all about New Kids on the block
Music merges generations unlike any other form of entertainment. It creates a symbiotic situation with an unspoken rule, "I'll borrow from yours and you can borrow from mine."
I love me some pop music AND I grew up in the 80s so of course I was at the NKOTBSB show at Philips Arena in Atlanta last night. I mean where else would I have been right? This was the perfect storm of pop. The only thing that would have made this better was if Debbie Gibson had opened up for them which might have resulted in a black hole of awesomeness opening up in downtown Atlanta and sucking all of us in attendance into some alternate universe of My Little Ponies, rainbows and tight choreography. I understand that most people have a love/hate relationship with this particular genre of music. If you hate it, why are you still reading? Go listen to Coldplay or something. If you love it then read on.
I attended this show with my younger sisters who are 27 and 30 now and were 8 and 11 when the NKOTB first captured their tiny little hearts. I’ll admit I used them as an excuse to listen to the infectious grooves back in the day when it wasn’t very cool to like them. Some of their friends attended the show with us, but one had to back out at the last minute. This person works for the Atlanta Childrens Hospital and we found out that both bands visited the children there earlier in the day so despite bailing on us at the last minute she still got to meet all the guys. We hate her. She is dead to me.
Our friend may have hob knobbed and canoodled with Danny, Donnie, Joe, John, Jordan, Nick, Brian, Howie and AJ but she didn’t get to see this awesome concert! The show opened with both groups doing a medley of NKTOB’s “Single” and BSB’s “The One” put to Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida“. The two songs together was a little clunky but it mostly worked. When the mix ended the BSB vanished and gave the stage to NKOTB for a while. I liked this back and forth action a lot, it gave the guys a chance to rest but provided the audience a non-stop show without those awkward video interludes we are forced to watch while the band changes clothes. When one groups’ mini-set ended the other group was usually already on stage and ready snap into action. It was crazy like Swayze!
The first section of the show was all dance with back to back showstoppers from each group that kept us on our feet including “Summertime“, “The Call“, “Dirty Dancing“, “Get Down“, “The Right Stuff” and “Larger Than Life“. The middle of the show was reserved for the ballads, and these guys have a lot of them. The ballad section is always nice because us old folks get to sit down and rest our weary feet. NKOTB warbled through “Didn’t I Blow Your Mind“, “Valentine Girl” which was never one of my favorites and “If You Go Away“. Then Joey McIntyre stepped forward into a lone spotlight for “Please Don’t Go Girl” and proved that even though his voice deepened quite a bit since puberty he can still kill that song dead with sexy.
BSB popped up after to lead us through their catalog of syrupy love songs like “Show Me The Meaning of Being Lonely” and “I’ll Never Break Your Heart” which they performed to four lucky quivering women whom they selected from the crowd. Nick Carter went above and beyond by venturing far out into the venue to select a lady from the back. Brave boy that Nick. They also did 2 of their lesser known tracks “10,000 Promises” and “Drowning” which is one of my faves. They ended their ballad set with “Incomplete” which is always a crowd pleaser. AJ really shines on that one.
When NKOTB came back they came back hard with “Step By Step” and the amazing “Cover Girl” which is a song that Donnie Wahlberg completely makes his bitch. He tore his tank top off halfway through it and revealed those famous Wahlberg family abs. Boy is looking good for 40ish. I’ve always loved that track and they blew the roof off the arena with it. I wondered for a sec if this was their finale since it was so big and loud and crazy but they kept on going with a medley of “Click Click Click“, “Games” and “My Favorite Girl“. It still wasn’t over though. The boys left the stage and wandered up to the first rows of the side sections to perform “Tonight“. Our section got to see Joey McIntyre up close and personal and he looked to be enjoying the shit out of it.
By this point I started thinking this show had to be over soon, I mean they had sung almost everything and it seemed like I had been screaming and dancing for three hours. Turns out it was just past my bedtime and the BSB had more in store for me yet. Their next set began with “Shape of My Heart” and had them entering from the rear portals…including ours…and singing to the lucky fans in the aisle seats. I worried that poor Nick Carter wouldn’t make it to the stage in one piece judging from the frenzied looks the soccer moms were giving him as they grabbed at his shirt. They then brought out the big hits with “As Long As You Love Me“, “All I Have to Give”, “If You Stay” and “Quit Playing Games with My Heart” which they mashed up with Prince’s “Raspberry Beret“. Talk about coming out of left field.
