free to be bree.

When I last left you, I explained the single most gratifying concert-going experience of my life. Crissy and I planned on hitting up the afterparty following the Columbus, Ohio show, but, alas, there was none. Donnie Wahlberg & Jordan Knight boarded a plane and departed for NYC about 30 minutes post-show. The two of them collaborated on Jordan’s new single “Stingy,” and were flying back to New York for a party where the were premiering the music video for it. So no after party for us. That also meant we were unable to attempt our first Waffle House visit with Donnie. We did, however, stop at Waffle House on our own on the way back to New Jersey on Tuesday morning.

By Thursday, we were itching for some more NKOTB. Fortunately for us, Donnie’s buddy (I think it’s his assistant or something) Johnny tweeted about an afterparty in Atlantic City on Friday night at Dusk nightclub in Caesar’s Palace. If you purchased one of 50 VIP tickets, all proceeds went to the charity Show Your Hearts. We snagged 2 of the VIP tickets, and went down to AC for the night. 

Upon arriving (and after making a mad rush to the bathroom because I had to pee worse than I ever did in my life. TMI? Whatevs.), we checked in with Johnny around 11, got our VIP bracelets, and headed down into the club to the VIP area reserved behind the DJ booth. 

Donnie & Jordan arrived right at 12:30. They entered behind the VIP, stopped to say hello to a few people, and went right to the front of the DJ Booth. Naturally, they got the crowd riled up right away. They had Donnie’s friend Kevin DJing, and he played anything they told him to. They changed the words of “Mickey” by Toni Basil so that we were yelling “Hey Donnie! Hey Jordan!” 

Jordan also performed 2 songs from his new CD: “Stingy” and “Let’s Go Higher.” Immediately following his performance, Jordan came back and wandered around the VIP, mingling with the girls back there, stopping to talk, taking pictures. It was also the point in time where I got some snapshots of hilarious Jordan faces.

Donnie stuck more to the front of the house. He came back through the VIP area once, and gave all the girls close enough kisses. Crissy and I happened to be close enough. He then went right back out front and got down. He was taking his shirt off, letting girls grope him, hung out by the “stripper poles”— just the typical Donnie Wahlberg shenanigans. 

The rest of the night was filled with just having a grand old time. Jordan wandered all over the club, but spent a good amount of time in the VIP area. Donnie treated the party almost entirely as a performance. Jordan took pictures with us (he actually took my camera from me to take the picture of the two of us, was thoroughly confused by my camera, and I had to teach him how to use it), had tons of hugs to go around, danced, everything. He was phenomenal. At the end of the night, Donnie was wasted. Like, seriously wasted. He had to have a number of security guards around him as he went through the VIP area. He stopped to take pictures with a number of girls, but by the time he got by us, the guards were surrounding him, and just trying to get him out so they could close the club. I still managed to get to him for my own picture though.

So that was it. A little while after the Donnie picture, we left the club. We went to bid adieu to Johnny at the entrance, Crissy picked up an autographed copy of Jordan’s CD “Unfinished,” and we made our way back to the car for our trek home. We made it back home around 5am. It was all worth it. What a memorable night!

Here it is!! My big, giant NKOTB Extravaganza! Hold onto your hats, ladies and gentlemen, because a big huge ball of bubblegum pop sugar coated with ice cream and lollipops! Or, I should say, “suckers” because that’s what they call them in Ohio. And I should clarify that I mean Pop Music, not soda pop, because they also call soda “pop” out there. Crazy people. I digress.

So Sunday, the 24th, Crissy & I checked into our hotel around 2:00, primped a little (we got mostly ready at her sister’s house), and headed off down the street to the venue for 3:30. We met some nice girls while waiting to get checked in, and ended up spending the rest of the pre-show activities with them. We got checked in, picked up our VIP laminates, and were lead up to an area where we were given complimentary drinks (I’m guessing to calm nerves?) and snacks of cookies, chips, & popcorn. 

After about an hour, they started bringing groups of 10 in to meet the guys for their photo op. We were in group D, so we went in fairly quickly. Crissy & I had so much nervous energy coursing through our veins. When we got inside, I was abruptly hugged then pushed on by Danny Wood. I was OK with that though because up next was my beloved Donnie. I hugged Donnie, then turned around and told him to read the back of my shirt, which I had designed to look like a Tweet @ him & Joey McIntyre. He rubbed my back the whole way down as he read the message. The only thing keeping my knees from buckling was that Joey was next in line, and I had to make sure I made him read my shirt too. He told me Thank You, That’s Sweet, then hugged me, and on I went to Jordan Knight. I don’t really remember my hug from him too much. Last, but certainly not least, was Jonathan Knight, who gave me the biggest, longest, embraciest hug of them all. In fact, I even told him that he was the best hugger of the group. Just then “Turn for your picture!” was called, so Jon and I looped arms around each other, turned, and smiled. Crissy ended up with Jordan. Although neither of us were with our “intended” gentlemen, we were still delightfully pleased to be where we were.

