On Tuesday night, I relived my youth and went to the NKOTBSB concert at the Burswood Dome.
New Kids on the Block were my first real obsession and the first time I had ever been star struck and ‘in love’ with a celebrity. Have you seen all those crazy girls going nuts over One Direction or what ever they’re called? Well that’s exactly how I was over New Kids on the Block. Jordan Knight and Donnie Wahlberg were my favourites.
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| Photo acknowledged to www.tvrage.com |
NKOTB were the reason I began fantasising about finding love and being in love. There was just something about a cute boy with nice abs jumping around singing ‘please don’t go girl, you’ll be ruining my whole world.’ I used to get so frustrated with the boys from school for not seeing love in this way. Didn’t they listen to the lyrics from all the NKOTB songs like ‘All that I wanted was you, you made all my dreams come true.’ Obviously, there came a time when I saw the error of my ways in this regard so to all the boys that I went out with when I was aged 10 to 15, I apologise for having such high expectations of you.
In 1991, when NKOTB announced their Australian Tour, Perth was going to miss out. There was a huge uproar amongst my fellow pre-teen and teen fans. There was even a protest which my old school friend, Ari, forced her mum to take her to. Another obsessed Perth fan cleverly organised petitions which fans could sign at their local newsagent. I didn’t make it to the protest but I got my mum to drive me to several newsagents around my area so I could sign as many petitions as possible. These petitions were sent to the organisers and shortly after, the tour was extended and a concert date was scheduled for Perth! Woooo hooooo!
I remember the excitement of getting our tickets and planning what to wear! On the day of the concert, I actually used some of my Christmas money and organised a hairdresser to come to my house to do my hair! Sadly, I do not have any photos of my buddies and I at the concert (or of my expensive hair do!) but Ari kindly allowed me to share this photo of her which was taken before the show.
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| Ari in 1991. Wasn’t she cute! |
I wish we had iphones back then. It wasn’t possible to take loads of photos of yourself like you can now. I am not a real fan of the camera but there are so many significant events from my past where there are just no photos and this is one of them.
At the concert, I was beside myself with excitement. I remember feeling jittery, I couldn’t eat and I had butterflies in my tummy. So there is no confusion, let me pause for just a minute here and remind you that this is 1991 that I am still talking about. When NKOTB came on stage, I was blown away with excitement. At 12 years of age, it was the first surreal moment of my life. There they were, in the flesh right in front of me. I cried and screamed and screamed and jumped and danced and screamed through the whole show.
My friends and I were so desperate to meet NKOTB and plotted our moves to get to the back of the Entertainment Centre before they left. Security was not an issue in 1991 so before the encore, we raced out of our seats and stood near the exit. It was such a hard decision – we didn’t want to miss the encore but we didn’t want to miss our moment of meeting them either. So, before the last song ended, we sprinted out the door and ran around the back of the Entertainment Centre and to our delight, we saw NKOTB on their little Coaster Bus which stopped and we got to say hi and touch their hands and Ari was even able to hand over the ‘I Love You’ teddy that you see in the above picture. They didn’t stay long because a hoard of girls started running towards us but I was so stoked that we were the first ones there and that I was such a fast runner! It’s amazing how fast you can run with the right motivation!
My fascination and obsession with NKOTB started to wane a few years later. I discovered Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch and set my sights on Mark Wahlberg and my loyalties have been with him ever since. I also started listening to Triple J and expanded my music tastes into other genres. I wasn’t really into Boy Bands later in high school or beyond so I missed out on appreciating the Back Street Boys.
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| Sorry, just had to put in a photo of Mark! Photo courtesy of Facebook |
On Tuesday night at the NKOTBSB concert, as I sat with my beautiful, smart and stylish friend Bec, I tried to relive the anticipation and excitement that I felt in 1991. And I just couldn’t get there. Sure I was excited but I was also feeling impatient. After Johnny Ruffo (who is a bit of a hottie by the way) finished his set, the NKOTBSB took so long to come out. Bec and I filled our time comparing iphone apps and she took a photo of me and showed me what I am going to look like when I am really old. It was pretty scary and not something I wish to see again! But there was no bouncing or jumping or fidgeting or butterflies or anything like that. Maybe I am just not a true NKOTB fan anymore…
Finally the boys were on stage and I soon found myself out of my seat dancing and singing and was surprised at how many songs from both groups I actually remembered.
When Donnie was singing Cover Girl, he changed the lyrics to ‘let’s get married, have babies and live here in Perth’ and then ripped off his shirt. The crowd went wild. If I had have been 12, I would have gone completely crazy at all of this. Although Donnie without his shirt on was very nice to see, these days it takes a bit more for me to go crazy like that. If Donnie had have sung ‘let’s get married and I will never leave my shit laying around and you can go out and spend all my money while I clean the house’ and then ripped his shirt off, then yeah, I probably would have gone uncontrollably nuts.
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| Donnie Wahlberg NKOTBSB concert Perth Photo acknowledged to Nova FM |
NKOTB were awesome and they have definitely still got it for men of 40 – hot bodies, good looking and they can sing and dance. What more could you want for a night of entertainment and a bit of a perve? I am so glad I saw them again. Even though there were no attempts to go back stage or to chase them back to their hotel, it was an awesome and fun night and I thank Bec for sharing it with me this time around.
Did you go to the NKOTBSB concert? What did you think?
Hi Suzanne!
I was a part of those protests back in the day, here in Perth. I can remember the satisfaction and happiness, when it was announced, we had been heard!!
I recall, heading down to Freo at 3am to line up for tickets.
I recall a bunch of us, trying to find them in the Sheraton, where they were staying and running from security lol.
I recall, at 17, crying and screaming through the whole concert haha.
So, I felt so fortunate to be able to relive that experience on Tuesday, some 20 years later.
I didn’t cry, but I did plenty of screaming. I felt like a teen again…and boy, did it feel great!
They were as good as they have ever been, and I can most definitely say, it was one of the best nights of my life!
I never stopped being a New Kid’s fan, and to see the guys again…all around my age, so I didn’t feel stupid dancing and singing along, was such an adrenaline rush! My favourite, Joey, was amazing…as always! I’ve followed both his music and acting career, over the years.
I also loved the Backstreet Boys…such talented guys!
🙂
Loved reading it… Hmmmm looks like Donnie still has a rocking body! 🙂 Jordan used to be my favourite though!