NKOTB 11-2008

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nkotbthing.com

11

01-15

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USA MIAMI HERALD 11.02.2008 www.miamiherald..com

KIDS, THEY'VE BEEN AROUND THE BLOCK IT'S BEEN 14 YEARS SINCE NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK TOURED TOGETHER, SO OBVIOUSLY, THE BOY BAND ISN'T MADE UP OF BOYS ANYMORE. BUT SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE BANKATLANTIC CENTER IN SUNRISE, THE GUYS -- BROTHERS JORDAN AND JONATHAN KNIGHT, JOEY MCINTYRE, DONNIE WAHLBERG AND DANNY WOOD -- WILL TRY TO PROVE THEY'VE STILL GOT THE PIPES AND DANCE MOVES THAT MADE THE GIRLS SQUEAL IN THE LATE '80S AND '90S. WOOD TALKED TO US ABOUT THE REUNION TOUR, WHY HE MOVED FROM BOSTON TO MIAMI AND THE LOSS OF HIS MOTHER TO BREAST CANCER IN 1999.

Did it take long to get back into shape? ``I've always been in shape, so it didn't take me any time. For some of the guys, it took a little bit . . . It took us about a week to get acclimated, but once we got rolling, everyone just fell right back into place.''

You've lived in South Florida 11 years now. ``You never can take the Boston out of a Bostonraised kid. I really do not like the cold, and there's no better place to be. I live on 69th and Biscayne, and I've lived on Alton Road and the Grove.''

What can we expect from your show? ``It's high-energy; we're dancing for almost two hours. There'll be surprises for people who haven't seen the show yet -- a lot of people have been going to multiple shows, so we've been changing it up a little bit. And we've been getting good reviews, so that's a bit different for us this time around.''

What's your favorite thing about it? ``I'll do things like on Christmas Day I'll be at the beach, and I'll take a picture and send it to all my friends who are freezing their a---- off in Boston or New York.''

Does the term 'boy band' bother you? ``It wasn't used when we were around, because we were the only ones. That phrase came after us, so for us it's not an issue.''

Your lost your mother to breast cancer and still are working to push your rememberbetty.org website, listing it on your new album. What has this ordeal taught you? ''The main thing I've learned is that when someone passes away, the relationship doesn't die with the person. It's still emotional, especially [touring] again.

Some of the last memories I have of my mom -- I was there when she died -- are some of the most beautiful memories for me now, when they used to be the most painful memories. It's a big deal for me to keep her memory alive for my daughters,'' ages 9 and 10.

Any places you could recommend? ``I'm not a big club dude -- I've been to all the clubs, and the names change so much. Is it still called Mansion? I'm a family man, so I go out once in a while. Restaurants? Soyka is one of my favorites. It's in my neighborhood, so I can take my kids there. And Sushi Siam. I'm not big on all the Prime 112 places, the showy places.''

You've produced tracks for Donnie's brother Mark.

Both of you are pretty ripped. Think you could take him? ``I don't know. Mark's pretty tough. With any of the Wahlbergs it would be a tough one. One of the other brothers, Jim, lives in Pembroke Pines, and he's a good friend of mine. They're all tough. Their name was notorious in Boston growing up. It'd be a good fight. I couldn't say I'd take him, but I'm not gonna say he couldn't take me, too.''

nkotbthing.com USA NKTV 11.02.2008 www.nkotb.com

nkotbthing.com USA SUN SENTINEL 11.02.2008 www.sun-sentinel.com

RESURGENT NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK BRING REUNION TOUR TO SUNRISE

By Sean Piccoli

SUNRISE - One can imagine the crooners who made up New Kids on The Block grumbling at the sight of their replacements.

"That's our bit!" would not have been an out-of-bounds reaction to Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync -- the next couple of funky, five-piece Caucasian boy bands to rule the world after New Kids were decomissioned. So it might be extra-satisfying for the reunited Kids to be coming back right now, 15 years later, because they face no real competition. ( Jonas Brothers, who are basically Weezer for gradeschoolers, don't count. They're a guitar band.) Sure, Backstreet's back, but nothing like before. And 'N Sync might have to wait for a stall-out of Justin Timberlake's torrid solo career.

The boy-band field is wide open, even to these guys in their 30s. Nobody would call them "boyish" today, but in concert at BankAtlantic Center on Saturday night, New Kids on the Block still knew the songs and the dance steps that endeared them to a nation of pre-teen girls. Their two-hour set also included standout tracks from from a bona-fide hit new album, The Block. Far from banking just on nostalgia, New Kids are bidding for relevancy.

What helped their cause was the lively mix of styles in their set. The New Kids' music ranged from old-school electro-pop of My Favorite Girl and the P-Funk bass stylings of You Got It (The Right Stuff) to the state-of-the-art edits of Grown Man -- which was, in essence, New Kids borrowing back from Justin Timberlake years after 'N Sync had borrowed from them. There were teary ballads, r&b-rap hybrids, dance-rock throwdowns and enough pop variety to keep the band and the crowd engaged.

Jordan Knight, Jonathan Knight, Danny Wood, Joey McIntyre and Donnie Wahlberg went about their singing and footwork on Saturday with an air of resolve. They weren't joyless, but for much of the evening there was a determined, nose-to-the-grindstone feel to the performance. They were serious about entertaining, and they had an avid crowd of 10,000 encouraging them all the way.

They loosened up toward the end of the set, poking fun at the poses that each Kid struck for a video freeze frame of the final note of Click Click Click. "John's kind of a stoic," McIntyre quipped. Stoicism is not a quality one associates with boy bands, but it must have taken some to sit on the sidelines for 15 years and then believe that people would notice a comeback.

nkotbthing.com USA SEATTLE TIMES 11.02.2008 www.seattletimes.com

CONFESSIONS OF AN NKOTB FAN THE NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK WILL PERFORM NOV. 22 AT THE TACOMA DOME.

By Marian Liu

There are certain artists you just can't admit loyalties to, certain guilty pleasures on your iPod lineup.

Like who? Anyone who came to fame on "American Idol"; musical soundtracks; or, simply, Barry Manilow. Fans of such artists get nicknames — Fanilows, Claymates and Arch Angels.

But, hey, I'll be loud and proud about it: I love New Kids on the Block — an admission which also outs my age (or at least my generation). Ask any girl what boy band she relates to — New Kids, *NSYNC, Good Charlotte or Jonas Brothers — and you can immediately figure out what generation she's in. (Another way to do this? Saturday-morning cartoon shows ... "Care Bears," "Power Rangers " or "Pokémon.")

So, when news hit that the '90s boy band was touring again, I immediately asked to cover its show at the Tacoma Dome on Nov. 22 (not that anybody else wanted to, but still, just in case). And as I was readying my pitch by doing "research" (read that: "checking out their old videos on YouTube"), I couldn't help but dance at my cubicle. "Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh." I grew up in a strict household and was forbidden to attend their concert as an elementary-school kid. So I had to live vicariously through my lucky friends who got to trek out late on a school night. When they all came to class the next day with brightly colored concert shirts, hanging down to their knees (we were tiny back then), I was jealous. But I still hung on their every word, as they recounted the best day of their lives.

NKOTB was my very first musical influence, the very first band to hit my ears and my very first crush. I remember they were the subject of my first dragged-out, no-holds-barred debate — Joey or Jordan? The answer would divide friends into warring camps.

I liked Joey. I liked his curly hair (the same reason I liked Justin Timberlake of *NSYNC later on). He seemed the most approachable, the easiest to talk to.When Joey McIntyre released a solo album in 2004, I was a working music journalist, and so tempted to reach out and schedule an interview. I wanted to speak to my idol. But I resisted, having interviewed other favorite boy bands — Boyz II Men and All-4-One — who all turned out very nice, but very ordinary.

They were not the incredibly sweet romantic folks I imagined. And truthfully, I didn't want my Joey bubble popped.

I know that non-NKOTB fans are grossed out at the fact this "boy band" of men in their late 30s is touring again, serenading. But hey, their 2008 album, "The Block," peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart, and their recent song with Ne-Yo, "Single," peaked at No. 4 on the Bubbling Under Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart. Worldwide, they sold over 70 million albums in their heyday of the late '80s and '90s, with sold-out tours. And this current tour boasts sold-out dates as well.

So, 14 years later after the group broke up, it's not their age that matters — it's the fact that together they act as a time machine, able to transport fans to a simpler time of their lives. A time when puffy-paint T-shirts proclaiming NKOTB love was all the rage, when girls sporting jelly bracelets and multicolored scrunchy socks were cool. And when Velcro'd binders — the beloved Trapper Keepers — ruled.

For me, NKOTB love was before the awkwardness of the teen years, before crushes led to heartbreak and before consequences of your actions really mattered. This was before I worried about what tomorrow would bring, and way before the craziness of the stock market these days.

All that mattered was the moment in front of me.

And I'm going to be able to rewrite history, buy that multicolored concert shirt and scream like I'm a kid again.

Marian Liu: 206-464-3825 or mliu@seattletimes.com Seattle Times staff reporter

nkotbthing.com USA NKOTBCOM 11.03.2008 www.nkotb.com

JON VOTES! …….I AM ON MY WAY HOME TO VOTE. YOU’VE SEEN ME WEARING MY OBAMA SHIRT SO YOU KNOW WHO I’M VOTING FOR! WHO YOU CHOSE IS TOTALLY UP TO YOU……I JUST WANT TO SAY I HOPE YOU GO TO THE POLLS TOMORROW AND DO YOUR PART IN CHOSING WHO WILL BE THIS COUNTRIES NEXT LEADER. WEDNESDAY NIGHT WILL BE A VERY SPECIAL NIGHT FOR ME. WE WILL BE ON STAGE IN ONE OF THE CITIES WHERE DEMOCRACY BEGAN AND HOPEFULLY CELEBRATING PRESIDENT OBAMA’S MOVE TO THE WHITE HOUSE. JK

nkotbthing.com USA TAMPABAY 11.03.2008 www.tampabay.com

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK: STILL THE RIGHT STUFF

By Stephanie Hayes, Times Staff Writer TAMPA In New Kids on the Block's 15-year break from Tiger Beat nation, a few things have changed. The pretty boys of early '90s pop have trimmed the rattails and retired the acid wash. They've sprouted muscles, thrusty groins and naughty mouths.

Their fans, once boppy 'tweens in scrunchies and leggings, are now career women and moms. They have pregnant bellies, cleavage and husbands holding down the bar. They've swapped Kool-Aid for Cosmo. But some things never change. The five Boston-bred popsters performed to a frenzied crowd of women at Tampa's St. Pete Times Forum on Sunday. The boys proved they can still fill an arena, still wail a high C to the last row.

The fans, decked in souvenir buttons and their old shirts, proved they can still scream with the fervor of a thousand silly kiddies. One hardcore New Kids soldier even heaved a bra on stage.

"Is this really happening?" shouted Joey McIntyre, the group's blue-eyed tenor with arguably the strongest pipes.

He was right. For fans who slow danced to Please Don't Go, Girl at the eighth grade dance, who drooled on New Kids pillowcases, who lived in their black bomber jackets from the 1989 Hangin' Tough tour, it was surreal.

They’ve still got it — and they still deliver it. The Kids, from left, Danny Wood, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, Jordan and Jonathan Knight, still make ’em scream.

Performing a mix of old hits and new songs from their album, The Block, the New Kids filled the stage with a thoroughly entertaining, glittery spectacle. This time around, they stepped up the sexual innuendo to satiate their grown fans — hip thrusts timed with fireworks, anyone?

Opening new song Single caused piercing shrieks. But that was beans compared with the cries when heartthrob Jordan Knight wailed falsetto on the 1990 tune, My Favorite Girl, or when the guys flexed their old-school dance moves during megahit You Got It (The Right Stuff). There were awkward moments. Shy guy Jonathan Knight looked like he'd rather be home watching West Wing than popping his booty under floodlights. A weird video tribute to people who have died (Aaliyah, James Brown, Heath Ledger) gave the guys time to get to the middle of the venue where they danced on a round platform in a sea of fans.

They brought the energy right back, flirting with women on the sexy 2 In the Morning. They ended the night with a blissful mix of giddy classics Step By Step and Hangin' Tough. The loyal Boston sports fans even briefly donned Tampa Bay Lightning jerseys.

The whole thing left fans sweaty, tipsy, lusty and thoroughly reminded of a simple time in life when their biggest problem was whether your mom would get you the right New Kids stuff for Christmas.

Whatever their magic formula, it's back. The New Kids say it best in their new song, Summertime — "It's been a few years and I can't deny, the thought of you still makes me crazy."

Stephanie Hayes can be reached at shayes@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8857

nkotbthing.com USA TAMPA BAY ONLINE 11.03.2008 www2.tbo.com

NEW KIDS PROVE THEY'RE A CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK

By SARAH HOYE shoye@tampatrib.com

TAMPA - The New Kids On The Block brought the right stuff Sunday when they performed at the St. Pete Times Forum. Bandmates Donnie Wahlberg, brothers Jonathan and Jordan Knight, Joey McIntyre and Danny Wood brought the Forum to its feet when they emerged from beneath the stage amid plumes of smoke, wearing dress pants, button-down shirts and vests. They started things off with "Single" from "The Block," their first new album in 14 years. They immediately took it back to their heyday with "My Favorite Girl" and "Right Stuff," complete with choreographed moves, albeit sometimes cheesy, all while the crowd stood and sang along word for word. For "Grown Man," also on their new album, they turned up the heat with lots of gyrating and pelvic thrusts. There were numerous times they stopped the music and spoke to the crowd, which basked in the love.

The more screams, the more the guys chatted. At one point they had the crowd hold a dance-off contest on camera. Joey and Jordan were the vocal standouts, with Jordan hitting notes that would make Mariah Carey proud. Antics and bravado go to Donnie, who wore a Boston Red Sox baseball cap (he did give props to the Tampa Bay Rays, which caused more screaming, of course).

Danny did some impromptu breakdancing and Jonathan still looked like the kid brother. The guys shook things up when they showed up on a rotating stage with a piano opposite the main stage to perform "Two in the Morning" and "Dirty Dancing."

Opening acts included Natasha Bedingfield and newcomer Lady Gaga.

Bedingfield performed "Pocketful of Sunshine," "Unwritten," the theme song from MTV's reality series "The Hills," and her latest single, "Angel."

Although not a U.S. citizen, Bedingfield reminded the crowd to vote on Tuesday in the presidential election.

Minus a few dancing missteps early in the show, the boys from the "Block" held their own, and actually looked like they were having fun. If they weren't, ticketholders did.

Reporter Sarah Hoye can be reached at (813) 259-7832.

nkotbthing.com USA DAILY STAR 11.03.2008 www.dailystar.com

NEW KIDS PARTY HARD ON U.S. TOUR The reunited NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK are finding it difficult to leave their party-boy ways behind - after installing a stripper pole on their tour bus.

The 1990s teen idols recently reunited after 15 years away from then limelight, but their two single members Donnie Wahlberg and Danny Wood are still causing mischief.

A spokesperson for the pair tells the New York Post: "Just for laughs, they do have a Carmen Electra stripper pole that was given to them as a tour gift from their publicists. It's all in good fun. It came with an instructional video so they can follow all safety procedures."