The show finally started winding down with NKOTB’s “I’ll be Loving You Forever” followed immediately by BSB’s massive hit “I Want it That Way“. Is there a bigger pop song from the 90s? Maybe “Baby One More Time” but I think “I Want it That Way” sold more copies. I could find out but I won’t bother. My friends who hate boy bands even like that song. The boys then joined forces for their new single “Don’t Turn Out the Lights” which I haven’t warmed too yet and no one listened because when it was over they did exactly that. The lights went out.
After the annoying pretense of “would they or won’t they” come out again and ten minutes of chanting “N K O T B S B” we got the big finale, “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)” and “Hangin Tough“. If you saw their big AMA performance earlier this year then you get the general idea of how this went. They had a little boy band battle for this one with NKOTB wearing Boston Celtics jerseys and the BSB wearing red ATL jerseys for hometown boy Brian Littrell. I really hoped they’d bust out a line or two from an NSYNC song here but they didn’t. Would have been perfect though to throw in a quick “Bye Bye Bye”. Oh well. When the lights finally DID got out…and the arena lights came on I was ready to pass out.
The truth here is that while this co-headlining tour was genius and great for the fans…the fact is that neither group is exactly filling arenas any more. The last time the BSB came through town they played Chastain Park which is an outdoor venue that at capacity seats less than 7000 people. The New Kids fare a little better thanks to their recent hit album and had no trouble filling Gwinnett Arena a few years back, which seats roughly 13,000 for concerts. Incidentally Lady Gaga played Gwinnetta Arena on her Monster Ball Tour and could have easily filled it twice. By combining their fan bases the boys of boybands past were able to almost fill Philips Arena which has a capacity of 21,000. The official word was that the place was sold out, but I saw a lot of empty seats. If it was sold out then a lot of people decided not to come. I should mention that the opening act, American Idol alum Jordin Sparks, put on a great little 5 song set of her big hits like “No Air“, “Battlefield” and “Tattoo” plus a new track “I Am Woman“. She sounds and looks amazing and had me actually wanting to get her cd when she left.
With the exception of the handfull of bored straight boys I saw staring blankly into the strobe lights silently praying for death as their girlfriends squealed and lactated on themselves I’d say everyone had a great time. The boys certainly delivered and unlike some other current pop stars I might mention also currently on tour actually sang for themselves for the entire two-plus hours. The only lull in the show was a terribly long bit where each band member introduced their counterpart from the other band. Bad Boy AJ introduced Donnie Wahlberg and so on. It drug on for way too long but I don’t think anyone left disappointed. If this show is coming through your town then GO SEE IT. It is well worth the money.
Source: http://www.accidentalsexiness.com/2011/06/23/nkotbsb-woos-atlanta/
It’s a familiar scene at any concert by Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus or the Jonas Brothers: scattered among the sea of screaming teens and tweens are their poor parents, sitting through the shrieks with their hands either covering their ears or clenching a cold beverage.
Some very different scenes played out at the New Kids on the Block/Backstreet Boys concert at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena Tuesday night: elementary school-aged kids sitting in their seats while mom and her friends made the aisles shake with their dance moves.
The nearly sold-out show proved there is indeed life for teen-pop stars after that inevitable fall from the top of the charts. And for these two acts, billed together as “NKOTBSB,” that life might actually be better than ever.
“Nashville! We love you too,” New Kids’ Donnie Wahlberg said after the house lights were turned up to illuminate those squealing fans, who were almost exclusively female and somewhere between the ages of 25 and 40.
Though both New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys were once synonymous with teen pop, teenagers are few and far between in these acts’ audiences today. It’s been a good 20 years since NKOTB’s pop heyday. The group broke up amid a backlash in 1994 — the year Justin Bieber was born — and didn’t reunite until 2008. The Backstreet Boys have remained in action for 18 years, but it’s been a good decade since their popular peak.
