NKOTBSB

1989....that was more than 20 years ago.  damn.  I'm getting old.  Where was I? Right, 1989.  In 1989 I was 10 years old, and the only worries I had at the time were ensuring that I never missed an episode of Punky Brewster followed by Silver Spoons, how to convince my Mom that I was old enough to use clear mascara, making sure that I had every rainbow colored sock stacked 2 high up my ankle, and keeping my white, pink and black LA Gear hi-tops shiny and clean.  Most importantly at the time, was just how many posters of New Kids on the Block could I fit on my walls!  I listened to little else back then except New Kids.  I had every cassette single, the Christmas albums, a ginormous button of Jordan Knight on my Guess jean jacket....and luckily that year my Mom bought tickets for my very first NKOTB concert!  Back then I had a videotape of New Kids on Tour, a behind the scenes peek at their life on the road, and I probably watched it every day.  Like many young girls at that time, I would imagine being one of the lucky few who miraculously had back stage passes and got to meet them! (how did you get those anyway?) The concert was a flurry of excitement, screaming, and insanely loud music, and I couldn't hear for the rest of the night!  I screamed in adoration at these 5 teenage boys gyrating around in faded overalls with one strap hanging off. I remember at that time being surrounded by thousands of older teenage girls wearing crazy neon colored clothes, humongous poofy bangs and perms, thinking to myself that I am so lucky to be at this concert with so many pretty girls who love these boys from Boston as much as I did. 

Even as their popularity began to fade over the next 5 years, my posters of them were slowly replaced by Johnny Depp and Green Day, they began getting booed at the Grammy's, and rumors of a break up began to swirl, I never lost my love of the New Kids. 

3 years ago, when these 5 now 30/40 something year old men decided to make a comeback album and go on tour, I found myself giddy with delight at the prospect of seeing them perform again.  I read their daily blogs on their tour website, and recorded any appearance on the talk shows.  Hey....I'll admit it, I'm not embarrassed about it.  Some women loved Bret Michels.  Some loved George Michael.  For me it was always them!  Their album The Block was not a disappointment, and I rocked it on repeat for about 6 months, even little Talan who at the time was not yet 3, bobbed his head to the beats.  I went to their reunion concert with my S.I.L and her friends and had the most amazing time.  Every lyric came back to me as if I was sitting in my room next to my Casio listening to the cassettes! We even stayed after the concert and ran to the back of the Pavilion to see if we could spot them leaving on their tour buses...something that as a 10 year old girl I always wanted to do but never had the courage to ask my Mom.

And that is why last week, I was so incredibly excited and thrilled to be going to another concert of theirs, this time a combined show with the Backstreet Boys, whom I never really listened to since I was partial to the better dancers NSync! But nevertheless when my dear friend Katherine from Lincoln High asked if I wanted to go with her, I said absolutely, when and where!  She amazingly made a huge effort to go to this concert, driving up from LA with her 3 month old and 2 year old, on the eve of her husband's birthday and 4th of July!  She is incredible, such a joy to be around...You're the best Katherine!  So the two of us, now weary eyed and sleep deprived mother's of two, made our way to HP Pavilion, surrounded by other 30 something screaming women, to watch these very handsome men again gyrate, pelvic thrust, fist pump, all to our favorite songs of the late 80's and 90's! And for me again the lyrics to those songs all came flooding back and I wasn't shy about standing up, dancing and singing to every one of them!  I had the best time that night, and for a while I forgot all about being a grown up, I could almost smell the Aqua-net and my jean jacket again!