But according to another source, the pole wasn't put up just for laughs.

The insider adds: "They're living it up big time."

USA BOSTON GLOBE 11.03.2008 www.boston.com

KIDS WILL BE KIDS New Kids on the Block are older, but maybe not more mature. Word from the road is that Donnie Wahlberg and Danny Wood have installed a stripper pole in their tour bus. A rep for the band confirmed to the New York Post that the Carmen Electra stripper pole was given to the dynamic duo, complete with instructions, as a gift from their publicists. Unlike their bandmates, Wahlberg and Wood are single at the moment.

nkotbthing.com USA COW AND A BOY 11.04.2008 PRINTED

USA SCOOTERS BLOCK 11.04.2008 www.theblockscooters.com

nkotbthing.com USA MTV BUZZ WORTHY 11.05.2008 www.mtv.com

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK TALK HANGIN TOUGH ON TOUR You waited 15 years for New Kids on the Block’s big comeback. Far be it from me to make you wait another minute for part one of Buzzworthy’s exclusive interview with Donnie Wahlberg and Jordan Knight, whom I met up with in their dressing room just hours before their New York City show last Monday.

Stay tuned for more from Buzzworthy’s exclusive interview with Donnie and Jordan, coming soon!

TALK HANGIN' TOUGH ON TOUR Donnie rank his top five shows of the tour thus far

nkotbthing.com LIFE ON THE ROAD

Donnie and Jordan discuss the realities of life on the road and talk touring today and how it differs from their back-in-the-day tours

FAN LOVE AND BOOB TATS

For vocab-nerd reasons, I love that Donnie says “hearkens” in part 3 of Buzzworthy’s New Kids on the Block interview. But even better is Jordan Knight’s reference to “yumilicious,” “mumilicious” fans and the hand gesture he uses to illustrate invisible pheromones wafting their way into Donnie’s nasal passages. You can decide for yourself how to feel about bloody, tatted-up boobies.

DONNIE DISCUSSES THE REASONS BEHIND THE REUNION & REWRITES HISTORY

In the fourth and final segment of Buzzworthy’s exclusive interview with Donnie Wahlberg and Jordan Knight, Donnie gets really real about the reasons the New Kids on the Block (finally!) made their big comeback, and then shares his own unique version of American history; cut him slack! He’s been touring his ass off and probably very busy signing all those New Kids’ fan boobies! Also, that unwrapping sound you hear in the background is Joe McIntyre making a sandwich. Yums

nkotbthing.com GERMANY TRAILER SEITE 1 ½ RITTER 11.05.2008 www.trailerseite.de

Die Story: Die Zeit der Ritter weist verblüffende Parallelen zur Gegenwart auf: Markenrüstungen, gecastete Minnesänger, Ride-Ins und Gleitzeit bei den Leibeigenen. Der ehrenwerte Ritter Lanze (Til Schweiger) und der türkische Kleinganove und Möchtegernritter Erdal (Rick Kavanian) machen sich auf, um die entführte Tochter des Königs zu befreien und erleben dabei ein durchgeknalltes Mittelalter, wie man es so noch nie auf der Kinoleinwand gesehen hat.

nkotbthing.com USA THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER 11.06.2008 www.philly.com

BRIEFLY NOTED Joey McIntyre of New Kids on the Block got culture and food while here for Tuesday's show. He, his wife, Barrett, and year-old son, Griffin, visited the National Constitution Center. Since it was Election Day, the family took part in the center's "kids' voting" promo and posed little Griffin for a "baby's first vote" photo. After the show, the McIntyres and another couple requested a private table at Tinto, the Spanish joint near Rittenhouse Square.

USA Q102 11.06.2008 http://q102.com

EIGHTEEN YEARS IN THE MAKING… MY “FULL CIRCLE MOMENT” WITH JOEY MAC FROM NKOTB!!

nkotbthing.com USA THE NEWS ROOM: 10 NBC 11.06.2008 www.thenewsroom.com

NOT SO NEW KIDS BACK IN PHILLY The New Kids on the Block sat down for an interview during their tour stop in Philly. table

at Tinto, the Spanish joint near Rittenhouse Square.

nkotbthing.com USA THE NEWS ROOM CBS 3 11.06.2008 http://www.thenewsroom.com

'NEW KIDS' ROCK THE WACHOVIA CENTER The "New Kids On The Block" rocked the Wachovia Center Wednesday evening.

USA

USA OMAHA WORLD-HEARLD 11.06.2008 www.omaha.com

NEW KIDS' CONTINUED POPULARITY 'AMAZES' SINGER JONATHAN KNIGHT The New Kids On the Block aren't boys anymore. They took 14 years off and they're all in their 30s, but fans still are coming out in droves to buy CDs and tickets to the band's shows."It amazes me every night," said New Kid Jonathan Knight. "For us to be away for so long and then come back, and for them (fans) to still be there and to still have such adulation. It's very humbling."

New Kids On the Block, one of the first "boy bands," reunited this year and released "The Block," which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. The Kids will perform Wednesday at Qwest Center Omaha. Knight said the time off took a physical toll on the group. Knight, 39, said it's much harder to perform now than it was back in the day.

"We'd go sightseeing. We'd go run around the city we were in.

Then we'd come in and do a show, then we'd be up half the night drinking and stuff like that, and then the next day we'd be right back at it," Knight said on the phone from

Minnesota."Now you definitely have to pace yourself. A lot more aches and pains come after the show." Don't expect to hear only songs from the group's newest CD at the show. The New Kids still perform "You Got It (The Right Stuff)," "Step By Step," "Hangin' Tough" and others while doing their trademark boy-band dance moves.

Sets also have included Joe McIntyre and the other New Kids singing songs from their various solo careers. Knight anticipates being on the road another year, visiting Asia, Australia and Europe. The group also plans a summer tour in 2009, playing outdoor venues and amphitheaters.

"The main thing is just to get through this year, enjoy what we're doing and have fun with it," said Knight, who was the first of the band to quit back in the '90s. "That's the one difference I noticed this time around. It's not as hectic and not as out of control. It's actually enjoyable." - Staff writer Kevin

Coffey

nkotbthing.com USA THE BORGATA 11.7.2008 www.theborgata.com

nkotbthing.com USA PROVIDENCE JOURNAL 11.07.2008 www.projo.com

NEW KIDS ARE SERIOUS ABOUT NOSTALGIA TRIP

BY RICK MASSIMO Journal Pop Music Writer

PROVIDENCE – When you’re The New Kids on the Block and you’re not new and you’re not kids and you haven’t been on the block for a decade and a half, your options are a) learn the old steps, sound as much like the records as you still can and hope no one notices the alternating staleness and rust, or b) if there were more classic skills and appeal in your singing and your material than you got critical credit for, you can let them ride. Fortunately, last night at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center, the Boston quintet, one of the platinum-selling forerunners of the boy-band movement, mainly stuck to the latter.

Starting off with the new “Single,” from this year’s reunion album The Block, was the first sign that even though the show may have been a nostalgia trip for most of the fans, the New Kids were taking this seriously. The energy with which they then immediately powered through the back-in-the-day “My Favorite Girl” and the G-rated Prince funk of the classic “The Right Stuff” was the next.

The live setting was good for them. The Block suffers from the kind of generic production that plagues a lot of older groups when they try to sound current, and so much of their older material had a party-like-it’s-1988 production that sounded dated right out of the box. But last night, for example, the opener “Single” took on new life in its live rendition, with real hollering from Joe McIntyre and real pounding from their four-piece band.

Throughout, the material’s (and the harmonies’) roots in Philadelphia soul showed through — the too-short snippet of “Didn’t I Blow Your Mind,” embarrassingly jejune on their debut record but silky and soulful last night, was the clincher, but even the mega-hit “I’ll Be Loving You Forever” had a classic tinge.

None of the New Kids’ voices has aged badly, and in some cases they’re singing better than ever. Jordan Knight’s falsetto on “My Favorite Girl” was suitably cooing, and Joe McIntyre managed to sound youthfully enthusiastic on “Please Don’t Go Girl.” And the dancing — a mix of classic soul-group with some hip-hop scruff, was still in place. (Of course, the oldest of them are only scraping 40 now, so maybe it’s no big surprise.)

While Donnie Wahlberg’s thug-with-a-heart-of-gold schtick was no more believable this time around than in the ’90s, particularly on “Games” (though Danny Wood’s break dancing was still impressive), he made a decently growly frontman on “Grown Man” (with video cameo from The Pussycat Dolls’ Nicole Scherzinger).

Two new songs, the plush ballad “Two in the Morning” and the weak funk of “Dirty Dancing,” and the old ballad “Tonight,” were done on a small rotating stage in the middle of the crowd. The three lead singers got solo spotlights — Knight on “Give It to You,” McIntyre on “Stay the Same” and Wahlberg on “Cover Girl.”

Wahlberg told the crowd “we probably would not have believed you” if they had been told in the ’90s that their appeal would last this long. Would they be packing the Dunk without the nostalgia factor? I don’t know whether we can say that (cf. the dated encores “Step by Step” and “Hangin’ Tough,” examples of genres and hybrids which have been much more effectively explored in recent years). But their Norma Desmond phase is a long way off.

Natasha Bedingfield preceded the New Kids, skipping and traipsing through her tuneful, mannered British pop-soul.

Breezy Notting Hill grooves such as “These Words” and “Never Found a Love Like This” worked better than the attempts at grit such as “Angel.” And “Unwritten” was its usual gossamer self-help self, although it got a souped-up coda befitting its last-song status.

The dancehall diva Lady GaGa opened the show with a short set of electronic-laden dance-floor pounders as artificial, but also as confectionary and fun, as cotton candy. rmassimo@projo.com

nkotbthing.com USA STL TODAY WENTZVILLE JOURNAL 11.07.2008 www.stltoday.com

REUNITED NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK BRING CONCERT TO SCOTTRADE

By Kevin C. Johnson

The New Kids are back on the Block. The popular '80s group has a new CD — naturally titled "The Block" — and a tour that comes to Scottrade Center next week.

And if the guys have anything to do with it, they'll keep it going.

"If everyone stays happy — meaning us, meaning the fans, meaning the record label — then we'll keep going," singer Jordan Knight said from a tour stop in Minneapolis. "We do all have five different lives and paths and stuff like that. But if God is willing and it keeps working, we'll keep doing it." The group also still includes Donnie Wahlberg, Jonathan Knight, Danny Wood and Joey McIntyre.

Fans probably recall NKOTB hits "Step By Step," "Hangin' Tough," "You Got It (The Right Stuff)" and "I'll Be Loving You (Forever)." "The tour has been very successful," Jordan Knight says. "A lot of people are telling us that coming to our show made them feel young again and that it takes them away from the hum-drum of everyday." The concert is "good, oldfashioned entertainment," he says, not something where the band will "pull out a few tricks from the past to get cheap applause."

All the group's big hits are here, though often given a contemporary sheen to avoid sounding dated. But the spirit of the song remains.

"We want people to still get that good feeling when they hear the hits," Knight says The show also features cuts from "The Block." The CD features guest turns by the Pussycat Dolls, Akon, Teddy Riley and NeYo. The group likes the old school-meetsnew school vibe Ne-Yo brings to "Single."

From left: Joey McIntyre, Jonathan Knight, Jordan Knight, Danny Wood, and Donnie Wahlberg of New Kids On The Block still got it (the right stuff). (Scott Gries/Getty Images)

An unexpected name on the disc is new singer Lady Gaga, a left-of-center choice for a group this mainstream. She's featured on "Big Girl Now." "The song called for a female singer, and she was in the studio," Knight says. "So we thought, 'Why doesn't she just do it?' She blew us away." Most surprisingly, the CD features a collaboration with fellow boy band New Edition. Both bands hail from Boston and started out under the thumb of Maurice Starr. He first pulled together New Edition, and after they left over money, he formed New Kids on the Block.

Knight doesn't admit to the competition many assumed was naturally there. "We would never say, 'We're coming after you and we're gonna blow you away.' We couldn't blow them away on stage or in a recording, and we're smart enough to know that," Knight says. He says New Kids looked up to New Edition the same way Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync cite New Kids on the Block as influences. Still, "it took us this many years for both of us to be mellow enough to say we can get on the same record and celebrate what we did in the past," Knight says. "It was our tribute to them to put them on the record." kjohnson@post-dispatch.com — 314-340-8191

nkotbthing.com USA NKOTB COM 11.08.2008 www.nkotb.com

STARBUCKS! SORRY, IT’S NOT ANOTHER ROUND OF ANSWERS! JUST A QUICK HELLO FROM THE ROLLING SUBMARINE………. I WAS SO EXTREMELY TIRED LAST NIGHT! I ACTUALLY FELL ASLEEP MINUTES AFTER GETTING OUT OF MY SWEATY SHOW CLOTHES. MISSED THE WHOLE MIXX PARTY AND ALL! HOPE IF YOU WENT YOU HAD FUN FOR ME! ITS AROUND 5AM AND I WISH I COULD SLEEP SOME MORE. I WAS WOKE TO THE SAME FEELING I HAD DURING MY FAMOUS LA EARTHQUAKE EXPERIENCE . I CAME UP TO THE FRONT OF THE BUS AND FOUND OUT WE WERE PASSING THROUGH NYC. THAT EXPLAINED THE CRAZY RUMBLING FEELING. YOU THINK ITS BAD DRIVING DOWN A BUMPY ROAD IN A TWO AXLE CAR, TRY DOING SO IN A FIFTY FOOT BUS. THEN THOSE ANNOYING RUMBLE STRIPS AT THE TOLL BOOTHS! WE MUST HAVE WENT THROUGH SEVEN TOLL BOOTHS ALREADY! I GUESS THEY USE ALL THAT MONEY FOR THINGS OTHER THAN FIXING THE ROADS. SO NOW I’M WIDE AWAKE TRYING TO FIND QUIET THINGS TO DO SO NOT TO WAKE UP ANYONE! ANYONE UP FOR COOKING A GOOD “HOME COOKED” BREAKFAST? ONE HOUR TO GO AND I JUST HEARD THE BEST NEWS OF THE MORNING FROM OUR DRIVER…….

THERE IS A STARBUCKS IN THE LOBBY OF THE MOHEGAN SUN CASINO…….THERE IS A GOD!!!!

ANYONE UP? YOU NOW WHERE TO FIND ME :)!

JK

nkotbthing.com USA SPINNER: THE DL SHOW 11.10.2008 www.spinner.com

THE MUSIC INSIDER WITH NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK When news breaks, a great broadcaster will shine under pressure. Especially if we're talking New Kids on the Block. But as for Cronkite, well, not so much

nkotbthing.com USA NK TV 11.10.2008 www.nkotb.com

THE AFTER SHOW GET DOWN

nkotbthing.com USA 92 Pro FM 11.11.2008 you tube

JESSICA INTERVIEWS DONNIE WAHLBERG @ THE DUNK!

