Have you ever waited 25 years for something?
I have loved New Kids On The Block since I was 8 years old. They were the "it" band back in 1988, and my second grade heart was OBSESSED with them, just like all of my friends. Our slumber parties became "hang out and watch NKOTB video" parties, and we all sported some sort of New Kids paraphernalia every single day. The big buttons, tee shirts, hair scrunchies, sleeping bags, dolls...you name it, at least one of us had it.
I very distinctly remember a conversation with my dad that took place in the kitchen one night after I had just gone off on some tangent about NKOTB. I have always been a music lover, and this was the first time I had ever really found a band that I loved that my parents hadn't introduced me to. I was blabbering on about my adoration for Joey and how much I loved the band and wanted to be Mrs. McIntyre (Uh, I STILL want to be Mrs. McIntyre. Joey, if you are reading this, I don't care if you are married...hit me up :) ) My dad told me, "I don't know why you are so excited about this band. They are just a flash in the pan. They will go away and you will move on."
Well, maybe they did go away for a while. I can't deny that. But I would say that spending a Saturday night in an arena with 20,000 other screaming (mostly) ladies 25 years later proves his statement to be a bit wrong.
Boys II Men opened the show. I was pissed about this because we all assumed it would be 98*, especially with it being a hometown show for Boys II Men (which my dad joked should now be called "Men II Old Men" as I was walking out my door to go to the concert) but because we were hanging out in the parking lot, figuring 98* would open, we missed a lot of BIIM's set. We weren't the only ones that were in that situation, though, because as we were running to our seats (and as I was bitching about them putting BIIM on first) we were dodging other ladies doing the same exact thing. We did get to hear our graduation song, though, which made me really happy because the next day marked our 15th anniversary of graduation.
Up next was 98*. I was never a big fan of them, but Nick looked good. Really, though, I just kept waiting for Brooke Davis to appear, and when she didn't (which of course she wouldn't, I don't live in Tree Hill) I got bored. I think I knew two songs by them, and one just opened up old wounds, so I was glad to see them get off the stage.
I've said several times already that the best thing about seeing a bunch of boy bands is that there is no need for a long stage reset between sets, so NKOTB came right out after a brief intermission. There was enough time for me to see the cotton candy man, complain that I wanted cotton candy, and then before I could give it another thought, the arena dimmed and the first boys I ever really loved were taking the stage.
I screamed like a little girl. I felt like I was 8 again. I loved every second of every song those boys sang. I loved watching them dirty dance. I loved that when they would get a little dirty the grown women who used to be little girls would scream with excitement. I loved that Donnie practically sucked the face off of that poor woman, and I definitely loved when she wiped off her face like a little kid who just got a slobbery kiss from her grandma.
At the end of their set, they brought Boys II Men back out and all eight of them performed Motownphilly, which was pretty damn cool if you ask me. The NKOTB guys all wore Boston Strong jerseys and the BIIM guys wore Phillies jerseys and they were supposed to be making the two cities become one, but really they just made it so loud in the arena that I was pretty sure the glass was going to break.
I had an amazing time at the show. I am so glad that I found last-minute tickets at a reasonable price and that I found someone to go with me. Oh, and after all that fun, VANILLA ICE did an afterparty at XFINITY, so we hopped over there for a bit. Tweenaged me thought that night was totally awesome, for sure! Adult me agrees.
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