ARE YOU READY (for a really long post)?

SPOILER ALERT!
If you are going to see the New Kids concert and don't want to know what you're in for, please do not read this post!

Where to begin? Where to begin?

I guess at the beginning, right?

Way back in May when I first found out that this concert was going to happen, I knew that there was absolutely NO way that I was going to miss it. The problem was finding someone to go with me. I would love to have had the ability to fly my sister out here to come along, but sadly, I don't have that kind of cash...and I knew that she was going to be rather busy taking care of her newborn right about now.

So I asked around and a few people expressed an interest in joining me for my night of fun. My SIL Jessie said she was in for sure, and I had a friend from work who said she wanted a ticket as well. I discovered that there was going to be a "pre-sale" exclusively open to AmEx customers, and I was positive that I needed to be a part of it if I wanted to be sure of getting tickets. Fortunately my Mother freaking rocks, and she agreed to let me use her card...and told me to consider the tickets my birthday gift. (Seriously, how cool is my Mom?)

On the day of the pre-sale I got online and went through the whole ordeal of trying to pick the very best tickets that I could get my hands on without spending a small fortune. I find this a difficult process since you can't really tell how good the seats are just by looking at the seating charts that are provided. However, I managed to snag 3 seats together in a spot that looked like it should be pretty good.

I'm going to cut to this past Wednesday when both of my guests decided that they were going to try to bail on me on the exact same day...a mere 3 days before show time! I thought that I was going to have to hurt someone. Fortunately, my friend Jess agreed to take one of the tickets, and I was able to convince Jessie that she really didn't want to miss this. Order was restored, life was good.

After getting myself ready yesterday, I left early to go pick up my girls before heading to the Arena. Neither one of them has had the opportunity to listen to any of the new record, so we listened to a little bit of it in the car to help "get our heads right".

We arrived at the venue around 6:30pm. There was already quite a line forming. The people watching was unreal! The more people I saw, the more normal I felt. The outfits were absolutely hilarious! The crowd was made up almost entirely of women in their late 20's & early 30's.

The doors opened and we made our way to our seats. HOLY CRAP! I picked amazing seats! We were in the second row of the first tier of seats off the floor, directly across from the stage. The sound booth was just in front of us to the right. I was totally jazzed up when I saw our seats- but I had NO IDEA just how awesome they were going to turn out to be.

We chatted with the people in front of us while we waited for the show to start, and did a bit of people watching. I had to take a couple of photos to share with all of my bloggy buddies, because this shit just has to be shared...

These pics really don't do these outfits justice. I stupidly made the decision not to take my camera to the concert with me because I was afraid that someone would try to take it away, and so I was forced to use my cell, which doesn't take the best pictures in the world. Anyway, these shirts were so bright I thought that I might go blind.

This outfit had to be my favorite of the night though.

At 7:58 the lights went out and the screaming began.

The first opening act was a young Latino guy named Colby O'Donis.
I guess he has a song called "What You Got" featuring Akon.
I felt really bad for him, because he was trying his hardest to work the crowd, but no one was really paying any attention to him. He did get a lot of screams, but only because he said "New Kids On The Block" about 20 times. He seemed to be pretty talented and I'm sure in time he will do just fine. The most interesting thing about his short set was that he had 2 male backup dancers. It seemed like an odd choice to me. Particularly since the dancers weren't all that good. They weren't in sync with each other at all.

Next up was Natasha Bedingfield. She performed several songs and had a much warmer reception than Colby had. I only knew 2 of her songs personally, but the crowd seemed to be into her. She sounded good, and definitely knew how to work the audience. She was a great lead in to the main act.There was a 15 minute break, and then...

The crowd went absolutely insane! I thought that the screams when I was younger were ridiculous, but they were nothing compared to this.
Seriously INSANE.
Just to help you understand...there was actually music playing during that clip. Did you hear it? Yeah, didn't think so.

They performed 3 songs- Single, My Favorite Girl, and The Right Stuff (as seen on the VH1 Special the other day). Then the lights went out again and a few moments later the guys reappeared on the stage- dressed in suits with hats. They sang Didn't I Blow Your Mind and Please Don't Go Girl. Then Donnie worked the crowd while the rest of the guys went backstage to change outfits.
(I took more video, but since the audience was so loud that you can't even hear the music I decided not to bother with them.)

To be honest, I don't actually remember what they sang after that. I'm pretty sure that Danny did some break dancing during this portion, but it may have happened later in the show. I know that they performed several more songs, and then after a while the lights went out again. There was filler music for a few minutes, and the next thing I knew the crowd started going bonkers. It turned out that they guys were making their way through the audience to a small stage located just in front of the sound booth (HOW did I not notice that was there?!)
Holy Shit! I picked the perfect seats!

They did 2 in the Morning & Dirty Dancing, and I think one other song, but I can't remember which one.

They brought up one of their icky dancers for Dirty Dancing. Could have done without that.

Later on, Jordan got naked and performed Baby I Believe In You (I think) and Give It To You (From his own album) solo.

Then Joe came out and did Stay The Same

There was LOTS more after that. They were on stage for 2 hours total. Not one single second of it was a disappointment, and they could have gone for another 2 hours as far as the audience was concerned...though I'm sure they were exhausted.

They finished the show with 2 encores- Step By Step was part of the first encore, and then they came back out and did Hangin' Tough.

They really put on one hell of a show. They obviously know their fans and what we want! They had precisely the right mix of the old and the new. The show was choreographed beautifully.

To me the best part is seeing them really having fun with it. They are very obviously enjoying themselves quite thoroughly. You can see that they truly love their fans, and that they GET IT. They really understand how to bring the audience in and make them feel like part of the show. It felt like hanging out with old friends. They came back for all the right reasons, and they're doing it exactly the right way.

At one point during the show Donnie said that everywhere they go they always hear the same 2 words from everyone they meet- "Thank You". He thanked the fans in turn, and it was clear that he and the others are sincerely thankful for what they have.

I am truly thankful for having had the opportunity to be a part of it. I would have regretted it for the rest of my life if I hadn't gone to this show. It was an amazing experience, and a memory that I will cherish for years to come.

Thank you Joe, Jordan, Jon, Danny and Donnie for putting on an amazing show, and special thanks to Donnie for making it all happen. It was AWESOME! I can't wait to see what comes next.