The merging of the two groups into NKOTBSB brings this tour its extra jolt of excitement, turning what could have been another nostalgia show into a supersized pop revue. The members of both acts all took the stage at once at the start of show, performing a mash-up of two of their more recent tunes to the backing of Coldplay’s “Viva la Vida.” From there, they became a non-stop musical tag team: NKOTB would wrap up “You Got It (The Right Stuff)” on one end of the stage, and the Backstreet Boys would magically appear on the other, launching into “Larger Than Life.” The energy didn’t wane until an extended interlude of ballads from both groups.
The ballads — particularly syrupy NKOTB slow jams like “Please Don’t Go Girl” — haven’t aged as well as their upbeat numbers. And now that all but one of the New Kids are in their 40s, those falsettos sound palpably challenging to nail. But the break gave the two groups a chance to pull some fans onstage to sit on stools for that inevitable one-on-one serenade. The fans had the chance to prove they’d grown up too, for the most part staying remarkably composed during the tunes — one casually snapped photos of Backstreet’s Nick Carter as he handed her a rose.
Then again, the crowd positively lost it when both acts ventured into the stands on separate occasions. With the help of bodyguards, the singers were all able to return to the stage without having their shirts ripped off. (Wahlberg handled his own shirt destruction, in a move that would have made his brother, the once famously shirt-shy “Marky” Mark Wahlberg, proud.)
Both bands got increasingly chatty as the night wore on, and between the profuse thank yous and introductions of each member, the Backstreet Boys proved to be very familiar with Music City. Nashville-area resident Nick Carter told the crowd he lived a short drive away, while A.J. McLean asked who wanted to meet up at local bar the Tin Roof. At the show’s end, when the groups donned Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic jerseys representing their cities of origin, Backstreet’s Brian Littrell instead wore the jersey of Tennessee Titan Rob Bironas.
Those last moments — which featured the two groups squaring off like some bizarre, boy-band version of West Side Story — packed the biggest thrills for fans. As NKOTB’s “Hangin’ Tough” blended with Backstreet’s “Everybody,” the room erupted in confetti, and soon both groups huddled in a circle/group hug like they’d just won the Super Bowl.
"I believe that we'll never be able to pay you back for everything you've given us over the last 25 years,” NKOTB’s Joey McIntyre told the audience that evening. Judging by the beams on their faces by evening’s end, he and his bandmates will likely be trying to return the favor to fans for years — maybe decades — to come.
From weekly fan club meetings to afternoons spent learning choreography from the latest videos, former boy band loyalists remain true to their crushes years after the posters came down from their bedroom walls. We asked some local boy band fans about their favorite memories, and here's some of what they had to say:
Sylvia Carrizales, 32: “The New Kids on the Block Hangin' Tough tour was my first concert experience. I was 10 or 11 years old so I attended with friends and our moms. I just remember thinking that every time Joe or Jordan looked out into the audience in our general direction that they were somehow looking and singing directly to me ... it took me a (long) while to part with some of my New Kids memorabilia, including the concert program from that day. I still have a New Kids' trading card, however. I had to keep something!”
Nora Frost, 30: “I still get goose bumps when I hear Christopher Cross' ‘Sailing,' which *NSYNC covered on their self-titled album, and (I still) tear up when I hear ‘Yo Te Voy A Amar' (‘This I Promise You'). I think that's why I liked *NSYNC so much. They were the bizarro Menudo 20 years too late. I fell for them in Spanish and they did not disappoint ... My friends and I performed choreography to *NSYNC's ‘Bye Bye Bye' at our senior party thanks to Darrin's Dance Grooves.”
Missy Schultze, 27: “My sister and I had all the T-shirts, posters, knew all the words to all the songs. New Kids on the Block was the band we were really into ...We had all the dolls ... I remember the one of Jordan — we thought he was the cutest. It had a rat tail and a red and white outfit ... We grew up in the whole *NSYNC/Backstreet Boys era, so every time they were in town we'd go see them ... When we found out (NKOTB and Backstreet Boys) were coming to town, we knew we had to go see them. I guess it never really goes away.”
(this image: Patricia Melton/for The Tennessean).
The nearly sold-out show proved there is indeed life for teen-pop stars after that inevitable fall from the top of the charts. And for these two acts, billed together as “NKOTBSB,” that life might actually be better than ever.