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USA THE SUN CHRONICLE 11.11.2008 www.thesunchronicle.com

NEW KIDS DELIGHT FANS AT THE DUNK PROVIDENCE - When the lights at the Dunkin' Donuts Center dimmed on Thursday night, and the members of New Kids on the Block took the stage, thousands of screaming and cheering fans got the chance to show their beloved band from Boston just how much they missed them in the fifteen years they had been away from the spotlight.

Still singing, left to right, New Kids on the Block Danny Wood, Joey McIntrye, Donnie Wahlberg, Jordan Knight and Jonathan Knight perform.

grunge rocker Kurt Cobain, rappers Tupac Shakur, the Notorious B.I.G., and actor Heath Ledger, among others.

During the two-minute video production, though, the band members slipped from the stage to a piano set up on a raised platform in the middle of the arena within reach of fans straining to touch them to sing "2 in the Morning," a song about a relationship on the rocks, and "Dirty Dancing," a fast paced dance tune, both new songs from "Block."

Before beginning their final song at the piano, "Tonight," McIntyre took some time to reflect with audience about the band's return to the spotlight. "Can you believe it Providence?" McIntyre pondered to the screaming fans.

What some lucky fans couldn't believe was when the band members walked right past them to get back to the main stage after the song, giving a few women high fives and a chance to touch their once-teen idols.

And with every step, and seemingly every note, they kept on screaming for the duration of the two and a half hour show.

Who could blame them, really? The band delivered an fun, energetic and entertaining performance with just the right bit of nostalgia mixed in that gave their long-time, mostly 20 something fans exactly what they were looking for: A chance to relive a part of their teen years with a show that combined the band's current radio hits with the fans' favorite songs from the late '80s and early '90s.

Using choreographed dance moves, the band members - Donnie Wahlberg, Jordan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Jon Knight and Danny Wood danced around the stage as if they were teenagers again, much to the delight of the audience that seemed to hang on every twist, spin and hip shake.

NKOTB started off the show with their recent radio hit "Single" from their newest release "Block." In a rhinestone-studded Boston Red Sox baseball cap, Wahlberg used an R&B beat to accent the song that included vocals from McIntyre and Jordan Knight. That song segued into "My Favorite Girl" and an enthusiastic "You Got It (The Right Stuff)" from 1988's "Hangin' Tough."

After a short break, the band changed into suits and Knight hit some really high notes for the slow song "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)" from the band's 1986 self-titled debut album. The slow songs continued with "Please Don't Go Girl," that featured a heavy contribution from McIntyre. "Grown Man," a collaboration between NKOTB and Pussycat Dolls singer Nicole Scherzinger, who sang her parts of the song by a pre-recorded video, followed.

The band used the song "If You Go Away" as a tribute to not only their family members, who had passed away, but also celebrities such as

After giving the crowd some face time on the giant screen behind the stage, the band launched into "Twisted," a dance song featuring McIntyre's vocals and a hint of a techno beat.

From there, Knight sang "Give It To You," a catchy song from his 1999 solo album, and McIntyre followed up with "Stay The Same," a ballad from his 1999 solo project.

The entire band took the stage again for Wahlberg's vocals on "Cover Girl" and Knight's on "I'll Be Loving You Forever," two old favorites, and "Click, Click, Click," a new song. After a break for a critique of a still shot of the group that the band called a "pose-off," they finished strong with current hit "Summertime."

"Step By Step" and "Hangin' Tough," for which the band donned Boston Celtics jerseys, completed the set list during the encore.

NKOTB took every opportunity to remind their fans about their roots, interspersing images of Boston sports teams on the video screen behind the stage, and even including a video montage of Celtics' players Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett before "Hangin' Tough."

What left the crowd somewhat perplexed were the gratuitous shots of Wahlberg's and other band members' behinds, which graced the large screen behind the stage several times throughout the show. Their appearance seemed out of place with the songs being sung at the time and seemed like a cheesy way to just get the crowd to scream more.

Overall, though, NKOTB proved that even after a 15-year hiatus they can still entertain through lyrically-light pop songs and with energetic dancing, which included Danny Wood's breakdancing. Their fans sent them on their way in the same way the show began - with loud screaming, proving also that even after 15 years, the band still has some of the most loyal and excited fans around.

Jessica Kosowski can be reached at 508-236-0331 or jkosowski@thesunchronicle.com.

nkotbthing.com USA ST LOUIS A TO Z 11.11.2008 blogs.riverfonttimes.com

REVIEW + PHOTOS: NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK AT THE SCOTTRADE CENTER, MONDAY, (Words by Annie Zaleski; photos by Sarah Paradoski) AHHHHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! DONNIE, I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!

AHHHHHHHHH!!!

OMG JOEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!

People came from all over the country for New Kids on the Block’s reunion show last night at the Scottrade Center. Mississippi. Texas. Chicago. Fort Myers, Florida.

Detroit. Pre-show, a video screen expressed sentiments like this: “donnie i’m legal now”; “I (still) love Joey!!!!!”; “Joey I am in love with u!” Packs of ladies unearthed the fashion of their childhood (some of which are back in fashion again) for the occasion – crimped hair, side ponytails, puffy-paint T-shirts, neon colors, leggings with skirts. One lady was even spotted using a Caboodle as a purse.

The Boston boy-band obliged its adoring fans – and then some – with a two-hour-plus set of old faves and new jams. When the lights went down at around 9:15, the screaming began. Then a video with summer blockbuster-dramatic music started, and upped the suspense by announcing, “Tonight, the Block is back.” The music started.

And then a platform rose up from the back of the stage, carrying Jordan, Jon, Donnie, Joey and Danny. No last names needed -- please.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! DONNIE, I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!

AHHHHHHHHH!!!

SCREAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!

The quintet launched into “Single,” a song from its new album The Block. And the crowd collectively lost its shit. And continued to do so until the final tune, a version of “Hangin’ Tough” that segued into Queen’s “We Will Rock You.” What happened in between was a well-polished, well-orchestrated, impressively choreographed concert that proved that an NKOTB reunion wasn’t ill-advised.

The group had a full band underneath a sleek two-story stage that resembled Janet Jackson’s “Rhythm Nation” video. But let’s be real: Critically examining NKOTB’s music really isn’t fair. The band’s old stuff is a product of its time, an innocuous melding of mid-‘80s soft-pop, toned-down New Jack Swing and glossy R&B/soul that was meant for teenage girls. Its new stuff is R&B/hip-hop-flavored pop (Ne-Yo, the Pussycat Dolls, Teddy Riley, Akon and even New Edition make appearances) that’s again of its time.

This time around, it’s meant to bring the band back into prominence at Top 40 radio and attract new fans -- while recapturing the hearts of their now-grown admirers.

Both eras aren’t supposed to be considered high art. In 2008, fans are listening to the music with nostalgia in their ears.

The quintet obviously knows this. Songs two and three of the night were “My Favorite Girl” and “(You’ve Got It) The Right Stuff,” two songs from the blockbuster Hangin’ Tough. (The latter song featured fireworks and crotch grabs, just one of many moments that was a bit, for lack of a more precise term, “OMG!”; more on that later.)

“Cover Girl,” featuring Donnie on lead vocals and (occasionally, sorta) guitar, was a rocked-out, at times vaguely nu-metal shadow of its teenpop self. The piano-driven “Tonight” – perhaps one of the cheesiest tunes in its catalog, and that’s saying something – spurred on one of the biggest crowd sing-alongs of the night.

nkotbthing.com AHHHHHHHHH!!! SCREAMMMMMMM!!!!!!!EEEEEEE!!!!!!!

NKOTB performed the latter song on a small rotating round stage near the back of the venue, just out of the reach of fans.

(Although close enough for Danny to reach down, grab someone’s beer, drink from it, and then return it. Amazing. Bet that cup went home with the fan.) This three-song interlude was a concert highlight, thanks mainly to new songs “2 in the Morning” and “Dirty Dancing.” The former on disc is a retroflavored slow jam; live, it was a booming pop tune. The latter featured a writhing dancer wearing skintight pink leggings on top and the awesome lyrics, “Ooh, she’s so crazy/ She’s like baby, I’m like Swayze” – and then an announcement that proceeds of a T-shirt sale were going to a breast cancer foundation.

The band’s choreography also impressed. Unlike other boy bands – who always seem to have one member they stick in the back because he’s a bit more uncoordinated -- each member of NKOTB has slick rhythm and dance skills. At the end of one song, Danny even breakdanced on the stage – like, we’re talking spinning like a top onstage on his back, doing a backward crab walk and basically contorting his body in ways that made a back injury seem very real. (Poor thing looked tired after the interlude, in fact.)

And sure, not everything worked. Occasionally, it felt like the band was overcompensating to prove how adult it was. Thuggedout bad boy Donnie dropped a “motherfucker” and amusingly asked the crowd “How’s my ass?” (Guess the reaction.) Before playing the addictive new hit “Summertime,” the boys posed for a picture; one held a tie in his hands somewhat suggestively, and someone made an off-hand comment about “bondage” that was…uncomfortable.

The set also felt overly long. The Bell Biv DeVoe-esque Step by Step tune “Games” felt dated, while the shortcomings of the rocked-out “Cover Girl” were obvious. The uber-modern, Aretha Franklin-and-Allen Toussaint-sampling new song “Grown Man” – featuring Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger beamed in via video – was also nothing to write home about.

But let’s again be real: A large part of NKOTB’s appeal stems from its looks. It didn’t matter what the band sang last night; people would have come to the show anyway, and they would have screamed because Donnie, Joey, Jordan (and to a lesser extent, Danny and Jon, aww) are mad hot.

DONNIE, I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!

AHHHHHHHHH!!!

SCREAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!

This might unfortunately detract from the fact that Jordan and Joey – arguably the two hottest members of the band, I have to say, damn – have excellent voices. Joey’s performance of his adult contemporary hit “Stay the Same,” which featured a gospel choir at the end, and New Kids tune “Please Don’t Go Girl” (which saw him drop to his knees on the stage by its end) soared on the strength of his Broadway-caliber vocals.

Poor Jordan had to sing “I’ll Be Loving You (Forever)” – a song the boys sang just post-voice change, so imagine how high it is – but muddled through well with some impressive falsetto. A performance of his solo hit “Give It to You” felt like it had some backing tracks going on, but it was a fantastic display of dancing.

And he had the honor of participating in the most ridiculous moment of the night: He stood in front of a wind machine at the top of the stage – and it blew his shirt open, revealing a (ripped, um, whew, it is hot in here?) chest. Cheesy? Yes. Amazing? Check and mate.

The peppy encore versions of “Step by Step” and “Hangin’ Tough” were just the icing on the cake. As the band sported Boston Celtics jerseys and images of Boston sports teams flashed on the screen, every arm in the arena waved back and forth to “Tough” like a giant sea anemone. A bit freaky and a bit awe-inspiring, it summed up the devotion of the crowd – and the unself-conscious way everyone there embraced their inner kid and just had fun.

nkotbthing.com USA SPOUT 11.11.2008 http://blog.spout.com

JOEY MCINTYRE, ACTOR/SINGER, THE MEDIA DIET

By Karina Longworth

Between the early-90s demise of his Boston-bred boy band and their current resurgence, youngest New Kid on the Block Joey McIntyre established an acting career. He landed a regular role on the TV drama Boston Public, appeared on Broadway, and appeared in a movie called On Broadway. An indie drama also featuring Will Arnett and Eliza Dushku, McIntyre stars as an amateur playwright who mounts his premiere production not in New York’s famous theater district, but in the back of a Boston bar. With On Broadway debuting today for streaming and download on Amazon.com, we talked to Joey about the books, movies and music he used to amuse himself when he’s not contributing to NKOTB’s tour blog. Check out his answers below, and the trailer for On Broadway above.

What films have you seen recently? Which ones stuck with you and why?

Joey McIntyre: One that comes to mind is The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford.

Very real, puts you right there in that time and space. Illuminated the living conditions of the 1800’s. And I love good movies that take their time –– the stillness of them. Brad Pitt was great and I think Casey Affleck’s role was made for him, or he was so good that it felt that way.

What do you consider can’t-miss TV? The Tudors.

How often do you read fiction, and what have you read lately?

I don’t read enough. Last book I read was The Fountainhead. And right now I’m reading David McCullough’s John Adams, which inspired the amazing HBO series.

Is newsprint dead? If your answer is yes, where do you get your news? If your answer is no, what physical newspapers and magazines have you read lately?

I don’t believe its dead. I get the New York Times daily and it blows my mind how they or any other newspaper puts it together every day, in this or any other era. I think no matter what the marketplace, the best will stick around and The Times is the best.

What are your five take-to-a-desert-island bands?

U2, Queen, Gap Band, Journey, Count Basie and His Orchestra If you could collaborate with one filmmaker, who would it be and why?

Garry Marshall, because I have had the privilege of working with him in theatre and I’m scheming to get with him on a film. He’s a prince, but he’s hungry like a pauper.

What would be the ideal pairing of filmmaker and musician for a concert film?

On paper, can anyone beat Scorsese and The Stones?

What was the last thing you saw on YouTube (or other online video source) that blew your mind?

Mr. Turner gets arrested for DUI. Didn’t really blow my mind, but its one of Donnie Wahlberg’s favorites.

nkotbthing.com USA

USA THE PITCH 11.11.2008 blogs.pitch.com

KIDZ II MEN: Q&A WITH JONATHAN KNIGHT OF NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK

By JASON HARPER Unless you've been in a pop-deprivation chamber for the past couple months, you know that founding-foundling boy band New Kids On the Block has reunited after 14 years for a new album and a world tour.

Heralded by instant hits like the nostalgic (i.e., re-introductory) "Summertime" and the more modern, hip-hoppy "Single" (feat. Ne-Yo), The Block has been burning up the charts like it's 1988. But now, Donnie Wahlberg, Joey McIntyre, Danny Wood and brothers Jordan and Jonathan Knight are all pushing 40 as they get on the floor and do the New Kids dance at sold-out venues across the country.

While his brother and his former bandmates have remained active in making music, Jon Knight has been involved in the real estate business.

He has, however, fallen into the role of the group's most prolific blogger — read about his post-stardom emu farm and other endeavors here. We caught up with Jon last week to talk about the presidential election, Lou Pearlman and what it's like being an older New Kid. For best authenticity, read all of his answers to yourself in a thick Boston accent, a là Mystic River or Good Will Hunting.

How's the tour been going? Awesome. It's been going incredibly well. It's blown my mind. I never expected it could be this large.

What's been the best show so far? There's been so many of them — it's been different cities, different energies. God, I couldn't say that there's been one really good one. It's just there's something about each city that brings something different to the table.

What's it been like touring before and after the presidential election? It caused us to be late one night. [Laughs.] We went home to vote, and our bus came to pick us up, and we were trying to watch the speeches and stuff, and we were two hours late getting on to the next city, but it's been awesome. We've all be talking about it. It seems like everybody's been talking about this election this year. It's weird. I was in a taxicab in New York City, and this guy was listening to the news about all the speeches and stuff, and he was from a foreign land — i've been running into a lot of that, just, like, everybody's talking about it.

I read that you supported Obama, right? Absolutely, yep, yep.

Did you have a show on election night? No, we actually got to fly home. Everybody flew home so we could vote.

