I went to the July 15, 2009, New Kids on the Block concert in Denver. It was an awesome experience. To top it off, I also had the opportunity to do a VIP 5*. I had done one in November 2008, when they were in Denver too. The second time around, I wanted to take my time and truly enjoy the experience. For the most part, I was able to do that. The waiting area at the meet and greet had all kinds of food… hotdogs, hamburgers, pretzels, pop (soda) and beer and wine… among other things. There were good choices and a good selection. I had two bottles of water, a little bit of Coke, and a hotdog. The temperatures that day were in the low 80s so it wasn’t too bad but it was still hot. My group had gotten together online so that we each knew who we were going to stand by and we all got to stand by who we wanted. We were group “P.” So, we were kind of towards the end of the groups which probably gave us the opportunity to spend a little more time with the guys than some of the earlier groups. We were in the meet and greet area with the guys for probably 2-3 minutes, I think. I’m not 100% sure though because I didn’t time it. I was the first one in our group to go into the area where the guys were. As I walked in, the guys were kind of all standing around, in no particular order. They didn’t seem to be in much of a rush to meet us. I pulled my sunglasses off of my eyes and placed them on my head so that the guys could see my eyes. As I got closer, the guys noticed our group coming in and prepared to greet us. First I went to Danny, said, “hi Danny” and reached to give him a hug. I put my arms over his shoulders to hug him and squeezed pretty tightly. Next I went up to Donnie, said, “hi Donnie,” and reached to hug him, giving him the same kind of hug I gave Danny. I don’t remember if I approached Jordan or Joe next. Either way, they both received the same kind of greeting and hug from me as Danny and Donnie had. After greeting those two, I stepped away from the guys to asses who I had hugged and who I had missed. I realized I hadn’t hugged Jon yet. So, I start to walk over to Jon. As I was approaching him, his attention shifted to a girl in my group named Angi, who had a tattoo on her right shoulder that said, “New Kids on the Block” and it also had vines and flowers on it. I reached to grab Jon for a hug but missed him and touched his side. He went over to Angi, touched her shoulder and looked at her tattoo. I waited for him to get done with Angi. After he got done looking at her tattoo, I told him that I still needed a hug from him. He turned towards me so I could hug him. I gave him the same kind of over the shoulder hug that I had given the other guys. When the guys hugged me there wasn’t anything extra special about how they hugged me. They kind of just put their arms around me and didn’t really squeeze nearly as hard as I had squeezed them. Next the photographer told us that it was time for the picture. Everyone got into their places. I paused, looked in Joe’s direction, and then headed towards him. He is my favorite New Kid and the one I was supposed to be by in the picture. When I got over to him, I said, “I’m supposed to be here” or “this is my spot,” I can’t remember which. Anyway, I slipped in between him and the girl to his left (she was supposed to be by Jon and was standing between Jon and Joe as I approached). I put my right arm around Joe and then tried to reach around to touch Jon’s back with my left arm. I think that I ended up resting my hand on the girl’s arm instead of Jon’s arm. Oh well. Then they took the picture. Right before the picture was snapped Joe yelled something that involved the word, “balls.” I can’t remember exactly what he said. Then I was going to yell, “it’s sweating balls out here” or something to that effect but I don’t remember what I actually said, if anything. The next thing I know, security is telling us it’s time to leave. I have no idea at what point the photographer took the second picture. I just know that one was taken. I hope I don’t have some kind of weird expression on my face in the pictures. Before leaving, I turned to Joe and told him that I wanted one more hug, which he gave me. Then, on my way out, I saw that Donnie was open and I gave him a second hug as well. When I got back into the meet and greet waiting area, I noticed that my hand was shaking. I just smiled. I was definitely nervous throughout the whole time I was with the guys but I handled it much better this time than I did the first time I did a meet and greet. In the meet and greet, when I met the guys, their demeanor wasn’t extra excited or anything. Both Jordan and Joe were smiling but I didn’t notice the other guys really smiling. Donnie seemed kind of serious and focusing on something else. Jon and Danny also seemed to be very mellow. I didn’t take it personally. I figured they were probably just preparing for the concert, mentally. Nothing extra special happened to me when I was meeting the guys. I was a little disappointed with that fact but I still really enjoyed the experience. I’d definitely say that my experience this time was better than last time. I was better prepared and a bit less nervous and shy. I hope that the guys do another tour in the not too distant future. I’d totally do another meet and greet. The third time’s a charm. :-)
As for the concert itself, that was also awesome! I wish that I could have a video of the entire thing. The guys were on top of their game and put on a great show. Danny even sang a few solo parts. He rarely does any solo parts. When he did, the entire audience cheered extra loud. Donnie, Jordan and Joe each had solo performances. Donnie sang, “Cover Girl” and brought a little girl up on the stage. It was SO cute. Jordan sang, “Give it to You.” This is not one of my favorite songs from his solo stuff but he still had an awesome performance. Joe sang, “Popsicle” from the first NKOTB album that came out in 1986. He was dressed in his topless hat from back in the day, as well as a “Members Only” jacket from the 80’s and SUPER tight pants. He looked kind of funny but was still super cute. After he sang that song, he ditched the topless hat and sang the song, “5 Brothers and a Million Sisters,” which he had written while they were on tour in the spring. During the concert, towards the end, the guys sang, “Step by Step” and when it got to the part where they sing the steps, Donnie’s son Elijah (who is 8), walked out on stage and sang that part. He was a cutie. At the very end of the concert Danny’s two youngest kids, both girls, came out on stage for the final bow. Also, Elijah came out on stage again and bowed. The kids were all super cute. For the majority of the concert, I was looking through my camera lense… hence why I have 447 pictures from the concert. :-) I wish that I hadn’t done that but, on the other hand, I’m glad that I have so many pictures. It was just so cool! The guys are pretty much done for now with touring. I hope that they come back again in the near future so that we can enjoy them more. I guess that we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.