“Nashville! We love you too,” New Kids’ Donnie Wahlberg said after the house lights were turned up to illuminate those squealing fans, who were almost exclusively female and somewhere between the ages of 25 and 40.
Though both New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys were once synonymous with teen pop, teenagers are few and far between in these acts’ audiences today. It’s been a good 20 years since NKOTB’s pop heyday. The group broke up amid a backlash in 1994 — the year Justin Bieber was born — and didn’t reunite until 2008. The Backstreet Boys have remained in action for 18 years, but it’s been a good decade since their popular peak.
The merging of the two groups into NKOTBSB brings this tour its extra jolt of excitement, turning what could have been another nostalgia show into a supersized pop revue.
The members of both acts all took the stage at once at the start of show, performing a mash-up of two of their more recent tunes to the backing of Coldplay’s “Viva la Vida.” From there, they became a non-stop musical tag team: NKOTB would wrap up “You Got It (The Right Stuff)” on one end of the stage, and the Backstreet Boys would magically appear on the other, launching into “Larger Than Life.” The energy didn’t wane until an extended interlude of ballads from both groups.
The ballads — particularly syrupy NKOTB slow jams like “Please Don’t Go Girl” — haven’t aged as well as their upbeat numbers. And now that all but one of the New Kids are in their 40s, those falsettos sound palpably challenging to nail. But the break gave the two groups a chance to pull some fans onstage to sit on stools for that inevitable one-on-one serenade. The fans had the chance to prove they’d grown up too, for the most part staying remarkably composed during the tunes — one casually snapped photos of Backstreet’s Nick Carter as he handed her a rose.
Then again, the crowd positively lost it when both acts ventured into the stands on separate occasions. With the help of bodyguards, the singers were all able to return to the stage without having their shirts ripped off. (Wahlberg handled his own shirt destruction, in a move that would have made his brother, the once famously shirt-shy “Marky” Mark Wahlberg, proud.)
Both bands got increasingly chatty as the night wore on, and between the profuse thank yous and introductions of each member, the Backstreet Boys proved to be very familiar with Music City. Nashville-area resident Nick Carter told the crowd he lived a short drive away, while A.J. McLean asked who wanted to meet up at local bar the Tin Roof. At the show’s end, when the groups donned Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic jerseys representing their cities of origin, Backstreet’s Brian Littrell instead wore the jersey of Tennessee Titan Rob Bironas.
Those last moments — which featured the two groups squaring off like some bizarre, boy-band version of West Side Story — packed the biggest thrills for fans. As NKOTB’s “Hangin’ Tough” blended with Backstreet’s “Everybody,” the room erupted in confetti, and soon both groups huddled in a circle/group hug like they’d just won the Super Bowl.
"I believe that we'll never be able to pay you back for everything you've given us over the last 25 years,” NKOTB’s Joey McIntyre told the audience that evening. Judging by the beams on their faces by evening’s end, he and his bandmates will likely be trying to return the favor to fans for years — maybe decades — to come.
You know what’s even louder than the squeals of 15,000-plus 13-year-old girls?
The shrieking of 15,000-plus 35-year-old women.
At Wednesday’s NKOTBSB show – a boy band behemoth if there ever was one – the predominantly female audience howled, cried, clicked dozens of cell phone camera photos and joyfully wallowed in the 2 ½-hour nostalgia fiesta unfolding before them.
These types of novelty packages are always a risky proposition. Will fans still care about their teenage crushes 20 years later? Are those teenage crushes in decent enough physical and vocal shape to endure a lengthy tour? Was the music just a forgettable snapshot of a few years in pop culture or is it authentic in spirit?
The answers: Absolutely. Completely. Surprisingly so.
A decade separates the insane peaks of success for ‘80s hunks New Kids on the Block (Jordan and Jonathan Knight, Danny Wood, Joey McIntyre and Donnie Wahlberg) and ‘90s heartthrobs Backstreet Boys (Georgia resident Brian Littrell, Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, A.J. McLean and former member and non-tour participant Kevin Richardson). But, as evidenced at Philips Arena, the groups share a musical soul and a fan base that might squawk a little louder for one or the other, but is perfectly content in the presence of either.
This joint outing, which has been on the road about a month now, is a study in seamlessness.