Was that hard to arrange? No, we planned that right from the beginning, that we would have to have two days off around election time.

What was your first show after the election? It was in Philadelphia.

Was there a different energy there because of the victory? No, I didn't notice it. I noticed a lot of kids, a lot of women at the meet 'n greets were saying, "Yeah, your man won." That was the only difference I noticed.

Did it feel good? Oh, I'm ecstatic.

Is there anything about touring that you hadn't missed? Um ... no, I knew exactly what I was getting back into. The funny thing is that everybody thinks it's such a glamorous life and stuff, and we're rolling around the country on a bus, going from city to city on a bus, eating catering every day at the venue, which is basically cafeteria food, and it's just a lot of hard work. It takes a lot out of ya.

Now that you and your fans are older, are their reactions to you different? There's still pandemonium, but it's a controlled pandemonium. Back in the day, the girl's hormones were trying to get at us, and they would do anything to get to us, and they would just throw themselves toward you. Now, the approach is a lot more controlled and subtle.

So you don't have to duck under tables or anything? No, I mean, it was weird — back in the day we each had our own personal bodyguard. Now we have two security guards with us and it's all controllable. We're all adults now.

Do each of you have a different type of person who's a fan? There's definitely ... yeah, we have our own little niche, you know. But there's certain fans that cross over from different member to different member.

What are your fans like? I think they're ... they are different. It's weird. Sometimes when we're doing meet and greets I'll see somebody walk in and think they won't even wanna come over and say hi to me, and then they come over and say hi to me and I'm shocked. It's all different. You never really know what you're gonna get.

How's the dancing going? Did everyone stay in shape in the intermediary years?

Oh, yeah yeah yeah. We've all kept in shape, we've all been keeping up in the gym and stuff like that, and we just work hard on everything. Right now, we're doing a two-hour show, but when we were rehearsing, we were rehearsing like eight hours a day of dancing the whole time. That pretty much whipped us all in shape for the show.

When you reunited, how did you decide what your approach to the performance would be? It kinda just progressed as we went along, I think that's how we've always worked. You'd like to have a basic outline, but you don't want to have a plan because that limits you to that plan. It's nice to let it grow organically and just see where it takes you. There have been a few things that we've changed since the first show. We just want it to be the best that it can be.

Did anyone suggest, "Let's just sit on stools with an acoustic guitar..." Oh, absolutely not. I don't think any of us would have done that. That would just be a totally boring, boring show.

nkotbthing.com About the new album — what person outside the group had the most influence on it? Nobody, really. That was one of the good things about this time around. We had control over our career before, but this time around we had 100 percent control over it. It was definitely all of us. We wanted to do an album that was a good album and that would appeal to all five of us. When we started the recording process, we weren't even signed to a label. We just said let's go into the studio and start recording some songs and see where it goes. That came out of our pockets, there was no record company, there was basically no management company behind us at that point. So that all grew into what it is today.

Was there a producer or collaborator who brought something new? We got a lot of the newer, cutting-edge producers. We also had Teddy Riley, who's very old school. We just wanted to bring that nice mix. It was really great to be able to work with New Edition, the Pussycat Dolls and Lady Gaga. It was awesome working with Ne-Yo, he's just an incredible talent, I think anything he does is gold.

Have you been pleased with the reaction to the album? Yes, oh yeah, of course. It's shocking that after 14 years we'd come back and have a number 1 album in Canada and a number 2 album in the States.

I've been reading your blog on the site, and the first time around for you, there were no blogs, no youtube ...

Yeah, none of that stuff.

So how is it different performing when just about everyone in the world can keep tabs on you and comment on you on their blogs? I, personally, I hate it. It seems like the world nowadays, everybody's got to know something that moment. I remember our first show, the next day it was already posted all over YouTube, and to me that just seemed kind of unfair for other people out there who haven't seen it that all of a sudden it's out there. But you know, if people don't wanna see it, they won't go looking' for it. ... I think the only good think about the Internet is that we can have instant communication with our fans. It's an easier way to keep them connected.

Are you tired of being asked about being the "quiet one?" [Laughs] No, 'cause that's definitely who I am. When this whole thing started back in the day, it's weird, 'cause it was basically like an after-school thing that we did, you know, we got together, we did talent shows and stuff like that. And I enjoyed doing that, and then it blew up into this, and I had never been comfortable doing interviews or being in front of the camera and stuff like that, so, when it blew up, I really had no choice. It is what it is, if that makes sense.

Has the social dynamic changed now that you've all grown up? No, no absolutely not. That's one of the best things about this. This whole thing, just being back with the rest of the guys, has been so great, you know, because the dynamic of who we all are together as a group worked back then and it's still working today. I think the only thing that's changed now is that as adults we can express to each other when we're irritated at each other. Our relationship is more grown up. We can understand where each other's coming from now.

What do you think it would be like if you were a teenager becoming a famous pop star right now? I definitely wouldn't wanna be one in this day and age. I think that has a lot to do with the Internet and things like Perez Hilton and TMZ. The kids nowadays, they're watched for every move they make, you know?

That goes back to what we were talking about, how people have immediate access ... it can get pretty merciless.

Yeah, and it's just like you can do some stupid thing walking out of the airport and it ends up on TMZ and it gets picked up on the Internet, and some stupid thing you did in the L.A. airport becomes international news.

Do you think your age and your maturity insulates you from that happening now?

Um ... good question. No, because there's still little things that come up here and there. But, yeah, I think also the younger — yeah, I definitely think it does now — because the younger you are, the more the little petty stuff is entertaining. Because as an adult, I really could care less what Britney Spears did with her kids last week or stuff like that. The younger you are, the more you're involved in that whole searching out stuff and gossiping about who did what and where. I mean, that

happens in high school and middle school with kids walking down the hall. Now, it's like everybody can do it all over the place now.

If you could go back and confront yourself in 1984, what would you say? I don't know [laughs], I guess I'd just be like, "Hang on, it's about to be a crazy ride." It's just like 14 years ago when this ended. If I had ever known that I'd be at the Borgata Casino tonight playing a sold out show, I never would've expected that.

So when you broke up in '94 you never expected to get back together? No, I mean, I was actually the one that left. I was like, "I did this, I had a good time, it was a blast." There was other things I wanted to do in life. The time was just right. We rode the wave and it was a pretty big wave. The past 14 years have been incredible for me. I've gotten to do the things I've wanted to do. It's actually a blessing to be able to come back and do this, 'cause I never thought we'd be back here.

In '94 when you stopped, you had created the model for the boy band, and then there was a resurgence, and you were watching Backstreet Boys and NSYNC — what did you think about all of that? I thought it was great, you know, we did our thing, and for other kids to have the opportunity to do what we did, I thought it was great. Back in the day, we knew Lou Pearlman — the crazy guy that's now in jail for being a child molester. I had a house in Florida, so I was around that whole camp. I knew people that worked for him, so I was around those kids when they were first getting started, and they would ask me questions, and I was just like, "Be yourself and have a good time."

How did you react to the Lou Pearlman incident? I think it's disgusting, personally.

You know, I liked the guy when I knew him ... but it's just, he definitely got what he deserves. I think it's awful. I could go on and on about that guy. He's a scumbag.

Just to take advantage of kids like that, it's just ugh. And it's sad, because he is a smart, smart, smart, smart guy. He's just stupid [laughs]. Greed got the best of him.

DId you make enough money with NKOTB the first time to basically be set for life?

Absolutely. I think it's a good thing that as a young adult I had the guidance and that the people around me knew the value of a dollar and taught us what to do with it, not run out and buy something flashy that's gonna make you happy. You go out and buy a $5,000 leather jacket, it's gonna make you happy for the first month that you own it, and then it's just gonna be sitting in the corner of a closet doing nothing for you.

So as a group, New Kids had guidance from management? We all had the same manager, who was Bob Wolf from Boston; he was a very famous, famous guy in Boston, a sports agent who did Larry Bird and stuff like that. He came on right in the beginning and was just awesome. I remember I wanted to take a vacation to go to Hawaii, and I was trying to book a first-class ticket, and he was like, "Do you wanna spend this much money on a first-class ticket and stay in a cheap hotel for a week, or do you wanna spend this much money on a ticket and have a little bit more luxury on vacation?" He's like, "You're only on the plane for six hours, and you're gonna be in the hotel for 12 days. You make the choice."

And how old were you? Probably 20.

What music do you listen to that people wouldn't expect you to be into?

Oh goodness ... I think that all of us, our music, what we listen to is so varied. Like last night, me and my brother had Luther Vandross on. Today in the dressing room we could have some crazy hip-hop. Another day, we could be listening to orchestra music. It's so varied. And I think being in the music industry, you have to have an appreciation of all types of music. It just makes you more diverse as an artist.

Is there any talk of a followup album? Um ... [laughs] um ... there's talk of it. If it happens, you know, we'll see. We've all just had such a great time doing this, and the response has been so great. I think if we do do another album, it won't be right away, it'll be, you know, maybe another five years down the line.

In Obama's second term, hopefully.

Yes, exactly NKOTB plays tonight at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis and tomorrow night at the Sprint Center in KC.

nkotbthing.com USA NKOTB COM 11.12.2008 www.nkotb.com

nkotbthing.com USA BOSTON H ERALD INSIDE TRACK 11.13.2008 www.bostonherald.com

IT’S GONNA BE A MOB SCENE IN BEANTOWN!

By Gayle Fee and Laura Raposa Wednesday, November 12, 2008 http://www.bostonherald.com The Inside Track Photo by AP Don’t look now but we’re headed for a Tinseltown traffic jam!

A couple of TV pilots about Boston Irish gangsters will be tripping over each other when they’re filming here next month.

New Kid on the Block Donnie Wahlberg and Tom Brady [stats]’s baby mama Bridget Moynahan are coming to town to shoot “Bunker Hill,” a pilot for cable channel TNT .

Meanwhile, Ultimate Fighting Championship prez Dana White and veteran moviemaker Walter Hill are headed here to make a two-hour pilot for Spike TV about - you guessed it - Boston’s Irish mob.

Both shows are scheduled to film in Southie and Charlestown in December.

In “Hill,” Wahlberg plays a Townie who returns from covert government duty and goes to work as a police officer on the streets of his old Bunker Hill neighborhood. Moynahan, a Longmeadow native, plays his brother’s widow and the two have some kind of a love-hate thing going.

“We looked at a lot of people for that part and we really wanted someone from Boston,” said Walon Green, who is executive-producing the show with Donnie and Jon Avnet, a producer on a former Wahlberg TV series “Boomtown.”

“Bridget can do the accent, which is a trick by the way. Because when it’s done badly, it’s very bad.”

Green said the producers looked at Amy Ryan, an Oscar nominee for Ben Affleck’s “Gone Baby Gone,” as “a role model for a Boston character.”

Green said he expects the “Bunker Hill” crew to be in town for about two weeks next month during Donnie’s break from the New Kids’ tour.

“We’re looking forward to shooting in Boston,” he said.

Ditto for the gang from “War of ’04,” the working title of the Spike pilot that portrays a “fictional world of IrishAmerican gangsters struggling for underworld control.”

Filming starts next week on that one and rolls into mid-December.

“It’s about a guy who ran organized crime for the last 40 years who disappears after getting indicted, creating a power struggle for the top job,” White told the Track.

Hmmmm, sounds rather familiar!

“It’s totally fictional ,” White insisted.

nkotbthing.com .

USA NKOTB COM 11.13.2008 www.nkotb.com

JON’S NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE! THIS ISN’T FOR EVERYONE JUST A SMALL FEW!!!!

I SAW A POST ABOUT MY BUS DRIVING DOWN THE WRONG SIDE OF THE EXPRESSWAY. YES, THIS DID HAPPEN, AND I AM NOT HAPPY ABOUT IT. I WAS IN THE FRONT SEAT SH***NG MY PANTS. EVERY NIGHT LEAVING OUR SHOWS PEOPLE LIKE YOU WHO POSTED ARE GOING TO KILL US OR YOURSELVES!!!!!

YOU NEED TO STOP DRIVING UP ON OUR BUSES LIKE YOU DO. YOU ARE DEALING WITH 22 TONS OF STEEL THAT CANNOT STOP OR CHANGE LANES ON A DIME. HALF THE TIME YOU ARE HANGING OUT YOUR WINDOWS AND FLASHING YOUR CAMERA FLASHES INTO OUR DRIVERS EYES, PAYING NO ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU ARE DOING! YOU CAUSED MY DRIVER TO BECOME SO DISORIENTATED THAT NIGHT. A CERTAIN FEW OF YOU NEED TO CHILL OUT AND BE MORE RESPONSIBLE ADULTS! WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO GAIN BY DOING THIS. DO YOU THINK WE ARE GOING TO PULL OVER AND SAY HI? DO YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING TO FOLLOW US TO OUR HOTEL? 99% OF THE TIME WE ARE HEADING ON TO THE NEXT CITY SEVERAL HOURS AWAY! PLEASE PULL IT TOGETHER. I DON’T WANT TO DIE IN SOME STUPID ACCIDENT. I APPRECIATE YOU COMING TO THE SHOWS, DON’T GET ME WRONG. I JUST HAD TO ADDRESS THIS POST BECAUSE IT IS REAL AND NOT SOME CUTE FANTASY! PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD TO EVERYONE. THIS IS A SERIOUS MATTER. AS AN ADULT I AM GOING TO KEEP IT REAL WITH YOU. IF YOU’RE ACTING STUPID I WILL FLAT OUT TELL YOU TO YOUR FACE, “YOU’RE BEING STUPID”. SO, IN THIS INSTANCE, A VERY SMALL FEW OF YOU ARE BEING STUPID!!!!!!!!!

MUCH RESPECT AND APPRECIATION! NOW THAT THAT IS OFF MY CHEST………….HAPPY BLOGS COMING SOON! JON

nkotbthing.com USA NKOTB COM 11.13.2008 www.nkotb.com

JOE SAYS DRINK IT UP! THE THING WITH SOMETHING LIKE THIS IS THAT YOU WANT TO HOLD ON TIGHT TO EVERY MINUTE. YOU STOP YOURSELF AND ALL THE NOISE OF THE GRIND AND SAY, “WOW, LET ME SOAK THIS UP BEFORE ITS GONE AGAIN.” BUT THE THING IS YOU CANT HOLD ON TOO TIGHT BECAUSE IT WONT FLOW. YOU WONT BE YOUR BEST IF YOU ARE HANGING ON TOO MUCH. SO AGAIN IT IS BALANCE. IT’S REALLY A REMARKABLE JOURNEY FILLED WITH LESSONS EVERY NIGHT. I LOVE THE STAGE AND TO HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO LIVE THERE IN FRONT OF SO MANY AND SUCH LOVE IS AN IMMENSE GIFT. I LOVE FEELING AND LOOKING AT EVERY SHOW. EVERY SHOW IS GREAT, BUT THERE ARE UPS AND DOWNS- FOR ME ANYWAY… BUT FOR ME, THAT’S THE ONLY WAY. THE EBB AND FLOW. THE WAVES. THE HIGHS AND LOWS. THE BALANCE. SO DRINK IT UP, BUT BE ABLE TO GET UP AND GO TO WORK THE NEXT DAY. XOXOX -JM

nkotbthing.com USA NKOTB COM 11.13.2008 www.nkotb.com

BETWEEN THE SHEETS IT’S ME ONCE AGAIN! DRIVING TO DENVER COLORADO TONIGHT. IT’S SUPER COLD AND WINDY TONIGHT. I FEEL LIKE THE “ROLLING SUBMARINE” HAS BECOME A SMALL PLANE IN TURBULENCE TONIGHT. YOU KNOW THE FEELING OF DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD AND YOUR CAR IS BEING BLOWN BACK AND FORTH………THE LIGHTS ARE DIMMED AND EVERYONE WENT TO BED HOURS AGO…. SOMEONE FROM OUR CAMP IS OVER ON THE COUCH SNORING IN A DEEP SLEEP…..NO, IT ISN’T JORDAN!!!!!!

