The Day I Blog About New Kids on the Block

Hangin' tough!

Yes, this is your second New Kids on the Block related post within a week! I'm sorry. You're welcome. When I posted about them last week I got so many comments and e-mails professing others love of all things boy band so I thought I'd share a little more about my NKOTB love with you.

Growing up I was a typical New Kids fan. I loved them so much, proudly wore my t-shirt to school with Joey McIntyre's face sprawled across the front, and spent my afternoons watching their appearance on Oprah over and over and over again. Their tapes were on constant replay in my purple boom box and my best friend and I would annoy call the radio stations and relentlessly beg them to play songs from "the 5 hardest working kids in show business." Yes, I was that girl.

My first concert was a New Kids concert and it was on July 26... such a significant day in my childhood that I still remember the date. I brought a white stuffed monkey to give to Jon (Joey was old news by then), absolutely positive that I'd stand apart from the other thousands of girls with their teddy bears.

Growing up in Southern Maine I was only a measly two hours from their home in Boston, but that never occurred to me... as far as I was concerned, they were a whole world away. There was no Twitter to stalk their every move, just Bop and Big Bopper magazines to buy at the grocery store every week. I never got to sit in the audience when they were on talk shows (damn Oprah!) and I never got to go backstage to meet them but it didn't matter... I loved them and they were very much a part of my childhood. That was until a classmate stabbed me in the stomach with a pencil one day for wearing their t-shirt to class with my red corduroys... when that happened, I figured it was time to get a little less obsessive about the New Kids. And besides, Donnie Wahlberg was turning into a bad boy and burning down hotel rooms and that shit scared me, so after a few years and a whole lot of love, me and the New Kids went our separate ways.

Fast forward to 2008 and I heard rumors of a NKOTB reunion... I had a few butterflies in my tummy when I heard the news, after all it's not everyday that your childhood loves come walking singing back into your life! I was late for work they day they performed on The Today Show, their first performance together in almost 15 years. I knew I wanted to see it, but I had no idea how I would react. "It'll be cute" I thought... mmm hhmmm. Pretty soon I was jumping up and down in my living room and I was crying... those same little teenage butterflies that I had all those years ago? They were back. The same exact ones. I didn't even remember how they felt until that very moment and all of a sudden, I was 11 years old again. I even went on iTunes and downloaded some of their old music... so fun re-living my childhood crushes!

I never really thought much of it again until almost a year later when I heard they were coming to my city in concert. The concert was just a few short days away and I contemplated buying tickets... I really didn't want to spend the money but I knew I'd regret it if I didn't go. How often do you get a chance to relive your childhood, even just for one night? So I logged on to Ticketmaster and I pulled up 3rd row seats three days before the concert (ticket buying tip for you concert goers!)... I was ecstatic! I even reached out to my contacts at country radio to see if they, by any tiny chance, had a hookup with the venue and could get me backstage. Turns out they did have a hookup and they totally helped me out! That's me on the left, meeting such a huge part of my childhood for the very first time while wearing no make-up. Zero, zilch. I had just had eye surgery a few days prior and couldn't wear make-up for two weeks... great timing, I know. Anyways, they were nice and sweet and gave great hugs and part of me just couldn't fathom that those boys I dreamed about when I was 11 years old were now these grown men standing right in front of me. 'Twas awesome.

The show was awesome too and I had a blast re-living those songs and voices that I lived with so many years ago. The 'kids' were now men, but they were still the same New Kids on the Block. 

A couple of months later I read online that NKOTB was going to be on The Today Show and I just so happened to get an e-mail from Today asking if I wanted to have a VIP pass for their performance. Why yes, yes I did... thankyouverymuch. New York City isn't my neighbor by any means, but it's close enough that I can take a jaunt down once in a while for crazy fun experiences like this. My NKOTB partner in crime who had gone to the concert with me agreed that we needed to skip work for a day and head down... and so we did. We left right after work the night before, drove the 5+ hours to the city, parked the car, and went to scope everything out. By now it was 10pm the night before their performance and wouldn't you know it, there was already a line... a line that had apparently started a week ago. Holy crap. We got in line and as fate would have it, we ended up next to some really fun (and not crazy!) girls from PA. We chatted the night away, told stories and laughed until 6am-ish when it was time to get things situated for the show. We quickly learned that our VIP passes were useless but thanks to my vast concert experience and sharp elbows, we made our way to the front of the crowd pretty quickly. Those people that had stood in line for a week? Psshht, they had nothing on us. Sorry not sorry.

That's me in the white Red Sox hat over Jordan's shoulder on TV

Me and my NK picture in the middle of Times Square... it was funny at the time, now notsomuch

How great did they look performing on the show?! So fun! We drove home after the show with no sleep but with some pretty fun memories and great new friends. A successful day and well worth calling in sick to work!

Later that summer there was another concert and another meet & greet, even more special than the first since this one was in their hometown. We made more new friends and left with even more great memories.

While we had been in NYC for The Today Show, one of our new friends had mentioned "the New Kids cruise"... we had no idea what she was talking about but as it turns out, yes, the New Kids set sail each year with some of their biggest fans. That year was the inaugural one and I wasn't on the ship, but the following year? You bet your right stuff that I set sail on the SS NKOTB!

We decorated our cabin door, posed with cardboard cutouts, danced at the sail away party, lounged with our friends, watched NKTV, danced and drank the night (and mornings!) away at the lido-deck theme parties, watched the NK play a game show, saw a concert, and absolutely had a blast! I'd be embarrassed to admit the fact that I actually went on a NKOTB cruise if it wasn't for the fact that I had so much fun! Almost three years later, I still look back on those few days and think 'man, we had so much fun.'

 

These memories are the reason I was so excited last week when I saw that the New Kids are going on tour again. I'm not immersed in the New Kids bubble as much as I was a couple of years ago, but damn if they didn't bring me some pretty great memories and pretty great friends all throughout my life. How many chances do we get to re-live a childhood, to feel that innocence and excitement of our youth all over again? These memories are the reason I laugh it off when people joke about my NK experiences, these memories are why I can't wait to be at The Garden in June when the New Kids come back to Boston. I may not be 11 years old anymore but every once in a while, I sure feel like I am.