With so many hits and personalities between the groups, it’s an impossibility to please everyone. But wow, did these guys try.
The show is a zesty production stocked with fireworks, fog, flood lights, air-launched streamers, hydraulic lifts bookending the stage and a nearly floor-length catwalk, and those essential elements of any boy band performance – synchronized choreography, soaring harmonies and songs about love, heartbreak and innocent lust.
Opening with a medley of NKOTB’s “Single” and BSB’s “The One,” with the melody of Coldplay “Viva La Vida” running beneath, the groups made it immediately apparent that the mission of the show would be, simply, to have fun.
It was a challenge that this crowd met six songs into the set when NKOTB broke into those patented sideways kicks while standing behind five mic stands for “You Got It (The Right Stuff).” The surging response actually caused the cement stairs to quiver from the excited bouncing of fans.
Every few songs, the groups would swap places on stage, with one team heading beneath the stage – where, Jordan Knight mentioned in a pre-show chat, he and the NKOTB guys are usually doing push-ups and weights while BSB performs.
It was well-organized musical chairs and gave the groups time for ballad segments that truly showcased their durable vocals.
Jordan Knight’s aching falsetto was as creamy as it was in 1989 as he sang their cover of The Delfonics’ “Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind)” and McIntyre’s convincing pleading during “Please Don’t Go Girl” – capped with a run-and-slide move on the catwalk – reminded fans of his Broadway pedigree.
Then it was BSB’s turn to woo the ladies, as the guys emerged in white suits to harmonize beautifully on “Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely” and “I’ll Never Break Your Heart,” which found them plucking some “Georgia peaches” from the crowd and serenading them on bended knee.
Throughout the show, some songs were dusted with slightly rougher edges provided by a tight four-piece band.
Obviously, it would look ridiculous for the macho Wahlberg to croon “Cover Girl” with its bubblegum perkiness of old, so it received a dose a rock guitar that better suited his persona. (Fans of the bad boy must have loved when he shredded his black tank top, superhero-style, to showcase the Wahlberg family abs.)
BSB, meanwhile, engaged in a spirited dance-off at the end of the still-lustrous “Quit Playing Games (With My Heart),” which dovetailed into a snippet of Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough.”
As gratifying as the show was as sheer entertainment – and this combo crew seems to genuinely enjoy each other’s company – it was almost more heartening to see these guys, many of whom have dealt with substance abuse, health problems and other success-related issues, pull it together for one of the most entertaining tours of the summer.
Opening the show was Jordin Sparks, the 2007 “American Idol” winner who is most definitely not that shy teen anymore. Now 21 with a Beyonce-worthy figure, which she highlighted in a short, black fringe dress, the powerhouse vocalist squeezed several hits into a 25-minute set.
Performing against three vertical video panels, Sparks sang, with a track backing her, a string of tunes including “No Air,” “One Step At a Time” and “Tattoo,” sprinkled with snippets of songs from Pink and Jessie J. She wrapped her set with the new “I Am Woman,” a feisty empowerment anthem with multi-generational appeal.
New Kids On The Block and the Backstreet Boys (NKOTBSB) performed Wednesday night night at sold out Philips Arena. The Backstreet Boys were formed by producer Lou Pearlman in Orlando in 1993 and have sold over 130 million records worldwide, making them the best-selling boy band of all time. According to Billboard, they are the first group since Sade to have their first seven albums reach the top 10 on the Billboard 200. New Kids on the Block (also initialized as NKOTB) were assembled in Boston in 1984 by producer Maurice Starr; they enjoyed success in the late 1980s and early 1990s and have sold 80 million records worldwide.
(Photo Credit: Robb D. Cohen/ www.robbsphotos.com)
New Kids on the Block
There is nothing more exhilarating than going to a concert where you know every word to every song. When it was announced that New Kids On The Block and Backstreet Boys were merging into supergroup, NKOTBSB, I just about lost it. When a press release went out that the NKOTBSB tour would stop in Nashville, I officially lost it.
I mean, the NKOTB reunion a few years back had me throwing bras on stage and taking bus trips to Vegas for a quick boy-band fix. I don’t even want to get into the stories I have from Backstreet’s glory days. Let’s just say this occasion marked my 17th BSB concert, not including Nick and AJ’s solo shows. BSB is my Phish.