FEELS LIKE IT WILL BE SNOWING ANY DAY NOW! THE MOON IS FULL, IT’S 5:30 AM, I’M ON SOME STRETCH OF HIGHWAY BETWEEN OMAHA AND DENVER, FEELING VERY DELIRIOUS! ON NIGHTS LIKE THIS BACK HOME, I LOVE TO LIGHT A FIRE IN MY BEDROOM, SLIP INTO SOMETHING COMFORTABLE AFTER A WARM BATH AND CURL UP IN BED TO WATCH A MOVIE……OF COURSE MY FAVORITE GIRL IS ALWAYS RIGHT NEXT TO ME…..I USUALLY RUB UP AND DOWN HER BACK TELLING HER HOW MUCH I LOVE HER…….KISSING HER GENTLY ON HER NECK AS WE BOTH DRIFT OFF TO SLEEP…. HER BODY HAS A WAY OF FITTING ITSELF RIGHT UP CLOSE TO MINE LIKE TWO PIECES OF A PUZZLE……. HER SILKIE SOFT HAIR BRUSHING AGAINST MY CHEST…….. HER LONG LEGS STRETCHED OUT IN COMFORT…….. SHE ALWAYS SEEMS TO WAKE ME UP AT SOME POINT IN THE NIGHT…… SHE LOOKS ME IN THE EYES WITHOUT SPEAKING A WORD………..I LOVE HER FOR THAT…….SHE HAS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL EYES IN THE WORLD…….SHE USUALLY ROLLS OVER SO I CAN STROKE HER CHEST EVER SO GENTLY……..THIS GETS HER ALL WOUND UP THAT SHE SOMETIMES LEAVES A WET SPOT ON OUR SHEETS……. SHE’S EVEN GONE AS FAR AS LETTING A NASTY SMELL OUT OF HER TINY LITTLE ASS! THEN AT THAT MOMENT I BREAK OUT THE LEATHER STUDDED COLLAR AND CHAIN……I KNOW AT THAT MOMENT IT COULD GET FREAKY…… ITS NICE AND WARM UNDER THE SHEETS……..DAMN, SHOULD I GIVE HER WHAT SHE WANTS?………. SHOULD I JUST ROLL OVER AND DO IT IN THE MORNING?………OH DAMN, FEELS LIKE THE WET SPOT IS GETTING BIGGER!!!!!……..SHE HAS MY FULL ATTENTION NOW…..HOLD ON, HOLD ON, I’M GONNA GIVE HER WHAT SHE WANTS………. SHE IS NOW BARKING ORDERS AT ME AS SHE LETS OUT A LOUD HOWLING NOISE…..OMG……OMG……OMG…….. DAMN…………TIME TO WALK THE DOG!!!!!!!!

MAYBE ITS TIME TO GET SOME SLEEP! ENJOY YOUR DAY! I WILL SO ENJOY MINE……….DAY OFF…….

DON’T HOUND ME TILL FRIDAY….. SERIOUSLY!…. JUST KEEPING IT REAL! HA! HOUND ME ON HERE ALL YOU WANT THOUGH…….. ENJOY! WITH RESPECT, JK

nkotbthing.com USA NKOTB COM 11.13.2008 www.nkotb.com

DONNIE NEEDS A FEW THINGS… HEY ALL….

I NEED A FEW THINGS FROM ALL FANS AT THE UPCOMING SHOWS….

MORE NOISE!!

MORE CHAOS!!

MORE OF YOUR INCREDIBLY CLEVER SIGNS TO ME AND THE GUYS AND YOUR FUNNY AND CREATIVE T-SHIRTS AND STUFF. (SNEAK THE SIGNS IN IF YOU HAVE TO).

OH YEAH- CAN YOU PLEASE SING NICOLE FROM PUSSY CAT DOLLS PART ON GROWN MAN REALLY LOUD?? PLEASE? A LOT OF YOU SING IT ALREADY BUT LADIES- THAT IS YOUR MOMENT TO SHINE!!!!! TAKE IT!!!

LASTLY….

KEEP COMING TO SEE US!!!!

FACE TIME IS REAL!!!!!

THE PARTY IS GOING STRONG!!!

FORGET THE BS AND LET YOURSELF GO!!!!!

THE DAYS ARE DWINDLING…..

SAN DIEGO- GET THERE!!!!

THERE ARE TICKETS LEFT- GRAB EM!!!!

THERE ARE SEATS EMPTY- FILL EM!!!!

THAT IS THE SECOND TO LAST DAY ON THE TOUR….

GET YOUR MIND RIGHT AND LET’S GET THIS!!!!!!!!

THAT WILL BE ONE OF THE BEST NIGHTS EVER!!!!!!

FIND. A WAY!!!!

BUY THE CHEAPEST TICKET AND SNEAK UP FRONT!!!!!!

IN FACT… STAY TUNED… MAYBE WE CAN HELP YOU FIND A WAY. LET’S ENJOY EVERY MOMENT OF THIS!!!!

TOGETHER!!!

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!

AS ALWAYSYOUR MAN, ~DONNIE W

nkotbthing.com USA NW MISSOURI NEWS 11.13.2008 media.www.nwmissourinews.com

EDITOR THINKS THE NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK STILL 'GOT THE RIGHT STUFF' Sydney Moore The '80s brought many great things - The Brat Pack, leg warmers, and of course, New Kids On The Block.

Now, before any judgements are made about a NKOTB review, let me explain myself.

I have a 28-year old sister who was obsessed with NKOTB when she was a kid, and being the younger sister by eight years, I was a fan by association. We had the VHS tapes of concerts and backstage action, every album the group came out with, and of course, we had the choreography down to an art.

Now, after about age 7, these NKOTB dance parties we had became uncool and we moved on to new things, like N'Sync. However, every time we heard a song, we were right back in our living room prancing around to "Hangin' Tough."

Fast-forward a few years to summer 2008. NKOTB took the pop culture world by surprise by announcing a new album, "The Block," and a tour to promote it. After finding out the tour would be stopping in Kansas City to play at the Sprint Center, my sister immediately purchased two tickets and I, luckily, was the chosen one to accompany her.

So, Tuesday night was it - my first NKOTB concert and my sister's second, and we had amazing seats, 17 rows back from the stage. I'm not gonna lie, I was somewhat skeptical at first, thinking that watching five 30-something to 40year old men dance around and sing '80s pop songs would be totally lame, but as soon as the show got going, I was pretty impressed.

They opened with their latest hit, "Single," which was accompanied by many flashy lights and lots of choreographed dancing. At this point, I figured I would have to wait forever to hear the oldies I fell in love with so many years ago, but thankfully, the second song was the one and only "You've Got It (The Right Stuff)."

As the show progressed, I became more and more impressed with the guys. Their dancing wasn't even half as bad as I had imagined, and they still got around with the energy and excitement I grew up watching on VHS. The coolest part of the concert was about an hour into the show, when the guys sang a few songs on a rotating platform in the middle of the arena. For 20 minutes, I was about three feet from all five guys - and I even got to touch two of them. No lie, Joey held my hand for a good 10 seconds, and I got to slap hands with Jonathan, my favorite.

After the guys returned to the main stage, there were more flashy lights, cheesy dancing and even fireworks. They did a few songs from their new album, which much to my surprise weren't too terrible, and Jordan and Joey even sang their singles from their solo albums. At the beginning of Jordan's solo act he did what every 30-something old woman has been waiting to see since she was 13 - he took his shirt off. I'm not kidding, the gasps and "ohhh's" could be heard throughout the entire building.

As the show came to an end, NKOTB sang their first single from "The Block," which shook up the charts and video countdowns, "Summertime." Although the guys left the stage after the song, in less than two minutes the lights were back on and the beat to their hit, "Step By Step" rang throughout the arena, followed by mega-hit, "Hangin' Tough."

As lame as I may sound, it was the perfect ending to a surprisingly entertaining concert.

nkotbthing.com USA

USA THE NORTHWESTERN 11.13.2008 www.thenorthwestern.com

COMEBACK KIDS: OSHKOSH AREA NKOTB FANS ENJOY A BIT OF REMINISCING

BY SARAH OWEN

Her childhood bedroom was a shrine to the worldwide late 1980s/early ’90s obsession-turned guilty pleasure. Bed sheets, a sleeping bag, the board game, dolls, posters and buttons – Kelly Nelson had anything and everything that New Kids on the Block gave their names, faces or likeness.

“I watched the cartoons, had a VHS tape of their Step by Step tour,” the 26-year-old University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh alum recalled. “To date, that’s one of the things my little brother remembers about me as a kid – that I was in love with New Kids on the Block.”

Wahlberg heard music for song “Click Click Click,” sent it to former band members.

When she heard the “we’re baaaack” news with the rest of the world last spring, after the group’s 14-year hiatus, her jaw dropped.

Thirteen-track post-reunion album “The Block” debuted at No. 2 in September and sold 139,000 copies, and tickets to their fall tour are selling like hot cakes.

“I kind of laughed; I figured they need some money,” she quipped.

“But at the same time it was a cool nostalgia -type thing to be able to reconnect with that part of my childhood.”

Click here to talk about the comebacks you're raving about, or those you'd like to see again on stage or film, in the Life & Leisure forum.

Igniting a heart’s old desire Nelson is by far the comeback Kids’ sole reborn fan.

At a NKOTB concert at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill., a few weekends ago, fellow UWO alum Gale Dobratz could barely come to grips with the amount of fervent female 20- and early 30-somethings going wild over the resurrected pop act.

Sitting stage left in the upper level, 27-year-old Dobratz watched in awe as thousands of flashes flickered around the arena when on one song front man Jordan Knight ascended from below the stage, makeshift wind ruffling his unbuttoned shirt.

“You were not supposed to have cameras, but I’ve never seen so many go off,” said Dobratz, who admits she had fun people-watching and also got caught up in becoming a reborn New Kids fanatic.

“I bought a tour T-shirt and I’m going to wear it to my aerobics class … and being the sad, pathetic little fan I am I went out and bought their new CD a couple weeks ago…” she said with a laugh.

That $50 concert ticket? Money well spent, she says. “The verdict is, oh my God, it was amazing; I’m not kidding you. I turned into a 9-yearold again, it was ridiculous.”

Making a comeback From ’94 to ’08, the now-30something New Kids have gone from “Hangin’ Tough” through marriages, to children, divorces, and various solo gigs.

Donnie Wahlberg teetered into acting (remember his rail-thing role in “The Sixth Sense”?); Joey McIntyre hit Broadway, and who could forget his nimble “Dancing With the Stars” stint?; Jonathan Knight, detoured into real estate; and Jordan went solo.

But apparently timing was right and something, well, clicked, after

But they’re hardly the first act to try a second go-round. Last spring they joined the ranks of vintage clothing, TV shows like spin-off “90210” and former heartthrobs Backstreet Boys - all who’ve attempted returns to the spotlight.

So far, it seems to be working.

Dobratz, who works in and studied advertising/marketing in college, says NKOTB has set itself up to make mad cash quickly. “(Their comeback) is being done so strategically,” she said of the Today Show appearance that had fans hoping to hear them perform, but ended only with the group’s official announcement.

“They might as well do it now, while people in our age group are still going to get excited about it.”

She said reigniting her inner New Kids fan isn’t much different from how past generations kept a fire burning for their favorite acts.

“My mom thought it was the funniest thing in the world,” said Dobratz, whose first concert was NKOTB at age 9. “She was like, ‘I had The Monkeys’ - though we never admitted we liked them. It’s more nostalgia than anything.”

Whether New Kids will draw enough new fans to stick around isn’t clear, either. “It might work better if something is reinvented, new; I think younger generations of fans would get on board with that,” Nelson said. “I don’t know how long the New Kids thing will last.”

Fellow Generation X-er Cody Pinkston, who teaches golf to 19- and 20-year-olds at Ripon College, says on a school trip he had Journey playing from his iPod one time and all the students new the words.

“I was like, ‘how do you know this? it came out like seven years before you were even born,” he said with a laugh. “I said, ‘some of this stuff you guys listen to now, do you really think it’s going to last for 30 years?’ And they don’t know.”

Some stuff just fades or isn’t meant to be “as great” the second time around, Pinkston says, even if it sparks fits of nostalgia.

“It’s like some old movie you loved when you were 17,” he said. “You’ll get in that sentimental mood, pop it in and watch it, and it’s just not as good as you remember.”

Sarah Owen: (920) 426-6671 or sowen2@thenorthwestern.com.

nkotbthing.com USA NK TV 11.14.2008 www.nkotb.com

TEAM "O" FROM I LOVE ALL ACCESS See what happens when you're creative with your meet/greets?!

VIDEO BLOG - PING PONG PATTLE Ping Pong w Donnie anyone?

nkotbthing.com USA ROCKY MOUNTAINS NEWS 11.15.2008 www.roclymountainsnews.com

PARKER: NEW KIDS OLDER BUT STILL ROCK THE BLOCK

By Penny Parker,

The fan fawning over the (much older) New Kids on the Block, in town Friday for a Broomfield Events Center concert, reached a fever pitch at the Ritz-Carlton Denver late Thursday.

"It's insane," my spy e-mailed me from Elway's at the Ritz. "Girls are acting like they're 13 again, but in a nice safe way. Jordan, Jon and Danny are here. They've done some photos and autographs, holding court a little. Our waitress said this is crazier celeb response than during the (Democratic National Convention).

"There are women here following them to the bathroom and out to smoke. It makes me cringe. But I'm here with my best friend, and it's like our preteen obsession has come full circle."

My smitten spy, whose gal pals got her out of bed for this glimpse at her youth, admitted she brought all the letters she wrote to the boy band back in the day but never mailed.

"There was also a list of my future children with Jon . . . all 13 of them," she said. "What is wrong with me? OMG! You'll be embarrassed to know me."

Earlier that day another spy spotted all five older New Kids - Jordan Knight, Jonathan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg and Danny Wood - shooting hoops at Forza Fitness at the Ritz.

"I trust they still sing better than they (play) ball," he said.

NKOTB enjoyed super stardom as a boy band - that helped pave the way for Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC - in the late '80s and early '90s. After selling 70 million albums worldwide, the band disbanded in 1994.

