the best concert I’ve ever been to in my life. (Yes – including U2! Keep reading.)
After they sing “I’ll Be Loving You Forever,” they take a
bow, and pause, and it kind of spurs on extra cheering. It’s a little bit of theater, and of
course it always works, because we start cheering more loudly. But at this show, since we thought it
might be the last time we’d be together, we all started SCREAMING. It was so loud that I could physically
feel the sound vibrating against me.
And this was at an outdoor arena, so I can’t imagine what it would have
sounded like if we were indoors.
We screamed for 5 straight minutes. It was the most amazing feeling.
And as we’re screaming, the guys and all of us started
getting emotional. And that made
us scream even more. And someone
gives Donnie a box of tissues, and he passes them around, and the guys group
hugged, and we’re still screaming and crying. I don’t know how I didn’t blow out a vocal cord.
Donnie said some really lovely things about how special it
was that, after all those years apart, we all came back together. Since we’re in Texas, he yells, “The
State of this Union is STRONG!” He
said how great it was that all of the crazy teenage girls who loved them grew
up to have families and careers, and be awesome people. Here’s a not-great-quality and
super-embarrassing-for-them video of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhaKInlYF84
This video is a montage of the song and part of the
lovefest, including Jordan’s sweet dedication at the beginning. Some fans had organized a candle
lighting and holding up “Thank You” signs thing at the end of the song
(explained in the video), which didn’t work out quite the way it was supposed
to, but what happened was better.
I think we all got too carried away to remember the candles and signs! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jqASqWqgzU
(Just a note – the woman to whom the video is dedicated,
Jacquelyn Hutchison, is a fan who had a terminal illness and who was at the Houston
show. She passed away shortly
after the show, so it was really special for her to be able to see them one
last time.)
I know I gush when I talk about them, but I really feel
fortunate that we’re all back together. And it’s totally cheesy to be moved by
some silly loves songs, but that’s what music does – it makes us happy. And having a relationship with the
artists who create that music is incredible. The love they feel for their fans is genuine. I even wrote a little essay about the
my crazy fandom, part of which is featured in the book “New Kids on the Block:
Five Brothers and a Million Sisters,” by a great gal named Nikki Van Noy. My name is in the index between “Fenway
Park Concert” and “Flava Flav,” so that might be my highest achievement in life
J
Thankfully, they’ve said that as long as we keep showing up,
they’ll be there. So we might all
be in our 80s and 90s, rockin’ out in our wheelchairs!
I’ve made new friends, and bonded with many existing friends
over our love of these men. There
are a surprisingly large number of U2 fans who were NKOTB fans back in the
day! I call U2 my “grown-up” boy
band, because I have basically the same reaction to both groups. And funnily enough, for the past two U2
tours, there has been an NKOTB tour happening around the same time. So this summer will be Round 2 of the
Boy Band Extravaganza!
#YearlongMixtape
#TeenIdolsWeek
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