We were then quickly ushered out of the room so the next group could come in. We picked up our VIP Gift bags, which included a drawstring backpack, tshirt, boyshort underwear, and a sleep mask, and listened to Matthew Morrison sound checking. (For the record, his sound check was more entertaining than his actual performance.) 

At this show, our seats were in the front row right at the end of the “penis stage,” as it is known. We were able to see right down the catwalk, and were also at the end of our row, so any time the guys entered or exited the stage through the audience, it was right past us. It was magical, to say the least. 

Howie Dorough (my favorite BSB— don’t judge) almost pulled me on stage for “I’ll Never Break Your Heart.” He pointed at me (and my awesomely sweet sign for him), nodded, smiled, and mouthed something. I went to walk through the gate, security stopped me and let another girl in the gate (I think they chose girls during their VIP). When I went back by Crissy, I asked her what Howie mouthed to me, and she said “I think he said ‘Sorry.’” Crap. So close! Though, later, he did grab my hand, as he walked though the crowd. 

There was a lot of love from the BSB guys. Brian did a silly “peace sign” dance at me, AJ was pointing to me & waving to me, I got a bunch of winks from Howie, and Nick barely interacted with the audience. New Kids, on the other hand, were much more about their performances, and waited until the very end of the show to do any great deal of interacting with the audience. I had a “WOO”-off with Jordan, got some smiles & waves from Joey, and (my personal favorite moment of the night) got Donnie’s attention to read my “Waffle House Virgin” sign, which made him laugh AND come down from the stage to me to grab my hand. I should have grabbed him or hugged him or something, but I froze at the fact that I got him to come directly to me. 

OK. That’s enough babble from me about the night. Here’s some eye candy. Enjoy!

In our next installment, Donnie Wahlberg & Jordan Knight’s Atlantic City Afterparty…

I know it’s easy for most people to scoff at me when they hear that my cousin Crissy and I are taking an 8 hour road trip to Columbus, Ohio to see our 3rd NKOTBSB concert of this tour. It will be my 6th New Kids on the Block concert overall, and her 8th. Considering all 6 of my concert experiences with these guys have been within the last 3 years, along with the fact that I am technically considered too young to have been so into this group in the first place, only adds to the judgement from my less New Kids-minded peers. The thing most people don’t understand is that this has been a life-long thing for me and Crissy.

 Back in the late 80s, my sister and our cousin Dana, were more in lines with the younger-end of the New Kids on the Block fan spectrum. They were in the age group of little girls that Donnie Wahlberg would bring onstage for a “Cover Girl” serenade and dance. We, on the otherhand, were the 3- and 4-year-olds wanting to be just like our older sister and cousins, who loved to sing and dance around to their cassette tapes.

Crissy even got the chance to attend her first New Kids on the Block concert at the ripe old age of 4! Armed with earplugs for the little ones, my brave aunt, who was battling breast cancer at the time, took her 4-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son (who was also into NKOTB, though he denies the allegations despite photographic proof) to see their favorite band. My aunt lost her battle to breast cancer soon after, but not before writing a heartfelt letter to Crissy. In it, she explained that, when you’re living with cancer, you want to make the most out of everything in life. For her, that meant sharing a special concert event with her kids that they’d never forget. She didn’t care that my uncle thought $50 was too expensive for concert tickets (if he’d only known that that’s what we spend on our CHEAP seats now!). The fact is, they never did forget it, and it’s something Crissy has held near and dear to her heart ever since.

I, on the other hand, started Kindergarten and made my first (non-related) best friend as a result of New Kids on the Block. On our first show-and-tell day, Stacey, the sweet yet rambunctious girl in my class, brought her Joey McIntyre doll to show off. I. Could. Have. Died.  You mean, someone else in the world besides me & Crissy loves Joey McIntyre?! We quickly became BFFS after that. 

Around that time, New Kids on the Block (though they were going by NKOTB by then) were starting to peter out. No longer were their songs age-appropriate for the most diminutive of their fans. Before long, the group had disbanded. While Crissy, Stacey, and I were heartbroken, we kept the New Kids spirit alive. At a time when it wasn’t cool to listen to defunct pop groups, we’d hold “secret” viewing parties in one of our basements. We’d hang old TigerBeat centerfolds on the walls, don New Kids on the Block t-shirts that were getting increasingly smaller as we were getting bigger, and perform perfect choreography as the Hangin’ Tough, Hangin’ Tough Live, and Step by Step VHS tapes rolled on in our VCRs. Embarrassingly enough, we’d even dance with the vertical support beams in my basement, each pretending we were dancing with Joey McIntyre. The New Kids love never died.