They reunited this year and have been touring to promote their new album The Block.

nkotbthing.com USA THE BOSTON GLOBE 11.15.2008 www.boston.com

Step by step

IT'S NOT LISTED IN ANY TOURIST GUIDE, BUT NKOTB FANS FLOCK TO THE HOUSE WHERE THE KNIGHT BROTHERS GREW UP

By Johnny Diaz When Kari Lusso and her trio of girlfriends flew from Seattle to Boston for the New Kids on the Block concert, they had to make a quick detour. On a rainy Saturday night, the friends drove their rental car to 10 Melville Ave. As they stood in front of the Victorian house, they shrieked and giggled like little girls. The commotion? They were at the former home of the band's brothers Jonathan and Jordan Knight.

When they rang the bell, they got a quick tour.

"It was going from 31 to 13," Lusso said. "We took pictures of their stove. We took pictures of their floor. We took pictures of the banister, the living room, and their bedrooms. What a dream come true to see such an intimate part of their childhood."

The Knights haven't lived there in more than a dozen years. The family sold the house to the Salvation Army in 1996, but staffers there have been busy rolling out a welcome mat to rabid NKOTB fans. Ever since the band reunited last spring, fans have discovered one of Boston's best pop secrets - the Knight family's old crib.

In the past year, the Salvation Army has seen a spike in the number of unannounced visitors ringing the doorbell and people pulling up in the driveway to snap photos on the front lawn. Fans learn of the address through old books, blogs, and Internet searches. The Salvation Army lists the house on a MySpace.com page that celebrates the home's history. One recent Saturday, roughly 50 fans trickled in and out of the house to marvel and reminisce after they learned about the place on the Web and through word of mouth.

"We don't charge them," said Major Susan Dunigan, who runs the Christian-based social service center in Melville Park with her husband, William, also a major with the Salvation Army. "We welcome people. It's part of the purpose of being an outreach ministry."

Diehard fans drop by with cameras, memorized biographies, and hearts filled with nostalgia for the Boston-bred quintet of crooners who were wildly popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s with hits such as "Hangin' Tough" and "Step By Step." Once inside, these gawkers don't want to leave. They pose in the rooms where the Knight brothers rehearsed, slept, ate, and showered.

Sally Wisbey, 31, of London and her girlfriend stopped by the day before the Boston concert in September. "It was kind of like reliving our childhood days," Wisbey said. "I took photos of Jordan's room, the outside of the room, and out back at the big shed where [the 1994 video] 'Games' was shot and where Jonathan was washing his dog. The whole experience was amazing."

Salvation Army officials hope the band's renewed momentum will help them raise money to renovate the residence's rear carriage house, which has been featured in old band photos and music videos. The Salvation Army wants to convert the carriage house into an arts and community space for local children. Although agency officials don't ask for donations in exchange for a tour, Dunigan said: "We accept donations from anybody."

A famous backdrop The three-story house, which sits on a hilly acre of land, has a famous history. The Stick Style residence with the gabled roof was built in 1880

by George Meacham, a landscape architect who designed Boston's Public Garden in 1860. The house was originally owned by John W. Field, a member of the mercantile family for whom Fields Corner is named.

The Knights bought the house in 1972, said Sharon Knight, one of the six children of Allan Knight, an Episcopalian priest, and Marlene Putnam.

"We went from a Brady Bunch neighborhood house in Westwood to this huge Victorian house which had 20 rooms," said Sharon Knight, the second oldest sibling. During the years at the house, her parents ran a group home for teenagers. "The house was spectacular. It had a lot of details and space."

The property gained pop-culture notoriety after the band exploded into a pop phenomenon in the late 1980s. Band photos, biographies, and music videos feature the residence as a backdrop.

Sharon Knight remembers how fans climbed trees and clamored outside the property to get a glimpse of her dark-haired brothers.

"People were camped out there all the time and coming to the door," she said. "We had to put up a big wrought-iron fence."

That fandom was one of the reasons the family moved to Essex, where Jonathan and Jordan Knight bought an estate, their sister said. "We moved to a house that was four times the size in Dorchester," she said.

But her family considers the Melville house their childhood home.

"That's where all our memories are. It is very much missed."

'The Jubilee House' In 1996, Marlene Putnam, who by that time had divorced, put the home up for sale and sold it to the Salvation Army for $340,000.

"Rather than sell it to someone that would condo-ize it, [my mother thought] what better way to keep it going than to serve the community," said Sharon Knight, who now lives in Danvers. Her five siblings live nearby in Essex, Milton, Quincy, and Providence.

The Salvation Army directors christened the property "The Jubilee House," a biblical reference that alludes to a festival by God in the book of Leviticus.

The place has 23 rooms, nine fireplaces, and a deck that offers a panoramic view of the city. The house is home to 15 people, including the Dunigans and their grown children, and students from Gordon College, who spend a semester living there while working with city youths. Three golden retrievers also sleep here.

Despite the recent increase in fan traffic, the Salvation Army is used to unexpected visitors. The house has hosted summer camps, Bible study groups, tutoring for children, and support groups for men and women.

Staffers provide free meals each Wednesday night for the community as well as weekly prayer services.

For some residents, watching the parade of obsessive fans snooping in their bedrooms can be a little disruptive.

"We get a lot of British fans," said Lauren Folden, 20, a college student who lives in Jonathan Knight's old second-floor bedroom. "They come and want to take pictures."

Added Allison Dunigan, 19, another resident: "We're kind of used it. It's weird when they [the fans] take pictures of all the rooms and the toilet."

That credit belongs to the spirited Seattle group of girlfriends.

"We had to go to the bathroom and say we went to the facilities that Jordan had used," said Stacy Howard, 31. A publicist for the Salvation Army in Seattle, she snapped photos of the stairwell banister, kitchen stove, and Jordan Knight's bedroom.

The women said the tour was a childhood dream come true.

"I have never met them but now feel I have," Lusso said. "Personally for me, the house tour was as great as going to see them in concert."

nkotbthing.com It's not listed in any tourist guide, but NKOTB fans flock to the house where the Knight brothers grew up.

1. Jonathan Knight slept in this bedroom.

2. The foyer of 10 Melville Ave. in Dorchester, where the Knights lived from 1972 to the 1990s.

3. The bedroom where Jordan Knight slept.

4. The black-and-white tile in this second floor kitchen is left from when the Knights lived there.

5. The living room is now used for religious services.

6. The carriage house appears in some NKOTB videos and photos.

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nkotbthing.com CANADA EDMONTON SUN 11.17.2008 www.edmontonsun.com

ONE MORE TIME AROUND THE BLOCK Nostalgia can be a funny thing. You know that neon green fanny pack won't ever come back in style but you can't part with it. Same goes for those cassette tapes of that famous boy band from Boston, New Kids on the Block.

If you were a teenaged girl back in the early '90s, chances are you had a collective crush on Donnie Wahlberg, Danny Wood, Joey McIntyre, Jordan Knight and Jonathan Knight.

Maybe you even cried when the group officially disbanded in 1995, or perhaps by that point you were, like, totally over them.

Now the boys are back, complete with a new album and a new tour, hitting Rexall Place tomorrow night. And just in case you were wondering, boys will be boys.

"I was just making fun of Jon doing an interview and now Jordan is making fun of me," cackles McIntyre from a stop in Denver, "and now Jordan is making fun of me."

McIntyre, at age 35 still the baby of the group, understands that much of the group's current appeal lies in nostalgia, but says the group needed more than an easy buck to reform.

"We felt we had to start with music because we wanted to be excited ourselves. We wanted to be turned on by something new and fresh," explains McIntyre.

NEW ENERGY "We started in the studio with no deadlines and no contracts. With the new album and the new sound, we're definitely making a splash. I think it adds a lot of new energy to it. It doesn't feel like a totally nostalgic ride. We're lucky to have 10 hits from back in the day that people go crazy for."

The Block, the group's first album since 1994's Face the Music, recently debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and spawned the radio hit Summertime.

The tour behind the album has been great so far for the

guys, according to McIntyre, who are all a little bit older and a little bit wiser.

"Being in a band you hear of very successful groups that none of the members talk to each other but they're still doing business. With us I think we put a lot of energy towards trying to get along," says McIntyre.

"We played basketball for the first time in about 15 years yesterday and we're smarter now. Each team won one game and we didn't do the rubber match (deciding game). Twenty years ago we would have done the rubber match, and someone would have been injured and there would have been a fight. But we said, 'You know? We both won a game.

Nobody's hurt, nobody's pissed off, let's leave it at that.' So I guess we're learning."

Outside of NKOTB, the guys all had steady careers, in and outside of the music industry. McIntyre found work on Broadway, a role on TV's Boston Public, danced in Dancing with the Stars and is even credited with coining the phrase "This is where the magic happens" on MTV's Cribs ("I have to say I've sort of chartered some frontier on MTV," he laughs).

While there's no denying that things are little different for the guys, their energy on stage has remarkably stayed the same. McIntyre says that the group does lot of meet-andgreets with fans before the shows and that it's common to hear people remark on how calm and chilled out they are.

But once they hit the stage, the game is on.

"We have this entrance in the show where you lift up on the stage and you look down and see all this hysteria. Even if you weren't up for it 10 seconds earlier, it's instant ignition," says McIntyre. "The thing is coming down. You learn how to pace yourself. After the show you're so amped that some of us don't got to bed until 4 a.m.

"My (schedule) is a little different because I've got a oneyear-old and wife out with me out there so we're going to the zoo when some of the other guys are sleeping in their bunks."

nkotbthing.com GERMANY BILD 11.18.2008 www.bild.de

EXKLUSIV BEI BILD.DE „DIRTY DANCING“: DAS NEUE VIDEO VON NKOTB MIT DABEI: THOMAS GOTTSCHALK UND TIL SCHWEIGER Kreisch! Die neue Single der legendären New Kids On The Block erscheint am 5. Dezember – und bei BILD.de können Sie jetzt schon exklusiv das neue Video sehen.

Im September veröffentlichten die New Kids on the Block nach 15 Jahren ihr neues Album „The Block" – und schafften es damit direkt auf Platz eins der US-Charts. Nach der ersten Singleauskopplung „Summertime“ haben die fünf Jungs nun das Video zum nächsten Hit „Dirty Dancing“ fertig.

Für ihr neues Video haben sich Donnie, Joey, Danny, Jonathan und Jordan ganz besondere Unterstützung ins Boot geholt: Thomas

Gottschalk (58) und Til Schweiger (44). Hintergrund: NKOTB werden in Schweigers neuem Film „1 1/2 Ritter – Auf der Suche nach der hinreißenden Herzelinde“ (gespielt von Julia Dietze, Kinostart: 18.

Dezember) zu sehen sein.

Die New Kids sind bis heute eine der erfolgreichsten Boygroups aller Zeiten, mit mehr als 75 Millionen verkaufter Platten. Das aktuelle Video wurde in einem mittelalterlichen Club aufgenommen. Doch mittelalterlich ist nur die Location. Joey: „Wir sind immer noch jung, wir sind immer noch heiß!“ Sehen Sie hier exklusiv das neue NKOTB-Video „Dirty Dancing“:

nkotbthing.com USA THE DAILY STAR 11.18.2008 www.dailystar.co.uk

NEW GIG ON THE BLOCK NEW Kids On The Block have added a date at London’s Hammersmith Apollo to their 2009 UK tour after selling-out the massive O2 Arena.

The band, whose new track Single features Ne-Yo, 29, kick off the shows in Manchester on January 16.

Tickets for the Hammersmith gig on January 25 go on sale this Friday at 9.30am from gigsandtours.com

USA THE DAILY STAR 11.18.2008 www.dailystar.co.uk

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK ANNOUNCE NEW DATE! The original boyband, New Kids On The Block have announced an extra show for their massive UK Arena tour next January.

The boys will play London's Hammersmith Apollo on Sunday 25th January, the night after their sold out O2 Arena show.

In the late 80s and early 90s, brothers Jordan & Jonathan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg and Danny Wood created a cultural phenomenon, selling over 70 million albums as well as countless concert tickets, t-shirts, lunchboxes and fluffy slippers all over the world.

Tickets for the new date are on sale from 9:30am, this Friday 21st November and will be available here.

To buy New Kids On The Block tickets or for more information on New Kids On The Block tour dates, see their page here on Ents24.

nkotbthing.com USA THE SEATTLE TIMES 11.18.2008 http://seattletimes.nwsource.com

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK FOREVER! FANS SHARE THEIR MEMORIES READERS SHARE THEIR NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK MEMORIES. Editor's note: Earlier this month Seattle Times reporter Marian Liu confessed to the world that she was a New Kids on the Block fan ... and proud if it. Her story about 1980s and '90s boy-band love generated response from fellow NKOTB fans, from then and today. Read on: I am also a PROUD fan of the New Kids on the Block! I have been since I was 11 years old. I followed them religiously until they broke up and then continued with each of their solo careers. ... I was more than thrilled to hear of their reunion. I couldn't wait until November and decided to make a trek down to Dallas, Texas, in October to not only witness my favorite group of all time take the stage and perform live, but to actually meet them.... Jordan, Joey, Danny, Donnie and Jon are THE NICEST GUYS EVER!!! I got to give my favorite, Jordan, a hug that has been reserved for him for 20 years and it was worth the wait (he asked me to make sure it was). They sweetly listened to my ramblings, each gave me a hug (and not the pat on your back, done out of obligation hugs, but really good hugs) and they even signed my shirt I designed myself when autographs were NOT ALLOWED (I can thank Jon for this favor). It was a quick visit, but an incredible moment I will never forget.

— "imnangl," Bellevue I was so in love with NKOTB that I thought my world may end when I wasn't allowed to attend their concert at age 12. To get the opportunity to see them as I approach my 30th birthday is a dream come true, and I look forward to wearing my '80s-style leggings and hair scrunchy to the concert. I am sure it will be a night to remember!

— Natalie Surowiecki, Kent I really enjoyed reading your recent story about NKOTB at the Tacoma Dome this month. I can absolutely relate! In fact, I will be flying to Washington from Minnesota with three friends just to see the show and celebrate as the band winds down this first leg of the reunion tour.

Cannot wait! Oh, the crazy things we do as dedicated and loyal fans of the New Kids. I'm 34 and I feel like I'm 15 again. It's brilliant!

— Katie Incantalupo, Saint Paul, Minn.

I was also a Joey fan back in the day. I fell in love with him after seeing the "Please Don't Go Girl" video on TV. I remember when I was 13 ... my cousin and my aunt were going to see them in concert and my aunt bought a third ticket for me to go with them!! I was so excited!

Sadly, even though my aunt pleaded with my mom to let me go, she said no. I was too young.

That was the only chance I ever got to go back then. I'll never forget how depressed I was.

Fast forward to 2008, I first heard the rumor about their reunion in late January and the dormant NKOTB fan in me woke up!! In February, I went on eBay and was able to buy everything I've always wanted related to NKOTB. ... In May, I went to see them at "The Today Show" in New York and camped out two days before the show. That's where I got to meet Jon Knight because he came out at 2:45 a.m. to see that we weren't rained on....

What NKOTB meant to me was so much more than just a band. Their music had an intensive effect on me in a way that I will never forget. I can explain it over and over again to a non-fan but they will never "get it" ...

