Kansas City Blog

New Kids on the Block
November 11, 2008
Sprint Center
Better Than: A Skid Row show.
By BERRY ANDERSON
No Photos, Sorry

For photos & review from the St. Louis show, go here.

A few weeks ago, when I was granted the opportunity to review New Kids on the Block in Kansas City, I thought manna had fallen into my hands, a childhood dream realized. To see Joe, Jordan, Donnie, Danny and Jon live! I was 11 years old when Hangin’ Tough was released, and while most of my friends were listening to Skid Row and Warrant, I was sold on the five boys from Boston whose faces were plastered all over the pages of Big Bopper and logos for shoelaces and water bottles.

Now, at 30, I didn’t know that I would have such a hard time finding someone to go with. Male friends chuckled, female friends had other things to do, like laundry and dinner with husbands. I hardly ever bask in nostalgia, especially when it is of the late '80s. It’s simply painful. I gave myself a pass on this night, however, only to quickly realize that no matter how bad I wanted to make out with Danny Wood back in the day, some of my female counterparts in 2008 were still just as hardcore as they were back in the age of the Scrunchy.

Not surprisingly, the line for the ladies’ restroom at Sprint Center was long as fuck. On the whole, I saw maybe, like 10 men at the show all night (Tim Finn being one of them). But because I’m resourceful, I used the family restroom. This allowed me to take in the beginning of the show, which consisted of flashes on a screen above the stage at the north end that read, “15 years ago… they walked away.”

My decent seats allowed for full floor view of the crowd’s total apeshit reaction to ascent of the present day men of NKOTB on a rising platform at the top of the multi-level stage. Joey McIntyre sang the lead on opener, “Single,” their Ne-Yo accompanied 2008 release.

Ne-Yo wasn’t there to hear the rising decibels of late-20-something lady shrieks; however, Donnie Wahlberg was. He had on sparkly pants, and his goatee was completely reminiscent of a Brazilian wax job. In fact, all five of those dudes looked waxed and free of all pubescent-looking stubble. One more side note on Donnie: he was totally sporting a sparkly Boston Red Sox cap the WHOLE TIME. We all get old.

The third song, “You Got It (the Right Stuff)” was definitely a crowd pleaser. Everyone enjoyed the old songs more than the newer, more danceable tunes. It’s not a stretch to say that the biggest crowd reactions came from the stream of gratuitous crotch/ass shots that ensued during this song. Also spotted was the side-to-side swinging leg hop that NKOTB pioneered. But man, when Jordan grabbed his balls, it was all over.

Of course, the experience wouldn’t have been complete without NKOTB rappin’ with the crowd. We were compared several times to St. Louis, asked about our willingness to “party” and told we had “game.” It was standard arena-show fare. But when Donnie (the obvious crowd favorite) asked us how his “booty” looked, I don’t know if the Sprint Center had ever heard such a squeal.

Also included in the package was a tribute to “Those Who Were Lost.” This wasn’t a present-day retrospective of who had died recently but rather a montage of the really important ones: like Frank Sinatra, Biggie Smalls and Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes. This moment allowed for the transport of NKOTB to the south end of the floor, where another platform rose from the bowels of the Sprint Center, hoisting up a piano, a female dancer and Joe, who was wearing a reproduction of that fucking cheesy black leather jacket with the big happy face on the back.

The rotating stage set included the chart-topping “Tonight,” a single that marked the height of the New Kids' commercial success. The show began to taper off after that point. Other wardrobe changes (including all-white getups that looked like pajamas), an all-black group of gospel singers doing back up for “Believe” plus Donnie telling the crowd that sometimes he “gets down with God” -- all of it effectively wound down the crowd.

“Hangin’ Tough” was the encore, and after two plus hours of screaming and getting weak in the knees, people went back to totally losing their shit. I went empty-handed back to the Czar Bar to catch the end of a Ghosty set. No $45 pink t-shirt for me. Just ringing eardrums and a smile accompanied by a slightly boosted ego after being around 18,000 of my age cohorts, many of whom were still wearing scrunchies.

Setlist
Single
My Favorite Girl
You Got It (the Right Stuff)
Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time)/ Will You Be My Girl?
Please Don’t Go Girl
Grown Man
Games
If You Go Away
Dirty Dancing
Tonight
Twisted
Baby, I Believe in You
Give It To You
Believe
Cover Girl
I’ll Be Loving You (Forever)
Summertime
Step by Step
Hangin’ Tough

Critic's Notebook
Personal Bias: I would still do it with Danny.
Random Detail: Bars on Grand south of the P&L attract random folks, like one girl who stood at the door of Czar Bar in her socks, looking confused in the cold weather, a red sparkly hat in one hand and her shoes in the other.
By the Way: “Clambake” is the new term for the female equivalent of “sausagefest.”