My sister and I may have been ticketless upon drop off at the Bridgestone Arena, but at least we looked fierce! If there is any show I’m willing to spend big bucks on, it’s this one, but no need; some super nice folks hooked us up with extra tickets they had. We were in the venue before Jordin Sparks could finish “Battlefield.”
As the anticipation grew for the nine-man team’s grand entrance, I did a little fan-watching. Generations of women filled this place dressed in homemade shirts, crimped hair, neon colors, and buttons bigger than a baby’s head. It brought me back to my first NKOTB concert when I planned my outfit for months, asking mom if I could borrow her gold and pink sequined belt (which looked awesome with my way too tight stone-washed jeans, by the way). Sis and I decided to go the “groupie” route in attire for this event, which is also fun and complies with any decade’s fashion.
Backstreet Boys
The lights went down and a huge screen flashed pictures of each of our boys (well, men now), and the screams started. Attached to the stage was a long catwalk with another stage at the end that elevated for the audience in the higher levels. I read on the “Oh No They Didn’t” blog that Jordan Knight refers to it as the “penis stage,” because of its shape, which makes a whole lot of subliminal sense.
It was a conveyor belt of hot ass men making their way down the runway singing every song I resort to when I need an effortless pick me up. In fact, there was so much hotness going on, I didn’t know where to look. I felt like a cat trying to track down one of those red laser lights.
Donnie Wahlberg is clearly the main attraction of NKOTBSB. When all of the guys are on stage together, he leads and everyone feeds off his shadow. He may not have the best voice in the group, but his performance power and body more than compensate for it.
The Bad Boys: Donnie & AJ
It sounds like these concerts are an innocent strip club for women. Yes, these guys are nice to look at, and that’s a lot of the fun; but they were also the first boys we loved. They sang us through heartbreak and are the reason why the boys in school went from cooties to cuties. So really guys, you should be nicer to them.
The setlist was hit after hit and being the perfect age for this show (able to fully enjoy and participate in the success of both bands), I could mentally time travel throughout the show, and every memory was a happy one. That’s why I love them. I’m sure I cried my eyes out to a number of times to those songs, but all that ran through my head was happy times with friends.
Donnie F**KING Wahlberg
The pace of the show was great too. I thought there would be a lot more of the weird Coldplay/BSB/NKOTB mashup medley that happened at the beginning. There was some of that, which kept it new for those of us that have seen both bands before; but for the most part, it was each group switching off for a few numbers. Then, they’d all bust in together.
I didn’t know how NKOTBSB could top the Hangin’ Tough Boston Celtic-stylee finale, but they managed it. They mixed in “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)” and brought out BSB in Orlando jerseys. Other favorite moments included Danny coming into our section, the “Games” rap, anything and everything AJ, “Drowning,” and just seeing my boys again. What I would give to be one of those hookers 
that got pulled up on stage. *sigh*
Danny Wood is in there somewhere!
This “power in numbers” idea is really working out for NKOTBSB. It was a smart decision. You get fans of both bands coming out. They can take breaks in a show while keeping the energy up. They can mess up on a dance move and no one will notice – because there are NINE of them. They can dance less and do more serious statuesque poses and formations while maintaining the same impact on the crowd. I’m just so glad NKOTB didn’t choose *NSYNC. Yuck! Juuuust kidding…kind of.
Someone said that they felt the audience was Backstreet-heavy, which made me happy. Since NKOTB made their comeback, they’ve been getting a great response, but BSB started to fade a bit, losing our tall, dark, man-skirt-wearing Kevin along the way.
It’s nice to see that people are indeed “Keeping the Backstreet Pride Alive.” I selfishly didn’t do video fan reviews after this show, because I wanted to fully enjoy it, and not have to work. Plus, we needed to get to the Tin Roof, in hopes AJ’s after party announcement was legit. He never showed up, but over at McFadden’s the New Kids weren’t afraid to throw down. Should’ve known the Boston boys would be out and about. Dang it! Next time.
I’m hoping to do a little road trip next month and make up for the fan review video that I bailed on this time and to see all my boys again, of course.
If you’ve seen this tour, please comment with your thoughts and reviews, because when YOU TELL CONCERTS – it’s cooler!