Through the years, Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC came along to help fill the void left by the absence of the New Kids. Joey McIntyre and Jordan Knight had their successful solo singles, and Donnie Wahlberg was in The Sixth Sense, which I was too scared to watch (I’ve since seen it). That helped keep the NK-Connection intact. Then, suddenly, there was a spontaneous campaign to get old NKOTB videos on the TRL countdown. We did it! They were back! But only for a short time.

Finally, in 2008, as Crissy and I were getting ready to graduate college, we got word that there might be a New Kids reunion. There’d been talk of it a few times before, but now NKOTB.com was live. It didn’t bear much information, but it was there. It had to mean something. Before we knew it, there was a Today Show performance scheduled in NYC. We couldn’t attend because it happened to fall on the same morning as Crissy’s commencement ceremonies. My Godmother quickly got ahold of her brother’s AMEX so that she could access the NKOTB presale and order tickets for her daughter (who is even younger and an even less likely NKOTB fan! she was only 3 when they BROKE UP!), me, Crissy, and my sister. 

On September 23, 2008, Crissy’s 23rd birthday, because it seems all things New Kids happen on important dates for Crissy, the 4 of us giggled and squealed our way to the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, NJ for our first (Crissy’s 2nd) New Kids on the Block concert! It was magical, to say the least. I wanted to laugh, cry, scream. It was over all too soon. Which ended up being OK because that November, Crissy and I decided to drive up to Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, CT to meet up with her friend Jenn who had moved to Vermont, and to see New Kids and do it all over again.

Another concert opportunity presented itself 8 months later in June of 2009. Crissy, my 7-months-pregnant sister Vicki, and I drove out to Long Island to see the guys yet again at Jones Beach. 

Then, early in August of 2009, the most amazing thing happened. I was fairly new to Twitter, and the New Kids guys were some of the first I followed. Donnie Wahlberg tweeted that he was going to have a birthday bash at one of the nightclubs in Mohegan Sun. I immediately IMed Crissy. At first, I mentioned it in jest, but then we got serious talking about taking the drive up one more time. I found out the on-sale date & time and got the Mohegan Sun box office phone number. I started dialing the second tickets went on sale. 

Dial. Busy. Dial. Busy. Dial. Busy. Dial. Busy. Dial. Busy. Dial. Mohegan Sun Box Office.

I DID IT! I gave all of my payment information and was told that my 2 tickets would be waiting for my at will call. I got back up to my computer to see a tweet that the event was already sold out! Whew, just made it.

We drove up, primped in the car, and marched our hot stuff through the casino to the bar where the “Pre-party” would be taking place. Just before doors to the club were about to open, Donnie came in to greet all of his Pre-Partiers. He tried to hug as many people as possible, even getting me and Crissy in together on one embrace. It was perfect. The two cousins who had shared this BlockHeadedness for so long, got equal share in the arms of Donnie Wahlberg. After a general greeting from the D.Dub, we all moved into the club for a night of fun, dancing, and performances from the Dub-man himself. I even got the chance to hold his hand for a while. Then, by Donnie’s request, the night ended with individual greetings and pictures with everyone in attendance. Thus began my shift from Joey Girl to Donnie Girl. 

Since then, Crissy got to go to one of their nights at Radio City Music Hall where Naughty By Nature performed with them, though I couldn’t afford it at the time, so I (begrudgingly) passed. We both unexpectedly gifted each other homemade NKOTB-themed Christmas presents. Then got to attend the NKOTBSB show twice: once with the biggest group we’ve ever had at a concert— 16 girls, and the other time with the smallest group we’ve ever gone with— just the two of us! 

Then Crissy did something to shock and amaze me. She took a cue from her mother, who took her to that first New Kids concert that started it all so many years ago, and decided that she wanted to go to a New Kids concert with the 5 Star VIP experience, and meet them all. She said she didn’t know if she’d ever get this chance again, and wanted to grab hold of it. And she wanted me to be a part of it with her. Knowing I’ve been unemployed and unable to afford it, Crissy offered to foot the bill, saying “You can get me back on the *NSYNC reunion tour.”

We are so excited just to get a few minutes with them. Crissy can’t wait to talk to Danny since they both lost their mothers to breast cancer. She is going to bring a copy of the speech she gave at the Komen Benefit she held in May to give to Danny so that he can read it, especially the part that explains her letter about taking her to that first New Kids on the Block concert. I’m hoping I can keep my wits about me and say something slightly more intelligent than “I love you. I just love you.” We are also amped to finally be the girls in the front row who we were always jealous of in Hangin’ Tough and Step by Step video tapes. Because the date geographically closest to us is sold out, she planned one of our famous roadtrips. Therefore, on July 22nd, we will be embarking on a drive westward to Columbus, OH for the July 24th show.

So there it is. It’s not for everyone, but it’s special to us. What’s even better is that I’ve gotten to experience this BlockHead journey with my best friend, who I happen to share blood with, by my side. Hopefully this isn’t the end, because I’m ecstatic to find out what excitement the next chapter of this all has to bring.