NKOTB Concert Recap: Step by Step Pt. 1

Last night was just another typical Monday. OH EXCEPT FOR WHEN ANNETTE AND I WENT TO THE NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK CONCERT!!! HEEEEEEYYY!!!

I realize there are some NKOTB haters out there and that’s fine. Just not sure we can be friends anymore. Let me just try and explain how big of a deal this was for me. Rewind 19 years, I was 12 and I, like the rest of the world LOVED New Kids On The Block. My BFF Heather and I had the posters adorning our walls, listened to their TAPES non stop while doing our mall bangs, and on Friday nights would rehearse our NKOTB dance moves. We each had our favorite New Kid, mine was Jordan (be still my heart) and Heather’s was Danny. We would spend hours comparing the 2 and discussing our deep, undying love for them. Sadly, we never got to see them in concert. Our parents just weren’t cool like that (no offense parents). Now fast forward to fall of 2008 when not only did I learn that my friend Annette was like the biggest NKOTB fan ever, and being slightly older than me was able to attend numerous NKOTB concerts back in the day, but also that the New Kids were reunited, had a new cd coming out, and were coming back out on tour. I can’t even express the joy I felt at these developments. Annette and I went to Omaha in November to see them and it was a surreal and nearly holy experience. I never thought I’d ever get to see them, let alone 20 years later. It was an amazing night that served to rekindle and deepen my love for the New Kids. And here we are again, just a few months later able to see them in OUR town. I think our excitement surpassed last time because this time we knew what to expect…complete and total awesomeness. Imagine a Beatles fan getting to see the Beatles together again in concert after 20 years of thinking you’d never see them again. New Kids On the Block are the modern day Beatles, end of story.

Here is part one of the step by step recap of the concert, including events leading up to AND following the concert. It’s a page turner, I assure you.

Step 1-Agonized for days about what to wear. You know, because the New Kids were sure to notice us in a crowd of thousands and we needed to dress to impress. Do we go 80’s look or do we go current? That was the dilemma. We decided on current just in case they decided they needed us to go on the road with them, they would know we were living in the present.

Step 2: Subjected GI Joe and the kids the night before the concert to listening to the latest New Kids CD and rehearsed my fantastic dance moves for them. Caught Blade humming a New Kids song which he denies. I am all about exposing them to the arts.

Step 3-Lost sleep night before concert because I was so darn excited.

Step 4-Declared day of concert, NKOTB Day and wished all of our coworkers/friends/family a Happy NKOTB Day and then had to explain 600 times that NKOTB stands for New Kids On The Block and that it was concert day!!!! Then dealt with the odd looks they gave us. Unfortunately, not many shared our enthusiasm. Whatever.

Step 5: Left work early because, let’s be honest, productivity wasn’t exactly high on NKOTB Day.

Step 6: Set up emergency plan in the event we went to jail, confirmed who to call for bail, etc. Hey, we go BIG or we don't go!

Step 7: Agonized some more over wardrobe as we were getting ready for the concert.

Step 8: Made a giant fluorescent pink sign that had to be smuggled in, rolled up inside the front of my shirt. Yes, I looked a little boxy but we were confident they wouldn't ask me to remove my shirt to check for a sign. I already had a grand story about the health problems I had and the oxygen tank I had to wear attached to my chest. I didn't have to use it though. So glad we learned our lesson at the last NKOTB concert when our sign was confiscated. Not this time suckers!!! By the way, we were one of the few who had a sign since everyone else’s was taken by Security. Ha! Ha! Gotta be smarter than Security that’s the name of the game. P.S. Donnie of NKOTB READ it. More on that later.

Step 9: Arrived downtown at venue to do drive by and recon of tour buses approximately 2 hrs prior to showtime. Saw lots of hoochie mamas lined up outside the fence by the buses to catch a glimpse. We were much too smart for that, we knew that the New Kids were probably already inside the building in their dressing rooms and would not be meeting the fans til after the show.

Step 10: Drove around downtown for a while to find a place to eat but gave up after not being able to find a parking spot and just decided to go the venue. I don’t know that we would’ve been able to eat anyway,…nerves.

Step 11: Took a gamble and went to the Will Call window and asked if our seats on the floor, right hand side, row 25, seats 9 & 10 could be upgraded. Nearly passed out when they said that they just happened to have on the floor, Row 15, CENTER, Seats 1 & 2, and proceeded to upgrade us.

Step 12: Had to breathe into a paper bag to keep from hyperventilating when we found our newly upgraded seats and saw just how close they were to the stage. It was so close people, that it was really hard to get all 5 of the New Kids in the picture because we weren’t back far enough!!!! I could hardly use my zoom lens. A terrible problem to have, yeah right.

And the concert hasn’t even started yet. Tune in tomorrow for Part 2.