My First NKOTB Concert

My First NKOTB Concert (A Jon Girl’s Perspective)

By DJ Loop D Loop

I honestly don’t know where to begin. I am still coming down from the highs of that night. I’ve been to many concerts, seen different artists in the past, and I have watched the older concerts from NKOTB on YouTube, but nothing prepared me for that night. It was all a very surreal experience.

That morning, I woke up at 8 am, even though the concert was in Merriweather, which was only a few hours away from my house and didn’t start until later that evening. I knew I had to pace myself, but that still didn’t matter to me. I was still ready to go about an hour before we left.

Now I should warn everyone that I went with a non-New Kids fan, which is my sister. With that being said, she dreaded going. We ended up leaving later than I would have liked to. Due to construction on the road, we got a little lost and had to re-route ourselves a few times, which made my anxiety act up. I was thinking that I was going to miss something. We did make it on time - about 30 minutes before the show started. It was a smaller venue than I am used to. I was glad because it meant I was going to be closer to our five favorite guys.

They had a smaller opening act in the beginning, who was trying to get the crowd pumped up. However, to be honest, they were not the best, but most of the crowd tried to get pumped. It wasn’t until Salt-N-Pepa hit the stage that you could feel the excitement in the venue. It felt like I was at any other concert when the ladies were on stage. Don’t get me wrong; their performance was amazing, and they did great, but they just weren’t who I was there to see. Once Salt-NPepa left the stage, you could REALLY feel the excitement in the air. It wasn’t until about 30 - 45 minutes later that NKOTB finally came out. That, however, did give people a chance to run and get drinks, which is exactly what my sister did because I was glued to my spot, metaphorically speaking. It also gave me a chance to get to know some of the other blockheads around me. The funny thing is, I could not tell you anyone’s names from that night. They were very kind people and kept checking on me throughout the entire show just to make sure I was doing ok.

The lights finally dimmed again and almost immediately the crowd stood to their feet. People were screaming and hollering. The music started and the stage lit up. On the big screen, they showed each guy singing the beginning verse of, “We Were Here”. I saw Jordan first and started shaking. I automatically took out my phone and started to record. I saw Joe and Donnie, and then I started to shake even more. Then, I saw Jon on the screen and my eyes started to fill with tears. I held it together when I saw Danny. Suddenly, lights flashed, and the curtains came down. I was overcome with so many emotions that I’ve held in for 33 years, waiting to see these 5 men. I started to cry. I didn’t even notice Danny was on my side of the stage. All I could do was look at Jon. It is all such a dream-like trance that I was in.

The next thing I could fully recall was them doing the quick-change cam and coming back out on stage. During the quick-change cam, the lady in front of me told me that she didn’t think that the guys were going to come out into the audience like they normally do, which was fine with me because I knew with Covid that they were going to take a lot of precautions. They came back on stage and Donnie, of course, just had to be in the crowd. They did, however, take safety measures and only went to certain marked-off areas. I honestly didn’t think I would see Jon up close and personal. Danny actually caught my eye first, as he was in my line of sight. Suddenly, I felt someone tap my shoulder. It was my sister. She was pointing out to me that one of the guys was actually closer to us. But I didn’t care. I was thinking it was Joey or maybe Jordan. She took ahold of me and moved me. I thought, “Ok, maybe she was taking pictures for me of Danny”. As she turned my head, I saw none other than Jonathan Knight!! He was literally less than 50 feet from me! At that point, I was so excited, that I became a jumbled mess. The next thing I knew, the concert was over. I went through so many emotions, that even a day later, it was hard to express.

We walked out to get merchandise. As we stood in line, my sister and I discussed how awesome the show was. I really cannot put it into words. You just really have to go and experience it for yourself. I will say this - my sister, who has never been a NKOTB fan, came out as a Donnie girl that night. She still doesn’t consider herself a blockhead, but I am convinced that she is now. She was already talking to me about planning to go to another concert. She even walked away with her own t-shirt.

As for me, my love for all 5 of the guys grew stronger. I didn’t know how much I could fall in love with every single one of them. They are very special men who have changed the way I view any artist. It was definitely a highlight to my day, month, year, and life. It was the best time ever, and well worth the 33-year wait!