should they change their name to old kids?

nkotb. they still have the right stuff.
nkotb. they still have the right stuff.

so back in the day (we’ll go with 1993) I was IN LOVE with the new kids on the block. and I asked EVERYONE for new kids on the block stuff for my birthday, and i had visions of a new kids on the block-themed room complete with pillow cases and a new kids on the block backpack.

except the only person who got me anything was my aunt jean, and it was a cassette tape of four of their songs. and holy crap, did I ever listen to that thing. my mom said nobody else got me stuff because they all thought everyone else would give me new kids on the block stuff. which seemed like a pretty lame reason in my book, seeing as how it is IMPOSSIBLE to have too much new kids on the block stuff.

anyway, I eventually moved on to more important things (like saved by the bell), but the boys always held a piece of my tween heart.

but then. oh snap. the NKOTB (look how cool i am, using their acronym) decided to make a COMEBACK!!!!!!

holy jebus.

are you asking me if I got tickets to go see them? because OF COURSE I DID!

$60 later, I was on my way to their Saturday night concert at the Allstate Arena.

I went with my best friend April and her sister Jackie and a group of other NKOTB fans in their late 20s and early 30s.

let me tell you people, I am NOT the only person left who still LOVES these guys.

a sold-out stadium full of 22- to 32-year-old women in Chicagoland apparently feel the same way. and they had the side pony tails, leggings, and original NKOTB jackets to prove it. (myself? i donned a couple NKOTB buttons on my jacket, old-school style).

People, this stadium full of women (and four gay guys) was filled with screams for the ENTIRE 2-hour show.

every.single.second. the women screamed SO much that my ears ached afterward.

:: sigh ::

ok. you got me. I screamed too.

don’t judge.

it was just SO exciting.

and they kept all their old choreography.

and for some reason none of their voices have changed.

first, let me say that their new stuff is pretty awesome.

but everyone knows we were there for the oldies. “Step by Step” anyone? How about “Hang Hangin Tough?” you know you want to wave your hands in the air right now, don’t even bother fighting it.

and it was SO awesome. and April said it was the best concert experience of her life. and im going to have to go ahead and agree with here there.

because NKOTB still rocks my socks.

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I want to write April a love song.* (seriously. we’re not lesbians)

ok. so i love, love, love, love, love, love, love sara bareilles.

seriously. i love her.

i just feel this CONNECTION with the woman. i mean, she doesn’t want to just write someone a love song because they tell her to. she wants to do it when she actually LOVES them.

sigh.

i’ve listened to her cd approx. 342 times and every song is AMAZING!

there’s ‘gravity,’ which is about a bad break up. there’s ‘vegas’ which is about following your dreams and getting tatoos. and there’s ‘fairytale’ which is about a guy at the liquor story. oh and of course, there’s the ever popular ‘love song’ (the video to which is linked above).

so, when my best friend surprised me with tickets to see her, i kind of teared up. 

ok. the concert was ACTUALLY marron five and counting crows (ya, i have no idea who the counting crows are either) but so what if sara bareilles was only the opening act? and was apparently so minor that she wasn’t even listed on the ticket stub? im going to go ahead and continue to refer to it as the “sara bareilles,” concert anyway.

let me go ahead and paint a scene for you guys:

the concert started at 7 p.m. in milwaukee, and we HAD to be there on time, seeing as how the WHOLE goal was to see the opening act.

the only problem was, april had to work till 5 p.m.

leaving us exactly 2 hours to drive 1 hour and 45 min., park and find our seats.

after a tumultuous drive into the cheese state, we found our way to the marcus performing arts center with time to spare.

except the concert was ACTUALLY at the Marcus amphitheater (seriously, why do people in milwaukee love this marcus guy SO much that they named TWO venues after him.? who is he?) so we had to haul a$$ to the right stage.

then we went to park, and the guy was all ‘oh, THAT stage is about a mile from here, but for $10 you can walk.’ He assured us it would be WAY more expensive to park closer. (later analysis of the situation showed that this was not true. at all.) we were under time pressure, so we threw our money at the man and started RUNNING to the concert.

the only problem was my pants were too big (what, being vegan helped me drop a few pounds ok.) i wasn’t exactly wearing a belt. or sexy underwear (i like to be comfortable. ok? gawd).  so the whole time my purple “granny panties” were totally showing (there was NO time to be worrying about stupid things like pulling up my pants. we had to get to the CONCERT!)

april says people were doing double takes because it was so bad and my underwear were showing THAT much. but im going to go ahead and hope the 432 people we passed on that mile run to the concert thought it was just a layed tank top showing though.

any-way.

