Concert Review: New Kids on the Block @ HP Pavilion, 10/10

As I reached the top of the never-ending concrete steps of the HP Pavilion, I instantly felt out-of-place. Not only am I male, I'm also only 27. It was a sea of thirty-something single, married, straight/lesbian women and they were everywhere. EVERYWHERE! They were in line buying hot pink t-shirts (that are raising money for Breast Cancer research) that spelled out NKOTB, oversized buttons with their favorite band member on display and $25 over-sized programs. It was girls night on the town and these bitches were ready to party.

From the minute those boys, I mean men, walked on stage to minute they left (and then a long time after they left) these thirty-something women were instantly turned into 11 and 12 year old girls screaming their faces off. It was magic. And yet for some reason, I wasn't magically transformed. I still was 27, still a man and very confused about the whole New Kids on the Block phenomenon that was unfolding in front of my eyes.

Don't get me wrong, I was a huge fan of "Hangin' Tough" and "You Got It (The Right Stuff)" when I was in elementary school. I new the dance moves, the lyrics and even remember when Weird Al Yankovic's pun "The White Stuff" debuted. I remember it all very clearly, but I never knew that girls had sheets, barbie dolls, towels, and every other possible thing inscribed with pictures of the boys from New Kids on the Block. (I don't have any sisters, so this was all news to me.) And the best part, all that paraphernalia from the late 80's and early 90's was at the HP Pavilion. I saw women wearing their old concert t-shirts, women who made necklaces out of the action-figure NKOTB doll and even beach towels. It was all very Back to the Future like - actually more like "Blast from the Past".

There were so many women, they converted the men's restroom into a woman's restroom. The guys were forced to find some 4-urinal restroom downstairs.

The boys (it's very weird calling them men, even though they are almost 40 because frankly they still acted like teenage boys) sang, danced, changed costumes and flirted to their hearts' content (and to the women's enjoyment). Their very subtle nuisances - like grabbing their junk repeatedly - were very planned and executed strictly because they knew they would get a huge crowd reaction. The grown men continued this charade the entire show with lighting the stage up with their old music videos, bringing back-to-life their well-known and over choreographed dance moves and wearing over-the-top bejeweled costumes. (And there were a lot of costume changes throughout.)

It was very apparent that these boys were men by the amounts of breaks they needed in between songs. Though, it was a very action-packed two hours (and for anyone you would definitely need to be in tip-top shape), I have seen performers go longer without the long breaks NKOTB used. At points it got very slow with the pauses and ridiculously boring videos in between songs but the women continued to scream. I felt a little short sided, especially since I just saw Madonna perform and sorry boys, she's got you beat.

Toward the end of the concert, the guys took turns coming out and singing/dancing in a solo/duo number. Jordan Knight, who was the vocal star of the show (he still continues to sing quite effortlessly in his falsetto - talented, but still a bit strange), unbuttoned his white dress shirt and with the aide of a wind machine, created a frenzy as he sang his solo number. I can tell you that those two minutes where Jordan had his shirt off will be everyone audience member's fantasy material for a long time. And, frankly, Jordan knew it.

Joey McIntyre was also one of the favorites of the night. His vocals and charisma on stage overshadowed the others (except for Jordan Knight). You can tell that McIntyre has incredible talent and a knack for being on stage. This was his element even though he's consistently performed on Broadway and worked in film since we last saw him in NKOTB.

The boys continued to remind the sold-out crowd of San Jose that they were by far, the best audience they have played to and the crowd simply ate it up. It didn't matter if NKOTB was lying or not, they were being praised by their idols. It didn't matter.

After fifteen years of silence, NKOTB was ready to party and so was every thirty-something woman in the Bay Area. They missed their idols. They missed the days when their lives were simple and they surrounded themselves with idol chatter about their favorite "New Kid". It all came back for one night and frankly it will be a night that won't be forgotten - even for me, the lonely male in the audience.