— "miss_ava," San Francisco I've been a New Kids fan since 1989. I used to bring their tapes with me to school and listen to them on my Walkman at recess!

I went to my first concert in February 1991 in Reno, Nevada, with a bunch of my friends. My mom told me I could only go to the concert if we went with an adult (I was 12 at the time). I

told her that we were, and she didn't ask any more questions. The reality was that my friend's 16-year-old brother was going to drop us off and pick us up! We dressed up completely in New Kids' gear — T-shirt, shorts and leggings.

I've stayed in touch with those friends from junior high who went to that first concert with me.

Only one is still a New Kids fan. Unlike me, she followed all of their solo careers and never gave up hope that they would reunite.

I'm so excited to finally meet the guys at the end of this month!

— "emalea," Lakebay I have been an avid fan since I was 9 years old. I still remember the first time that I heard "Please Don't Go Girl," and from that moment I was hooked.... All throughout my life I have remained a true fan, listening to their greatest hits CD from time to time. But even I didn't realize just how crazy about these men I truly am until one January evening, when my husband, who was on his way to a Garth Brooks concert in L.A., asked me who was my alltime favorite band. Of course my answer was the New Kids. His response to me was, "Imagine that you just heard that the New Kids were reuniting and that they would be performing one last time. Wouldn't you want to be there? If that was to happen I would do for you what you are doing for me now." Never in either of our minds did we think that NKOTB would be getting back together, let alone releasing another album!! I was so excited that I cried and haven't stopped smiling yet. My husband lived up to his word and purchased VIP tickets for the Tacoma show. Since then I have just been counting down the days until Nov. 22; I am still on my "Block" high!!

What I love most about all of this is how young I feel again, corny sounding I know, but so true.

The New Kids played a very important part of my childhood. Listening to them now always brings me back to those days when life was so carefree; memories of my first crush (Jordan!) and learning all the dance moves to their songs was a must. I am a mom of three little girls now and they love seeing mom act like a total goof and have even become dedicated fans themselves! So thank you Donnie, Danny, Jordan, Jonathan and Joe for bringing back to life a part of me that I had forgotten was there!!

— "mkolbas," Silverdale I am looking forward to the concert coming up in Tacoma. The article really made me feel like a kid again, back in the '90s. I was that girl with New Kids everything ... from blankets to posters, shirts, pins buttons ... everything you can think of. I even still have a few tapes left.

I know I will have a blast in my neon tights, oversized shirt tied in a knot, and my hair in a ponytail slightly off to the side!

— Sylvia Hansen, Shoreline Yes, I have loved and fought over both Joey and Jordan — seeing them first in concert at the Puyallup Fair many years ago! My fondest memory is seeing them from the third row at the Kingdome for the sold-out Magic Summer Tour. My mom tried to corner Jordan in a bookstore for a photo — how embarrassing but cool! I still have a tour jacket, dolls, baseball cards, buttons, lots of magazine pics, and all of my concert ticket stubs. ... Of course I got tickets to this show in Tacoma — wouldn't miss it for the world!

— "melp," Auburn

Katie Incantalupo, far right, and her friends pose with the New Kids at the ACC Center in Toronto in September.

Michelle Krajewski, 15, plastered her bedroom with New Kids on the Block memorabilia. That was cool with her dad, Dan, who was a fan, too.

nkotbthing.com USA BOSTON GLOBE 11.18.2008 www.boston.com

SOUTHIE ON THE BIG SCREEN Southie was well represented at this weekend's screening of "What Doesn't Kill You," the directorial debut by favorite son Brian Goodman. A few dozen locals legged it to Brandeis, where the South Boston-based crime drama played to a packed house. Afterward, actor Mark Ruffalo, who stars in the indie film alongside Ethan Hawke and Amanda Peet, told the crowd he was initially intimidated by the rowdy role. "I said to Brian, 'I'm scared to death,' " Ruffalo remarked. To which Goodman replied: "Bring that, we'll film it." A rags-to-riches story if there ever was one, Goodman said he wrote the screenplay on a 37-cent notebook "out of sheer boredom" and then showed it to Donnie Wahlberg, who's a friend from way back. (The New Kid plays a cop in the film and is credited as a co-writer.)

Goodman, whose family was in the audience Saturday, told us he's got a couple of projects in the hopper, including an abduction thriller that Cameron Diaz is eyeing. "When I was growing up in Southie, saying you wanted to be an actor or a writer was like saying you wanted to wear tights," he said. "Not anymore."

USA DAILY FIASCO 11.18.2008 www.dailyfiasco.com

Q-TIP CLEANS UP AT BANK Former Tribe Called Quest frontman Q-Tip was at The Bank inside Bellagio last night, which also saw New Kid Danny Wood drop by. 1991 was in the house all night long.

Meanwhile, Sunday also saw DJ Eric Cubeechee celebrate his birthday at Christian Audigier the Nightclub inside Treasure Island. He spun along with DJ Hollywood, stopping only to blow out the candles on his cake. Usually cake should be worth a good 10-minute break. That’s dedication, right there. Seattle Seahawks’ Jamie Sharper was there for the party.

nkotbthing.com USA NKOTB COM 11.19.2008 www.canada.com

JOEYS SAYS “LEAVE JON ALONE”

nkotbthing.com CANADA

CANADA CALGARY HEARLD 11.18.2008 www.canada.com

WAHLBERG PLEASED WITH BOYS TO MEN TRANSITION NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK BACK IN SPOTLIGHT Nick Lewis, Calgary Herald New Kids on the Block perform Wednesday at The Saddledome.

Tickets at ticketmaster

Donnie Wahlberg says the New Kids on the Block are feeling more appreciative of their success this time around.

More than 70 million records between 1988 and 1994, about as many as Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen have over their entire careers. They charted countless No. 1 hits, sold out arenas across the world, and had their mugs plastered on everything from lunch boxes to, well, mugs.

When the inevitable backlash came, the pressure crashed in and broke them up. Fourteen years later, the world's biggest boy band is back together, and Donnie Wahlberg for one is having a blast with New Kids on the Block. "I don't really get caught up in successes and I don't harp on failures, but the timing has been impeccable," the 39-year-old says during a sound check in Salt Lake City."Each member of the group in some way deserves credit for that. Not for the timing itself, because you can never predict what the right time is, but for avoiding the pitfalls of the earlier attempts, each of which would have been the wrong time.

"So many people came at us over the years with ideas and plans, and someone always smelled a rat. "I also thought it was important to protect the integrity of the name of the group--not that New Kids on the Block has always been associated with integrity."But if we give it away cheaply, what do we have?

"There's a value to the group, and I always believed that. And had we done little things over the past decade, maybe said yes to some of the goofy TV shows and other ideas thrown our way, we probably wouldn't have as much goodwill as we do with the revival." That's been the best part of reuniting, Wahlberg says of the goodwill. For a pop group that went down in ridicule after its last-ditch transformation into the edgier NKOTB in 1994, the enthusiasm from both fans and the press over its reunion has been a pleasant surprise.

"Encountering all the goodwill, especially from people who probably wouldn't have had it before, has been great," Wahlberg says. "Because we are doing it now for the right reasons, in the right way. There's no reality show, no gimmicks and tricks, it's just us doing what we do. When we last toured back in the day, the reviews were filled with items about prerecorded vocals and backing tricks and this and that.

"This time around, without question, there's been unanimous support." New Kids on the Block were put together by Maurice (The General) Starr around 1985. Starr was a musical Svengali who had struck gold with his R&B teen hitmakers New Edition, an all-black group whose members included Bobby Brown and Johnny Gill. Wanting to replicate that success with white kids to appeal to white kids, he met a young Donnie Wahlberg in the summer of 1984 in Dorchester, Mass. It was Donnie who helped him find the others --his friends Danny Wood, Jordan Knight, Jon Knight and Joe McIntyre. Donnie's brother Mark Wahlberg was briefly in the group as well, but quit when he didn't care for its musical direction.

The five New Kids soon became an international sensation on the strength of singles such as Hangin' Tough and The Right Stuff, as teen magazines like Tiger Beat attempted to categorize each with tags --"the tough one" or "the sensitive one." Those tags soon became templates other boy bands followed. "I do feel I can be myself these days, but the reality is I always felt that way," Wahlberg says. "We weren't manufactured in that way. It's important to me that people know that we weren't conceived in a board room. I wasn't the 'tough guy' or 'bad boy' to fill a role, I was who I was. I was also working my (expletive) off 20 hours a day involved in every aspect of the group. It's important for me for people to know I was not a manufactured image--that was something people tried to attach to us afterwards.

"You could look at a group like 'NSync and go, 'Oh my gosh, Lance Bass is the Jon Knight, Justin Timberlake is the Joe McIntyre, JC Chasez is the Jordan Knight'--you could go right down the line.

But there was no plan with us. I was the first member of the group and I brought in guys I knew. I brought in Danny Wood and Jordan Knight, and I didn't bring them in because one had movie star looks and one was a good baritone. The reality was, A, they were my friends, and B, no other white kids in 1985 were doing that (expletive)."

Being back together after 14 years apart hasn't been a problem, Wahlberg says. In many ways, it feels easier now that the five kids are mature adults.

"I think some of the guys, we're a bit different and we may not connect on some levels," he says. "At the same time, when you're young you think you all have to be on board with everything, and it's all for one and one for all. When you grow up you realize everyone has their own way of doing things. In the past, when you're a 20-year-old kid, you find problems with little things the others do and blow up about it. 'Why is he talking to the fans that way?' or 'Why isn't he talking to the fans?' Now we realize, we each just have to get through the day our own way, and if one guy doesn't want to do sound check or do a radio interview, then that's OK. If those are our biggest problems, we're doing fine."

Wahlberg himself is doing great, having branched out into a successful acting career in the steps of younger brother Mark. He's appeared in all but one of the Saw movies, and you can presently catch him in Righteous Kill with Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. But nothing has been as shocking as his role as Vincent Gray in M. Night Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense, in both his appearance and the power of his performance. What's incredible is that the role was originally written for a 13-year-old boy, until 30-year-old Wahlberg convinced Shyamalan otherwise.

"I really didn't try to convince him, the reality was I read the script and cried," he says. "I loved the script so much I got on a plane to New York to meet M. Night and asked him if I could turn it into a play where I could play the lead. And we hit it off so well, he told me he was thinking about Bruce Willis for the lead, and maybe that could make me about 18, 19, the right age for the character.

And I said, 'Dude, I'll sweep the floors for this movie, that's how much I love it. If you can make it work with me, I'm there.' And that was it.

"I don't know what convinced him apart from the passion I had for the script. I dropped from 182 pounds to 140. I had such anxiety about it because I knew it was such a pivotal scene, and I was going to be on screen with Bruce Willis." Today, Wahlberg says, he looks at that Oscar-nominated film as great preparation for everything else he's encountered since.

"I learned about commitment, about work ethic, and it's pretty much how I tackle anything now," he says. "It came from a time when the only person I could rely on was myself, and I've brought that back to New Kids now. I think it helps me, it helps the group, and I treat everything with that intensity. I know I'll never sing as good as Jordan Knight or Joe McIntyre, and maybe some of the other guys won't dance or write songs as well as me, but this time we're all committed. So, let the chips fall where they may."

nkotbthing.com USA SUN MEDIA 11.19.2008 http://jam.canoe.ca

SADDLEDOME, CALGARY NOVEMBER 19, 2008

By LISA WILTON -- Sun Media CALGARY -- It's been almost two decades since New Kids on the Block stepped onto the Saddledome stage to the high-pitched squeals of The screams were just as loud last night when the five boys -- make that men -- from Boston made their return engagement.

The hair might be receding slightly, the middles may be widening (but only a little) and they aren't quite as light on their feet as they once were, but when the New Kids on the Block sang or spoke, the predominantly female audience drank in every word.

The group's members -- Donnie Wahlberg, Jordan Knight, Jon Knight, Joe McIntyre and Danny Wood -- made a dramatic entrance, coming up through the stage onto a riser and launched into their first song, conveniently titled Single.

It was one of about half-a-dozen tracks taken from the band's comeback album, The Block.

NKOTB is obviously trying to keep away from the retro act tag, but including that many new songs in the set meant the pacing and the venue's energy suffered at moments.

New Kids on the Block first broke up in 1994, but the band's members have kept busy with solo albums and in Wahlberg's case, acting.

Even during their extended absence, many fans still kept tabs on their favourites. Heidi Jackson was 13 years old when she saw the New Kids live in 1990. Eighteen years later, she's a mother of two and runs the Canadian fan site, www.nkotb.ca "They're just amazing and they're regular guys," gushed Jackson, who has travelled across Canada with her best friend Vicki Brooks to see the band on tour.

"I was 13 when this whole thing started for me. That's 20 years exactly. When they did their own things, we followed what they were doing with their solo careers."

Jackson and Brooks have met up with fellow New Kids fans and have even met the band a few times along the way.

The evening started off with a bang thanks to New York's Lady Gaga.

However, one forgets how huge New Kids on the Block was in the late '80s and early '90s. The brainchild of New Edition producer Maurice Starr, NKOTB put out its first album in 1986 but it wasn't until its 1988 sophomore record, Hangin' Tough, that the group enjoyed a string of chart hits.

Pop music's latest flavour of the week stormed the stage looking like a sleazier version of Gwen Stefani.

Her short set was packed full of sex-driven, '80s-style electro-dance, which was slick but ultimately a shallow affair.

Natasha Bedingfield followed with a slightly longer set that featured her inescapable hit singles, These Words (I Love You), Pocketful of Sunshine and Unwritten.

That album is probably the one closest to the hearts of the NKOTB fans last night. Early smashes such as Please Don't Go Girl and You Got It (The Right Stuff) elicited the biggest cheers and had the 11,000-strong crowd dancing and singing along.

Bedingfield has a great voice and has an endearing presence on stage.

She could probably headline a Saddledome show herself.

And when Jordan broke into his famous falsetto in My Favorite Girl? Pandemonium.

The New Kids are now grown men in their mid-30s, so you would expect a little less dancing and a little more sitting on stools. But the

But it was New Kids on the Block's night, and for the thousands of fans who waited years to see them again it was more than satisfying.

Sun Rating: 3.5 out of 5

fivesome proved they still have the moves, even if they do look a little dated now.

Thankfully though, it wasn't all cheesy Right Stuff moves.

Sure, Wahlberg threw in a bit of breakdancing, but the choreography was generally fresh and impressive, if not a tiny bit stiff.

Reviews from the band's first few shows this year were lukewarm and often critical of NKOTB's over-rehearsed stage show.

But now that they are a few months into their tour, the guys look much more comfortable on stage and joked around with each other and the audience.

nkotbthing.com USA EDMONTON JOURNAL 11.19.2008 www.canada.com

NEW KIDS IN THE BLACK DESPITE BEING 15 YEARS OLDER AND WISER, REUNITED BOY BAND STILL PUTS ON A WICKED SHOW Elizabeth Withey, The Edmonton Journal

EDMONTON - If you squeezed your eyes shut and listened to Jordan Knight's falsetto over the screams of 9,800 (mostly female) spectators, you'd have almost have believed Rexall Place travelled back in time on Tuesday night.

