So, yes. My sister and I went to the NKOTB concert last night here in town. Honestly, I would not have gone had my sister not wanted to go. Back when I was 14, they were my first concert ever at the Montreal Forum (which has long since been demolished and turned into a mall). I THINK it was March 24, 1990. My sister was too young to go at only 11. When it was announced that the New Kids were getting back together and their tour was stopping in Montreal, I didn’t really care. I don’t really like that kind of music anymore, and face it, that part of my life is behind me. It was fun while it lasted, but Joseph, you didn’t propose soon enough and I chose Shawn over you. Your loss. My gain.
My sister however, mentioned how she would love to go to this concert with me because she had always wanted to go in 1990. And since my sister and I are finally getting along (trust me, there is sorid history there) I thought, why the heck not. It’ll be a fun thing to do and it means a lot to her. So we dished out the too much money to go and then last night, we went.
Here’s the thing. Concerts at the Bell Centre aren’t the best. But I have been to a few where at least you could HEAR what the artists were singing or saying. You could actually IDENTIFY the songs when they started, not wait until halfway through before figuring out – Hey! I KNOW this song!
The sounds was crap and the screens weren’t really set up very well for the audience. I always went to shows where the screens were there to sort of help the fans who were too far away to see what was going on better. Apparently their idea for these screens were more artistic and unhelpful to those of us way up in the nosebleeds. They kept shining stupid lights on the already dim screen and blocking the image. Or they would show little word graphics to go with the song – animations, I might add, that looked like they CAME from 1988!
Even the old school songs they broke out (which were many) were hard to identify. I know it’s been years since I have listened to, or sang a New Kids song, but I should at least be able to tell what they are singing. It wasn’t the 13,000 screaming fans that made it hard to hear, it was the exceptionally poor sound quality. Debbie was able to make out more of what they were saying during the talking parts, and Shawn thinks we should chalk that up to “a Mother’s ears” since she has to try and figure out what her 2-year old is saying, she can understand hard to hear mumblings. Heh. Donnie Wahlberg did most of the talking, and I have to say, he’s a funny guy. Even on the vlog things they have on their webpage, he makes me laugh. He’s always been the talker though. My Joseph (who is apparently married and a father now. Fine. I can handle that. It was supposed to be ME, but I have Shawn now and my two dogs and I am happy. He’s the one who lost out on the awesomeness that is Cat.) was actually pretty handsome looking at the start. I must admit my heart did do a little flutter at one point when I was actually able to see him on screen. However, the solo near the end? Where he did this “Hey, I was on Dancing with the Stars, you know” segment? (Which was really him crawling on the floor like Patrick Swayze in Dirty Dancing, only less fabulous – and I don’t even LIKE that movie.) Um, thanks. But no. Just stick to the “we’re old” hip-hop moves (less hopping and more watching you don’t break the hip). And what the hell was up with that black and silver shirt? You looked like an extra from Mork and Mindy!
But the best part? The BEST part, my friends? Well, that was when the lights went down, then came on with smoke and a silhouette of Jordan Knight in a white shirt, black pants and BAM! Ripped open shirt, billowing in the wind as he sang (God only knows what) with the wind in his hair, in profile and shirt whipping around him.
Oh. My. God. Did we laugh. And laugh, and laugh. And cry because we were laughing so hard. It was beyond cheese. It was so ridiculous we just couldn’t believe it was happening. the horrid cell phone photo to the right there? Well that’s his scrawny chest with the shirt billowing. I suddenly, at that moment, wished I had decided to bring my camera. The blurry, crappy cell photo is the best I could do. I just HAD to capture this moment because my sister and I will laugh about it for the rest of our lives. You know what it was? A complete rip-off of the Michael Jackson version of this. But I can’t think of the video it was in. Black and White? Smooth Criminal?
I was happy I went. I sat pretty much the entire time (which is what us old people like to do at concerts). I was happy to hear Games (which I can’t download ANYWHERE! That album isn’t even available for sale anymore. I liked some songs on that one. Drat.) and I thought some of their songs might not have sucked too bad. Only I am not sure, because I couldn’t really HEAR them. I had to look up a set list to even know what the heck was going on. I might like a couple of their new songs, only on the album they aren’t as fun sounding as at the concert. I did download their single “Summertime” from iTunes. I am sure Shawn will be thrilled when that comes on when we’re in the car. Heh.
This morning, though. I feel like crap. The lady in front of us had this awful perfume on that made me sick and I am dizzy and exhausted. I would have been happier if the concert had started at 6PM and I could have been home by 9:30. 
I’m too old for this stuff.
