To be 14 again

Not only is it George's birthday, but it's been a month since I saw New Kids on the Block in Vancouver! And I realize I never told the tales and showed the pictures.

Way back in October, at work, I was surfing around and found tickets for NKOTB for $20. So I ran around the office and gathered up four other girls who loved them like I did. One girl drove, another one got us a steal of a hotel deal at Hotel Vancouver, and we were off.

Our dear colleague, Roddy, sent over a bottle of mandarin vodka that we polished off while doing hair and make up. We got giddier and giddier (read: tippier) as the evening wore on. Then we walked over to GM Place and I was all of a sudden 14 again.

Our seats were nosebleed seats, but they DID afford us this view of the stage:

And this:
And I turned into this:
Yes, those are binoculars... MY binoculars. And yes, that is beer being drunk through a straw. Like I said... we all turned into 14 year olds again.

I screamed until I was hoarse. I screamed so hard my head hurt and I went a bit dizzy. I jumped and danced and I am not ashamed to say that tears welled up a few times. I LOVED NKOTB when I was a kid. Loved them! It was probably unhealthy, but whatever. So this concert was a dream come true.

I was prepared for the cheese. I thought the tack-factor for this concert was going to be off the scale. But no. NKOTB are fine performers. No lip-synching. Their dancing was good for 40 year-olds. And they totally played up the audience. They sang a lot of old songs, some of which I forgot I knew. I was blown away. I fell in love all over again.

Thankfully, Joey's balls have dropped and he sounds like a man when he sings. Jordan still does his falsetto. Danny did some break-dancing and Donnie was a complete showboat. Jonathan was quiet and seemed shy still. Danny was once my favourite. I had a soft-spot for the underdog. But Donnie is my new favourite. He and Joey have aged the best.

Some of the most fun of the night happened in the beer lineups. Natch, it was pretty much all girls, and a lot of them dressed in their old NKOTB gear. I saw a satin jacket that I envied in 1989. But some girls dressed in neon and wore ponytails on the sides of their heads. NOT NKOTB gear, might I add. They were not at a Wham! concert. Despite that, I made friends with them...
(That's my friend, Tasha on the right)
It was so worth the 18 year wait. And I still know all the words after all this time.

Hangin' Tough-inly Yours,
xoxoSallyS