First time was a great time...second time was a BLAST

From the lack of posts, you can all probably use your brain power to deduce that we have not done a single thing on McNest to warrant any sort of update. Sad – yes. However it has provided us with time to do other things that are equally as noteworthy. And by we – I mean me. One of those things being – a trip straight back to 1989. Kristen & I went to the New Kids on the Block show in Charlotte the other nite. That’s right. I said it. NKOTB. Otherwise known as the five hardest working guys in show business.

Kristen and I fall directly in with the New Kids fan demographic – that being 25-30 year old women who were all around the impressionable age of 10 years old when New Kids struck gold as a boy band. We were accompanied by a few other thousand 20-30 year old females who all wanted to hitch a ride back to a time when neon colors were all the rage, side ponies rocked the hair scene, and sweatshirts came off the shoulders .

I’ll guestimate that approximately 20 guys were in the crowd. Total. And no I’m not kidding. It really shouldn’t surprise anyone that so few males were in attendance – who can blame them though. Manly men probably don’t get any kind of thrill from watching the vintage choreographed smokin’ hot dance moves of five white guys from Boston singing to their girlfriends and wives. The lack of guys did provide an awesome benefit though. Most of the men’s bathrooms were changed to women’s for the nite. Only at a NKOTB show folks…

There were many groups of girls walking around with some trashtastic 80’s gear on…leggings…leg warmers…big tshirts…neon colors…and some even crimped their hair (I remember those days). I rolled my eyes at first and then I contemplated reworking my own outfit to fit in. Peer pressure – gets to ya everytime. I wasn’t the only one. By the end of the show Kristen’s hair was in a side pony and I think I threw out a “rad.” If the New Kids were trying to give us a blast to the past – Mission Accomplished. I was surprised that we weren’t handed a slap bracelet when we entered the arena.

I was trying to figure out what exactly to write about in this post. Do I tell you about the crazy time we had getting there – including getting lost in downtown Charlotte’s one way streets, pulling into a parking lot straight out of Poltergeist, voluntarily getting in a line of cars to go thru a license check, leaving my camera in Kristen’s car, and paying fifteen dollars to park (after spending six to get out of Poltergeist parking lot). Or do I tell you about how the song “Step by Step” changed my life. I decided to just do a stream of consciousness blog of my thoughts about the show.

Though I do remember being a big fan of the group when I was round about the age of 9, I wasn’t what you would call an uber fan. Sure – I had the sleeping bag, trading cards and the lunch box, but I didn’t have the dolls nor did I have ripped out pages of Tiger Beat covering every inch of my bedroom walls. But when I had no trouble at all remembering (and singing outloud) all of the words to Cover Girl after more than 15 years, I realized maybe I was more than just a big fan.

For five guys knockin on 40s door – the New Kids definitely were like some fine wine (from what I hear) – they only got better with time. Though I laughed at the silliness of being there with the dressed up crowd…I was fully committed to enjoying myself for at least a few hours. And I did. Though I may have regressed back to my 9 year old self during some highlights of the show (Tonight, Hanging Tough, You’ve Got the Right Stuff), it was such a fun time. What made the show even better was that the New Kids seemed like they genuinely were having a good time and were sincerely appreciative of the crowd that showed up.

One confusing part of the concert was some sort of video homage to people who have died since the last time New Kids were on tour. Some of their family members were listed but also Tupac, Biggie, Kurt Cobain, Heath Ledger. I guess it was a good idea in theory, but it was a bit of a mood killer if you want me to be honest with you. When you go from a spinning stage to that – it just confuses the crowd. They should have slowed us step by step…. Oh that was good and you know it.

And just like in the late 80’s the New Kids encouraged us to stay positive when they sang “Games.” Joey Mac and a small choir of black folks encouraged us to have high self esteem. Those of us who drove multiple hours to get there and who are closer to celebrating 30 than we’d like to admit really appreciated this attempt to distract us from our current reality of actually being at a New Kids On The Block show. Also just like times past, Jordan decided to sing his solo song with an artificial breeze from a wind machine blowing open his white shirt. Talk about cheese-tastic. But fun.

I am so glad Kristen invited me to go with her. I think only we could truly enjoy this experience together. Sending us straight back to a time when my bangs were teased, my socks were slouched, and life was pretty much only as difficult as my next social studies quiz. Thanks Kristen. So even though it was around 3am in the morning when we got back home…it was all worth it! Like they say in one of our favoritie movies…“That was the most fun”