we made it to our seating section just as sara bareilles started her first song (“bottle it up,” for those keeping track).

and then.

april realized she lost her ticket. (i TOLD her to wait to fiddle with her stupid camera)

i started freaking out a bit.

also, for the visual, go ahead and remember that april and i had seriously just run a mile. and it was very hot outside. 

we were sweating.  glowing.

a lot.

thankfully, the nice usher realized there was no way april could have gotten all the way to our seating section (past three other check points) if she hadn’t actually had a ticket, so he let her in.

we ran down to our seats.

and realized we had an AMAZING VIEW

sigh.

we had made it.

and sara bareilles was awesome.

and maroon 5 was also awesome. (i want to start stalking their lead singer).

and we didn’t stay for the counting crows. 

but im thinking it was a pretty awesome birthday, and that it’s a sign that 25 is going to be a good year.

unrelatedly, i want to know where the guy in front of us got his cell phone, because his pictures were SERIOUSLY way clearer than the ones april took with her $300 digital camera 

 *yes, i DO know that the title of this blog post is corny. but i don’t really care. ha.

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I want to write April a love song.* (seriously. we’re not lesbians)

ok. so i love, love, love, love, love, love, love sara bareilles.

seriously. i love her.

i just feel this CONNECTION with the woman. i mean, she doesn’t want to just write someone a love song because they tell her to. she wants to do it when she actually LOVES them.

sigh.

i’ve listened to her cd approx. 342 times and every song is AMAZING!

there’s ‘gravity,’ which is about a bad break up. there’s ‘vegas’ which is about following your dreams and getting tatoos. and there’s ‘fairytale’ which is about a guy at the liquor story. oh and of course, there’s the ever popular ‘love song’ (the video to which is linked above).

so, when my best friend surprised me with tickets to see her, i kind of teared up. 

ok. the concert was ACTUALLY marron five and counting crows (ya, i have no idea who the counting crows are either) but so what if sara bareilles was only the opening act? and was apparently so minor that she wasn’t even listed on the ticket stub? im going to go ahead and continue to refer to it as the “sara bareilles,” concert anyway.

let me go ahead and paint a scene for you guys:

the concert started at 7 p.m. in milwaukee, and we HAD to be there on time, seeing as how the WHOLE goal was to see the opening act.

the only problem was, april had to work till 5 p.m.

leaving us exactly 2 hours to drive 1 hour and 45 min., park and find our seats.

after a tumultuous drive into the cheese state, we found our way to the marcus performing arts center with time to spare.

except the concert was ACTUALLY at the Marcus amphitheater (seriously, why do people in milwaukee love this marcus guy SO much that they named TWO venues after him.? who is he?) so we had to haul a$$ to the right stage.

then we went to park, and the guy was all ‘oh, THAT stage is about a mile from here, but for $10 you can walk.’ He assured us it would be WAY more expensive to park closer. (later analysis of the situation showed that this was not true. at all.) we were under time pressure, so we threw our money at the man and started RUNNING to the concert.

the only problem was my pants were too big (what, being vegan helped me drop a few pounds ok.) i wasn’t exactly wearing a belt. or sexy underwear (i like to be comfortable. ok? gawd).  so the whole time my purple “granny panties” were totally showing (there was NO time to be worrying about stupid things like pulling up my pants. we had to get to the CONCERT!)

april says people were doing double takes because it was so bad and my underwear were showing THAT much. but im going to go ahead and hope the 432 people we passed on that mile run to the concert thought it was just a layed tank top showing though.

any-way.

we made it to our seating section just as sara bareilles started her first song (“bottle it up,” for those keeping track).

and then.

april realized she lost her ticket. (i TOLD her to wait to fiddle with her stupid camera)

i started freaking out a bit.

also, for the visual, go ahead and remember that april and i had seriously just run a mile. and it was very hot outside. 

we were sweating.  glowing.

a lot.

thankfully, the nice usher realized there was no way april could have gotten all the way to our seating section (past three other check points) if she hadn’t actually had a ticket, so he let her in.

we ran down to our seats.

and realized we had an AMAZING VIEW

sigh.

we had made it.

and sara bareilles was awesome.

and maroon 5 was also awesome. (i want to start stalking their lead singer).

and we didn’t stay for the counting crows. 

but im thinking it was a pretty awesome birthday, and that it’s a sign that 25 is going to be a good year.

unrelatedly, i want to know where the guy in front of us got his cell phone, because his pictures were SERIOUSLY way clearer than the ones april took with her $300 digital camera 

 *yes, i DO know that the title of this blog post is corny. but i don’t really care. ha.

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