Huge thanks to the super kind people that made this happen. Such a great night!
Last week I was roped into going to the NKTOBSB Concert at the United Center in Chicago. This was to be my 5-year-old daughter’s first concert and originally her mother, a huge New Kids on The Block fan, was supposed to take her. Well, life doesn’t always work out the way you think it should and she had to work. There was no way I was letting my daughter down. We had watched about a million videos on YouTube, and she had settled on “the one with the golden hair” as cute and thus her favorite, this was Nick Carter. What I couldn’t really explain to her was that the videos that we were watching were in some cases, 15 + years old, and people change. Honestly, I figured 8 middle-aged chubby guys lip syncing to a bunch of out-dated tunes is about the best she could hope for, but hey, she’s 5 and doesn’t know what it really should look like, so we should be good.
The audience turned out to be probably about 18,000 people. Me, my daughter, 7,000 girls under 18 with their 7,000 fat 40-year-old mothers, 3,000 other random girls and a decent representation of the gay community. I was not shocked by this, nor was I shocked by their dogged devotion. I was shocked by $40 t-shirts and $30 programs. Had I not just sold a bass, I wouldn’t have had the money to comply with my pleading daughter’s merch request (and request for $8 nachos and $6 pop… she’s hard to resist, what can I say?)
In the pre-show, a number of the guys had their solo videos playing. Honestly, all pretty solid. I was pleasantly surprised. The strangest one was A.J. McLean’s video, where he is apparently admitting to the world that he is into the Furry life-style. Who am I to judge? Just kind of shocking. I, unfortunately, knew exactly the message of that video because I spend way too much time learning about the weird side of everyone, the rest of the crowd figured it was some odd costumed routine and found it cute. So A.J. McLean is a Furry. I learned something new and felt justified for having gone.
An opener came on, Ashlyne Huff. I’m not sure where or why she is on this tour, but let me say this. Great vocals, looks like she’s 40 and there’s nothing wrong with that but then don’t act like you are 20, not great backup dancers and the worst part was the constant pushing of her album, twitter and whatever other new media whorish thing she had. She had a DJ who just kept screaming random commercials during the set. Irritating, and by looking at her digital properties and presence, it apparently is the main strategy that she’s chosen. Problem is, it’s old, annoying and ineffective. Sorry Ashlyne, I think you have great talent, but your management is horrible and have guided you down a transparently desperate path.
Then Jordin Sparks rolled on stage. She felt bigger than she was, did a fantastic job, but since I have no familiarity with her, I wasn’t sure who it was… felt like a big time guest spot. She was amazing vocally, ultra charismatic, wonderful smile and engaged the crowd in a big way. The last time I saw her, it was at her uncle’s tractor sales booth at a farm equipment convention… wish I was kidding about that but family is a bitch sometimes.
Just as I prepared my arteries for what I KNEW was going to be a phone-it-in cheese fest, NKOTBSB hit the stage. I could go on and on about this show, but I’ll keep it brief. They are pros. They sounded like pros, they looked like pros, they engaged and played the audience like pros. I have not seen a show like this, EVER, and I have been to a TON of shows. Having been to about 200 local shows in the past 3 months, this came as quite a shock to me. Even local acts have shown lack of passion as of late, and they certainly do not have their shit together. This show reminded me of the hard work, the preparation, the experience, the difference between making it and not making it. Say what you will about boy bands and “instant” fame, laugh at their costumes, their dance moves, their lyrics, whatever, but there is no way if you are in tune with the music industry and artists that you would have watched this show and thought they had some how taken the easy road.
They could have phoned it in. They could have just been the joke that everyone makes them out to be. But they were anything but that. They know who they are, they embraced their rolls and they weren’t letting anyone tell them that they were anything but amazing. They turned the hate into drive. They were skinny, ripped, in amazing shape, looked years younger. Their vocals were unreal. Sure there were a couple of pitchy parts, and yes, Donnie Wahlberg couldn’t carry a tune if you gave him a handbag, but he knew that and he had fun with it. Overall though, dead on vocals backed by an amazing live band and they CRUSHED every song. They were reliving the old days. They were playing to 80,000 people in an 18,000 people venue and it was glorious.
