We started out our adventure at 3:30pm since it was a nearly 2 hour trip to the concert venue. I took a nap earlier in the day to ensure I wouldn't be crabby because I expected to encounter hours of mindless chatter. The conversation on the way there went surprisingly well. I thought I would have to endure story after story about her troll of a boyfriend but she actually focused most of her time talking about her twin sister and there's always mildly interesting drama there since she hates her husband. We had planned to get a good parking space by getting there early and then walking down the street to eat at a fabulous restaurant like chic city girls while we waited for the doors to open. Things of course did not go as planned.
We got there early and did get a great parking spot but the chic dinner we had planned didn't happen. We read online that there was a plethora of eating places just a few blocks from the venue so we walked down there in the rain only to find that everything had either closed early because it was Sunday or had closed months ago and never reopened. Our last option was the Hard Rock Cafe which is known for having terrible food but at least it has a fun atmosphere. We walked over there only to find that they had a 2 hour wait and that would make us late for the show so that was also a no go. We walked back to the venue hungry and decided to just nibble on something at the concession stand when the doors opened which of course was still an hour away so we stood outside in the humid air huddled close to the door to shield us from the rain. I had to endure a play-by-play of every text that her man was sending her and the only thing that got me through the longest 60 minutes of my life was the opportunity to people watch.
Going into this I wasn't sure about the type of people I would see there because the original New Kids fans would be in their 40's now with a few outliers like myself who were probably too young to be listening to them who were just now reaching 30. They have come out with a few new albums over the past few years and with the addition of Boyz II Men and 98 degrees, I imagined that there would be people of all ages here. From simple observation I can say that I found the average New Kids fan to be middle aged, overweight, and a lover of crocs. I normally don't really notice other people's fashion sense unless it's outlandishly bad or incredibly fabulous. Most people fall somewhere in between which is were I fall most of the time but I must say that a good 80% of the concertgoers were dressed so horribly I silently wept in honor of all the tasteful pieces of clothing that would be shipped off to outlet shopping centers and die there on the rack while these people chose to stuff boobs, butts, and other body parts I don't care to see into glittery spandex and calling it cute. The other 20% was a mix consisting of chicly dressed women (and a few men who they drug in with them) and some ambitious girls dressed in Bebe and 5 inch Steve Madden heels who probably hoped to get backstage.
The concert was called The Package Tour (insert giggles here). I believe it was titled this because there were 3 formerly popular boy bands all wrapped up into one hot little package for all the fans. Of course when I first heard the title something much more inappropriate came to mind but take from that what you will. The show promptly began at 7:30pm with Boyz II Men opening the show followed by 98 Degrees who each played about a 35 minute set. Boyz II Men were great as you would imagine but 98 degrees was just ok....vocally that is. Physically they were insane! I've always felt that Nick Lachey is kind douchebag but his body is tight. Anyway, at promptly 9:00pm one of my childhood dreams finally came to fruition.
The New Kids On the Block hit the stage and for two blissful hours I was merely feet away from the very 1st love of my life Joey McIntyre. I know I'm supposed to say that my father was the first man I ever loved but he was not nearly as cute nor did he show his emotions through song like Joey. My one-sided love affair with him began when I was merely 7 years old. It was legal because he was the youngest one in the group at age 16 but it was wildly inappropriate mainly because I actually wore pajamas with his face on it. He was the cause of my first impure thought. It wasn't grossly sexual because I didn't know what sex was at the time but I knew that I wanted to kiss him and do whatever else went along with that which I was told only grownups did. I would always dream that he was singing all those songs directly to me just like I did last night at the concert only now he's 40 years old and married to a model/real estate agent with 3 kids. I tried not to think about that while I was jumping up and down like a fool belting out syrupy pop ballads and grinning from ear to ear. Let me also give Mr. Jordan Knight an honorable mention here because he has a falsetto that could rival Justin Timberlake's and he also took off his shirt while singing a Prince medley. That dude is ripped and I was grateful. I have to hand it to all 5 of them because they sang and danced on a stage that spun, spit fire, smoke, and strobe lights while rising several feet in the air at separate intervals throughout the show and they never missed a beat. If I ever meet the 40 something man of my dreams I will expect him to do this now that I know it's possible. They sang all of my favorite songs from the past and present and even had 4 different clothing changes....ultimate turn on.
We left the venue with strained voices from all the screaming we did and silly grins after being in the presence of our childhood crushes. We were able to get out of the parking garage fairly quickly because we were parked close to the exit and we were headed towards the highway while the majority of the concertgoers will still exiting the building. Unfortunately, we didn't truly get a head start because the exit we needed to take was closed. The Sleeve proceeded to try and find the right detour but only got frustrated when she couldn't and began to yell, curse, and bang the steering wheel. I always thought that she was crazy but now I had visible evidence of it. At one point it got so uncomfortable that I thought she was going to kill someone and since I was the only other person in the car I quickly realized my fate. She eventually decided to go back and go the only other way she knew which took an extra 30 minutes but at least we got to the right exit and found a McDonald's that was still open so we could finally eat. It wasn't a perfect evening but totally worth the $100 I paid for the ticket.
No comments:
Post a Comment