After 20 Years of Waiting...

...I saw NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK in concert!  Let me tell you something folks, last night was the greatest night of my life.

Someday, I'm sure the memory of this concert will settle into a deserving 3rd place, behind the appropriate 30-Year-Old Mom memories - wedding and childbirth.  But today, and last night, it sits way, way, waaaaaay up there at a soaring #1.  It was amazing.  It took my breath away.  I cried.  And I'll try to tell you all the wonderful details, but they will never do this night justice.  So here we go:

Me, Analese, Charity, Eric and Karen

We started the night in the cheap seats, where we saw the opening act, Matthew Morrison - Mr. Schuester from Glee!  (I often have to remind myself that I do NOT live in a perpetual episode of Glee and that it is NOT appropriate to burst out into song at any given moment.)  We didn't know if there would be an opening act, so when he took the stage, I was beyond excited!  He sang and danced and generally made me warm and happy all over.  We knew immediately that we HAD to get closer.  Analese had a friend down on the first level (not the floor, but one up from there) who said there were lots of seats open, so off we went, and you know what?  W e waltzed our way right next to the darn stage!  We were so, SO close, you guys.  Closer to the love of my life than I ever thought I'd ever be.

When the lights went off, I knew it was going to be good.  I, along with thousands and thousands of other old ladies, started feeling that tingle of nostalgia.  The lights came up, and there they were - New Kids on the Block and The Back Street Boys, standing with legs apart, heads down, on a stage that was spewing fog and ascending into the air!  I started screaming.  Now, I've been to shows and concerts before, and I like to scream and cheer and get crazy, so I know what my normal "hey, I like this band" scream sounds like.  But this scream?

This scream came from a part of my body that hasn't been this excited since she was ten years old.  This was a pure, involuntary, smitten, joyful, manic adolescent scream.  I don't think I'll ever hear it again.

They sang the first song together, and toward the end, they separated so that the New Kids danced their way down the catwalk to the smaller circle in the middle of the floor.  Then this happened, and I cried (you can also hear my aforementioned girl scream at the end):

I mean, I wasn't bawling or anything, but my eyes were filled with tears, and my heart was racing, and I just couldn't believe what I was feeling!  I expected the show to be great, but I did not expect it to whisk me away to my Mom's basement circa 1989, where the neighbor girls and I spent an entire summer perfecting our NKOTB dance moves.  All I could think about was that tiny boom box, my cassette tapes, and my finger pressing the play button a hundred times a day.  I was overwhelmed to say the least.

For the rest of the show, I kept my eyes on Joey.  I did my best to put down the camera every once in a while, but I couldn't resist the urge to catch this experience and hang on to it forever!  Here are some more videos and pictures, but they will never, never, NEVER be able to show you how much fun we had.

Here's my boyfriend singing "Summertime" and showing off his hot bod!  Some of these moves were borderline inappropriate, but then again, I'm old.  I certainly didn't mind watching it!

And here's a video that Eric took from two rows behind me.  Can you believe how close we were??  Clearly, Joe couldn't find me in the crowd, otherwise he would have certainly proposed at this point.  I guess he was too busy flirting with the hussies a few rows up from us.  Psh!

At one point, Danny Wood was standing in that spot.  I waved to him, and he looked me right in the eye and WAVED BACK!  Whaaaa!!!!!  I don't even like him!  But I was so happy!!!

Just a-singin' and a-dancin'!

This is one of the Back Street Boys, don't know which one, but he was just adorable!

I stood next to Charity for the whole show, and she's a Back Street fan (a youngin'), and we agreed that the set up of the show was fantastic.  They would alternate songs so that we heard a few NKOTB and a few BSB and then sometimes they'd sing together.  More bands should do this!  It gave me time to recover from my Joey high while watching her swoon for a while.  Also, Charity wins the luckiest fan award, because when the show was over, we could see them walking behind the stage on the floor below us, and wouldn't you know it - Donnie Whalberg threw his sweaty towel into the crowd and Charity CAUGHT IT!  Oh my word, how awesome is that?!

It was really such an amazing night!  One I will not soon forget.  And just for anyone out there wondering: I haven't been to an arena concert since 2005.  Who did I see?  Nine Inch Nails.  And I loved it!  But not as much as I loved this.  This should hold me over for at least another 20 years.