I found myself yelling a lot of “WOOOOOO” and cheering right along with my through-the-roof happy 5-year-old, jumping up and down with each opening bar of the greatest hits. I have not seen a band work this hard to entertain in years. They brought it like they had something to prove, like they were hungry, like they appreciated every single screaming mom wearing a “I Love Donnie” t-shirt from 1990 that wasn’t quite fitting any more. They sang, danced, had top-notch sound and production and rocked the house for more than 2 hours, never stopping, pulling out every concert trick in the book and it was nothing short of glorious. This coming from a guy who grew up in local punk music, a guy who was hanging in the alley with heroin addicts during shows while NKOTB and BSB were at their peak. I would have laughed had I seen one of those guys on fire in the street at that time, but then again, I was young and thought I understood what “real music” is.
Now I’m old, and I know that real music is what people deem it to be. It changes from person to person, from culture to culture and age to age. Pop is no worse than Zepp. I’ve come to appreciate the joy that all kinds of music brings people, and that’s why I do what I do.
So hats off to some of the hardest working guys in the music industry. You’ve certainly earned your stripes and MOTU wishes you continued success and hope that all artists stop and take a good look at what you have done, worked towards and sacrificed to end up where you are today. Thanks for helping put a huge smile on my daughter’s face and creating a memory that we’ll both remember for the rest of our lives.
http://www.motumanagement.com/?p=87#more-87
New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys bring their show to Houston on Saturday.
New Kids are now the elder statesmen, bubblegum forefathers who paved the way for Backstreet Boys, NSync, 98 Degrees and countless lesser acts. BSB, however, had a much longer run, buoyed by the teen-pop explosion of the mid/late-'90s that included Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera.
NKOTBSB's extensive summer tour, then, is pure nostalgia fluff. The voices and moves are still mostly intact (minus BSB member Kevin Richardson, who is no longer pursuing music). New Kids, however, seem to have held up better in recent TV performances. (Sorry, BSB groupies.) Here's how they stack up against each other:
Love at first sight: Not quite, actually. The group released its self-titled debut album in 1986, and it went nowhere. Two years later, the guys broke through with Please Don't Go Girl, featuring chirpy lead vocals from a then-teenage Joey McIntyre. It became a top 10 hit and ignited NKOTB-mania - dolls, lunchboxes, even a cartoon. The group's first album was eventually re-released and went on to sell 3 million copies.
Boy-band classic:I'll Be Loving You (Forever), Hangin' Tough and Step by Step all hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. But it's impossible to top the soulful bounce and confident vocal of You Got It (The Right Stuff).
Low point: The 1994 album Face the Music and its single Dirty Dawg were attempts at a more mature, urban sound. It didn't work because nobody was paying attention anymore.
Breakout member: Donnie Wahlberg wisely avoided any big attempts at a solo music career. Instead, he focused on acting and earned solid reviews for his work in The Sixth Sense, Band of Brothers, Blue Bloods and several of the Saw films.
Comeback: The 2008 album The Block was a nice rebound and boasted collaborations with Ne-Yo, Lady Gaga, Pussycat Dolls and New Edition. Summertime was a top 40 hit.
Squeal appeal: Impressively high, despite only three years of pop dominance. That's a lot of hysteria packed into a short amount of time.
Love at first sight: Despite all-American origins, BSB's first successes were in Europe, where they scored five hits before conquering U.S. radio with Quit Playing Games (With My Heart). Millennium, issued in 1999, sold more than 1 million copies in a single week. Altogether, BSB have sold more than 30 million albums.
Boy-band classic:I Want It That Way is still a lyrical mystery. ("I never wanna hear you say/I want it that way"?) But the midtempo groove and easy harmonies made it a pop classic.
Low point: Does anyone remember 2009's This Is Us? Because I don't, despite a top 10 debut. Seriously, where was I?
Breakout member: Nick Carter, but mostly for the wrong reasons, including struggles with drugs and alcohol, an arrest and that embarrassing E! reality show.
Comeback: NKOTBSB has put the Boys back on the pop map. So, technically, they have New Kids to thank for the resurgence.
Squeal appeal: Still high, even without Richardson. Backstreet's back, all right.
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Joey McIntyre joins the cast of Gary Marshalls' s movie " New Year's Eve"
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