New Kids on the Block in Concert

Y'all, I saw New Kids on the Block in concert this week and it was fabulous. I'm not even sure I have the words to describe how great it was, but I will certainly give it my best shot. 

A few months ago I received an email that NKOTB was coming to Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. My friends Candy and Kendra had seen them a couple of years ago when they were in Nashville and at that time I had no idea they were even touring. C and K kept talking about how great the show was; so. when I saw they were coming to Nashville, I asked them if they wanted to go. Long story short, we bought tickets. There were five of us who got tickets... me, Candy, Kendra, out friend Amy and Kendra's roommate Courtney. 

We have been so excited about this show ever since we got tickets and finally this Wednesday the day arrived! Candy came to my house a little before 3:00 p.m. and we hit the road pretty soon after she arrived. We made one stop at the Elkton exit to pick up Amy who lives around the corner from that exit and then we made our way to Nashville. There was a lot of traffic (of course) as people were getting off work and lanes were merging because of construction, but we managed to get parked around 5:30 p.m. I paid for the parking spot and did not get a receipt so then I had to call a customer service number which no one answered and then emailed a lady whose information I found online and another long story short, she confirmed we would not be towed for the night which was a great comfort to me. 

We ate dinner at one of my favorite Nashville spots, Demos' (they seriously have the best 1000 Island dressing of all time) and were done with plenty of time to walk the three tenths of a mile to the arena. We met Kendra and Courtney at the concert. They were supposed to have met us for dinner but were stuck in traffic and couldn't make it. So, while we were eating, Kendra managed to exchange our tickets for handicapped seats. Kendra, Candy and Courtney are all little people and so the handicapped seats make it much easier for them to see the show since no one is directly in front of the handicapped row. The seats were really great and I think we were all pleased with our location. 

The concert got off to a late start (not surprising) and Nelly opened the show for about 30 minutes or so. Y'all, I had no idea there were so many Nelly fans in the world. I feel like everyone but me was singing along and waving arms in the air like they just didn't care. I actually went and got a coffee during his performance because it wasn't doing much for me. I'm not a fan by any stretch of the imagination. The second act was TLC and they did a good job. I only knew about three of their songs, two of which were Scrubs and Waterfalls because who doesn't know those songs? 

Finally a little after 9:00 p.m. NKOTB came on the stage and the place went even wilder than it had for Nelly and TLC. I've been to a lot of concerts in my time on this earth, but I think this one contained the most screaming of any other concert I've ever intended. I thought my eardrums might explode before the night was over. NKOTB sang for around two hours and had two or three outfit changes. The stage, which was the length of the arena,  moved up and down in various sections and there were lots of pyrotechnics, streamers, confetti, etc. Their choreography was even more fantastic than it was the last time I saw them 26 years ago. They had so much energy and got the crowd involved. They went into the crowd and danced with people, brought people up on stage, etc. The atmosphere was electric and really just so, so much fun! Carrie Underwood was also there as a member of the audience! She had requested them to sing a song and they sang it for her and they showed her and her friends on the screens in the arena. It was such a fun night. I was surprised at how great the show was. I thought it would be okay but had no idea I would leave there blown away by how much fun the night was. I would go see them again in a heartbeat. I'm ranking this one in my top 10 concerts - it was that good. I know, I can hardly believe it either!  

When the show was over, we walked back to the car and as promised, there was no ticket or boot on the car so we were good to go. We hit the open road, dropped Amy off in Elkton, and made it back to Huntsville by 1:15 a.m. on Thursday. Another successful trip to a Nashville concert and so worth the trip. Can't wait for the next NKOTB show. Feeling like a 12 year old is fun!