Hangin’ Tough…..After All These Years
Friday, November 7th, 2008You may remember a blog I wrote - Blast from the Past. In that blog, I detailed my excitement over finding out New Kids on the Block, my favorite boy band from my youth, was reuniting, releasing a new album and going on tour. It was an exciting moment for me as it took me back 15 years to 1989 when, at the tender age of 5, I convinced my mom to take my cousin and I to the NKOTB concert. Maureen was three-years older than me and I wanted to like all the same things she did. We made posters proclaiming our love for Joey McIntyre (me - he was my first crush!) and Jordan Knight (Maureen). The audience was filled with young girls, my age through early teens, and their parents.
Well, this past Wednesday night, I went back to 1989 and went to the New Kids on the Block concert. My friend Melissa surprised me with tickets for my birthday and it was definitely a blast from the past! The guys sang old hits like The Right Stuff, Hangin’ Tough, Step by Step, Please Don’t Go Girl and more. They also sang some hits off their new album, The Block.
They are older, so it was a little funnier to watch them dancing, but they still have it. They were just as entertaining as they were in 1989. However, the wardrobes have much improved. They don’t seem to be taking themselves too seriously and you can tell from their faces that they are having fun, elements which translate into a very fun, energetic show.
Fans dug to the bottoms of their closets, resurrecting their old shirts and hats and gigantic pins from the 80s. And, for those who long ago trashed their NKOTB memorabilia - it was all on sale, including new and old gigantic pins!
The audience has definitely grown up. I watched a group of women being escorted out of the Wachovia Center because they were too intoxicated to stand up, other fans threw articles of clothing onto the stage and others flashed some body parts on the Fanovision. These women had different intentions this time around!
Now, I can only hope my other favorite boy band decides to reunite in a few years time!
-Kimberly Krol, circulation and public relations executive, eFlyer editor