Boy band New Kids on the Block officially expired 15 years ago, but Edmonton paid no mind to that best-before date, guzzling down the Boston fivesome from the second they step-by-stepped on stage. Ooh baby.

It was mainly 30-something women at this nostalgic show, former infatuees from the days when NKOTB was the right stuff in manufactured pop music.

But judging by the blood-curdling din, the cult-like fistpumping and the surprising frenzy when the band did a number on a revolving stage in the middle of the main floor, NKOTB has still got more than a hint of that Hangin' Tough hot factor.

OK, so there's more than a hint of cheese, too. It's surreal -- even embarrassing -- to watch a troupe of nearly 40-year-old men harmonizing songs like My Favourite Girl whilst clutching their crotches in sync. There were some mocking shrieks from men ("I love you, Joey!") and some catty laughs. But cheese is good for you, and the bulk of the audience response was legit.

Clearly, there's still money to be made from passionate, loyal fans. "People outside this building just don't understand the relationship we have!" Donnie screamed, and the house screamed right back. "But back then, they thought you were just crazy teenagers!" After reuniting earlier this year, the Older Kids released an album and headed out on tour, knowing their equally Older Fans would pay for another taste. They opened the Edmonton show with 2008 single, aptly named Single, then quickly rewound to the classics.

"Edmonton, is this really happening? Is this really for real?" Joey McIntyre asked. "Really? Boy oh boy. More like ... woman oh woman. There's some pretty girls in Edmonton. It's a little distracting!" Joey's voice had aged as well as we'd hoped, but hearts still throbbed as he dropped to his knees and crooned Please Don't Go, Girl. Jordan and his dimples were just as darling, brother Jonathan Knight just as wallflowery, and Danny Wood just as simian. Donnie Wahlberg, ever the bad boy, wound up the house with his repeated ED-MON-TON calls and naughty inquiry: "How's my butt look tonight?"

Opening the show was Italian-American electro-popster Lady Gaga, whose killer video effects matched her killer legs as she performed Beautiful Dirty Rich and Just Dance. Brit pop singer Natasha Bedingfield followed, but her cutesypoo look and adorably hoarse voice couldn't compensate for mediocre music. Bedingfield may have that Kylie sex appeal but the soulmatesunshine-love-me-please nonsense made us want to run out for a quick beer.

And OK, let's face it: NKOTB don't have the same magic they had back in the day. But the crowd's fervour seemed to say, can't we pretend, just for tonight? Yes, we can. New Kids fans may be a little older, a little thicker around the middle, but 15 years and 15 pounds can't dim that infatuated sparkle in their eyes. And that, as much as the boy band itself, is wicked entertainment.

CANADA

nkotbthing.com NKOTB NK TV 11.20.2008 www.nkotb.com

TONY!

nkotbthing.com CANADA THE VANCOUVER SUN 11.20.2008 www.canada.com

THE OLD NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK ARE BACK FOUR OF THE FIVE MEMBERS OF THE ORIGINAL GROUP ARE MARRIED WITH KIDS OF THEIR OWN -- SOME THE AGE OF BOY BAND FANS Elaine Corden, Special to The Sun Though pop music historians may quibble, citing the Beatles, the Monkees, the Bay City Rollers or the Jackson 5 as the original boy band, there's no denying that New Kids on the Block created the mould for the modern Boy Band as we know it.

Loving You (Forever) and the aforementioned Click, Click Click is a sexy slow-jam that proves the Kids still want to make the girls swoon. New songs may abound but Wood promises their two hour show will makes sure everyone gets a chance to indulge in a little New Kids nostalgia.

The five young men from Boston took the world by storm in the '80s and early '90s, dazzling preteen girls with syncopated dance moves, harmonious falsettos and a vague whiff of clean-shaven, formless sexuality.

As with every boy band that would come after, each had their own assigned role, a specific flavour to cover all spectrums of girlish tastes; Donnie Wahlberg -- the group's bit of rough -- brought an interest in rap music that mainly showed itself through 'do rags and gold chains; Joey McIntyre was the youngest, babyfaced heartthrob, Jordan Knight was The Voice, a handsome talent with a shock of Pre-Raphaelite curls gelled into a pompadour. Jon Knight, the older brother, was "the quiet one,"who contributed little except backing vocals and a dreamy facial expression onto which any number of romantic notions could be grafted.

Then there was Danny Wood, arguably the most forgettable member, the most neglected when it came time for smitten fans to gaze lovingly at their NKOTB pillowcases.

However far into the background he blended, it's easy to conjure the visage of Wood when he calls from Denver to talk about the New Kids on the Block: Live reunion tour, which stops in town the Friday. It's the first time the group has been together in some 14 years, despite a few MTV-aided attempts to reform the fivesome in 1999 and 2004.

"We get to do a lot of new stuff," says Wood. "But no one leaves the show saying 'I wanted to hear that song or I wanted to hear that song.'"

"The false starts that we had weren't any of our ideas," says Wood, in a thick Bostonian accent. "They were for other people or the network's benefit. There was an agreement between us that we would only do it if all of us wanted to. And this is based on music, I mean, Donnie had a song for me to listen to, which is Click, Click Click, the lead track off the new album, and I loved it, so that was the start. We went into the studio on our own, and Donnie financed a lot of the beginning, with the studios and photo shoots we did. And we did it ourselves until we started getting some interest from labels, and people started getting interest, and it was like a snowball effect."

It may be the case that they're out to satisfy fans with older songs, but there's one classic that the group just won't play.

"I didn't want to do This One's for the Children. I thought at the time we recorded it, it was really contrived, and I didn't like it, and it wasn't one of the things I was proud of. So what we did is, we were at a listening party for the new record and we asked the fans would you be disappointed if you didn't hear This One's For the Children, and actually, no one said anything," says Wood with a laugh.

And speaking of children, it might disappoint some New Kids fans that four of the five are married with kids themselves. Wood, now 39, has four kids -- twin sons aged 16 and two daughters aged 10 and nine -- the perfect age for boy-band consumption. Does Wood mind his daughters getting caught up in the hype of boy bands that have followed in the New Kids' footsteps?

"My 10-year-old has a crush on Joe McIntyre. It was her first real crush. She was into the Jonas Brothers before, and I'd rather have her like Joe Mac than the Jonas Brothers.

"It's cute," he says, indicating that perhaps he knows the charms of his re-united group. "It's harmless and it's cute."

ONLINE: Hear an audio clip of Danny Wood's interview at vancouversun.com

The resulting album, The Block, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Pop Album charts. Artistically, it's not so far away from anything from their late '80s heyday. First single Summertime could stand next to I'll Be

Š The Vancouver Sun 2008

nkotbthing.com USA BOSTON HERALD - THE INSIDE TRASCK 11.20.2008 www.bostonherald.com

DONNIE WAHLBERG DIDN’T OUT JONATHAN KNIGHT – HONEST!

BY GAYLE FEE AND LAURA RAPOSA New Kid Donnie Wahlberg says he absolutely did not out his best bud Jonathan Knight by comparing Jon to openly gay ’N Syncer Lance Bass in a newspaper interview.

In a sit-down with the Calgary Herald the other day, Wahlberg was asked about the “template” the New Kids set for other boy bands - including ’N Sync.

“You could look at a group like N’Sync and go, ‘Oh my gosh, Lance Bass is the Jon Knight, Justin Timberlake is the Joe McIntyre, JC Chasez is the Jordan Knight - you could go right down the line. But there was no plan with us.”

Donnie said mentioning Jon in the same breath as Lance Bass was not a shot at luring his lifelong pal out of the closet.

“That was an . . . out-of-context manipulation of my answer,” Wahlberg told the Track in an e-mail. “I was referring to ’N Sync’s management trying to copy us - Joe the cute young Justin type, Jordan the dark and handsome JC type; Jon the shy and quiet Lance type.”

So it was a “shy/quiet reference,” Donnie said. “Not a gay reference.”

“The point was that they built that group to look like us and we were not built to look like anyone,” he added. (…)!

nkotbthing.com UK INDIIE LONDON 11.20.2008 www.indielondon.com

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK ANNOUNCE EXTRA LONDON DATE (2009) NEW Kids On The Block have announced an extra show to their massive UK Arena tour at London’s Hammersmith Apollo on Sunday, January 25.

The boy band’s first US arena tour in nearly 15 years has already sold a whopping 300,000 tickets, selling out additional shows at a rate of 6,000 tickets a day. Their first New York date sold out in just six minutes, Toronto in four minutes and a string of home town gigs in Boston in under 10 minutes.

Tickets for the Hammersmith Apollo date cost £45 and go on general sale on Friday, November 21 at 9.30am.

The band’s other UK dates in January 2009 are: 16 – Manchester MEN Arena 17 – Birmingham NIA 18 – Glasgow SECC 23 – Trent FM Arena Nottingham 24 – London The O2 25 – Hammersmith Apollo (NEW DATE) 27 – Sheffield Arena 28 – Newcastle Metro Radio Arena 29 – Cardiff International Arena The new New Kids album was sparked when Donnie Wahlberg was in New York for a costume fitting for the upcoming film, Righteous Kill, which finds him living out another life-long dream by acting in a film alongside two of his greatest heroes, Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino.

Finding himself around the block, Wahlberg visited the office of his longtime entertainment lawyer, Jaimie Roberts, who handed him a demo tape of a young singer-songwriter name Nazaree.

In the months that followed, Wahlberg and the other Kids would collaborate closely with Nazaree, who turned out to be a New Kids fan since childhood, as well as other gifted producers and writers including Bryan-Michael Cox, Emanuel Kiriakou, RedOne and Fernando on a new album that blends the melodic soul of vintage New Kids with a decidedly contemporary, hip hop feel.

nkotbthing.com USA NKOTB COM 11.21.2008 www.nkotb.com

FAN APPRECIATION SHOW - HAMMERSMITH APOLLO JAN 25 '09 The guys want to play for YOU on their day off

HAMMERSMITH APOLLO ON SALE NOW!

nkotbthing.com USA NEWSOK 11.21.2008 www.newsok.com

NEW KIDS HANG TOUGH WITH ‘THE BLOCK’ CD

By Kevin C. Johnson The New Kids are back on the Block. The popular 1980s group has a new CD — naturally titled "The Block” — and is touring.

And if the guys have anything to do with it, they’ll keep it going.

"If everyone stays happy — meaning us, meaning the fans, meaning the record label — then we’ll keep going,” singer Jordan Knight said.

"We do all have five different lives and paths and stuff like that. But if God is willing and it keeps working, we’ll keep doing it.”

McClatchy-Tribune Information Services

nkotbthing.com USA DENVER WESTWORD NEWS 11.21.2008 http://www.westword.com .2008

LIVING AND LOVING NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK

By Adam Cayton-Holland Dude, I totally swear to God, at the New Kids on the Block concert, there was a moment during the song "My Favorite Girl" when Joey McIntyre pointed directly fucking at me! I know it sounds ridiculous; there was an entire arena full of thousands of screaming New Kids fans, so how can I be sure he was looking at me? I just am. When Joey sang, "I wanted a girl like you, I've looked so long," my heart almost stopped, I was so sure he was talking to me. It got me so wet. And for a moment, just one small moment, it was 1989 again. The only difference between the NKOTB that I saw open for Tiffany so many years ago at Fiddler's Green and the NKOTB I watched, jaw agape, at the Broomfield Event Center last Friday night was that now I can buy beer. And I no longer put gel in my bangs.

In retrospect, I wonder if my parents thought I was gay, so obsessed was I with the New Kids.

They had seen such fervor from me before. As a five-year-old, Michael Jackson took hold of me something fierce, as many a photo of a sequined-glove-pimping Adam Cayton-Holland can attest.

But as scary as the phrase "As a five-year-old, Michael Jackson took hold of me something fierce" may sound now, at the time no one suspected he was a pederast, so my parents probably got a huge kick out of it. And at least his music rocked.

The New Kids' music blew, plain and simple, but it didn't matter, because I was 'bout it 'bout it from the get-go. They had me at Hangin' Tough. I covered my walls in photos of the boys: ridiculous pics of the fab five torn from the pages of Tiger Beat, NKOTB by train tracks, NKOTB rocking hats and vests while feeding the elderly. In fourth grade, we were assigned to pick a country and write about it. My choice? Jordan. Fucking Jordan. I thought it was destiny. And though that choice did come to bite me in the ass — writing about a Hashemite Kingdom that borders Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia when you're ten is about as fun as it sounds — I was content, figuring that somewhere in the great tallies of the cosmos, my silent Jordan Knight tribute was earning me points.

Jordan was my favorite. After him, Joey. Then Donnie Wahlberg, then Jon — not because he had any charm or presence, but because he was Jordan's brother. Danny Wood was my least favorite because he looked like half a 'tard. My older sister was into NKOTB as much as I was — though she was also a Tiffany/Debbie Gibson whore — and we managed to catch the group twice in concert. After that, NKOTB simply disappeared from our lives. Sometimes we would reminisce, coming across the band's sheets in the linen closet at our parents' house, but for the most part, they became absent in our lives, leaving a giant, gaping hole.

Last Friday the New my hole.

You have no ideanight, how hard it was notKids to buyfilled that poster The Broomfield Event Center was a furious sea of '80s-clad women, drunk and hysterical with the sort of crazed, estrogen-fueled abandon typically reserved for bachelorette parties. Sporting crimped hair, bright leggings and giant earrings, many had taken the opportunity to dress the way they did fifteen or twenty years ago, and the result was surprisingly hot. And terrifying. It's strange that we live in times where nostalgia occurs so quickly. That a pop-cultural phenomenon like the New Kids can exist, disappear, then triumphantly return to capitalize on their kitsch while still relatively young means we are either a very cynical society or one with a sense of humor.

Whatever way people were enjoying the New Kids, the enthusiasm was infectious. My sister and I were amazed to find so many seemingly normal people as into the band as we were. But when the boys actually made it to the stage, we abandoned any sense of irony and simply enjoyed the fuck out of New Kids on the Block. We damn near lost it when they played "The Right Stuff." It was as if the song had come on Y108 all over again, and we were in the back seat, demanding that our mother crank that shit. And if you think the New Kids have lost any of their moves, you go right ahead and think again. The same belt grab, leg rocking, the same pelvic advances and shoulder shrugs; Danny Wood — still looking like half a 'tard, only now a body-builder half a 'tard — did some of the best break dancing I have ever seen!

The crowd rocked signs that said things like "We're Legal Now" and "Before There was Justin There was Jordan."

After ripping through four or five songs, the Kids retreated backstage and sent Donnie back out to address the crowd. "Denver!" he said, making his way down a staircase in a Red Sox cap with a sequined "B." The audience screamed for nearly three minutes. It was almost embarrassing. It was great to be in Denver again after fifteen years, he said, adding, "Isn't it nice to be together again now that we're all grown up?"

And it was. Sure, there were some problems with the show. Some of the new stuff is beyond bad, and a video montage commemorating those who have passed, including several of the New Kids' parents, seemed an odd choice for a frivolous irony tour. But those were minor issues. The fact of the matter is, it was nice to see the New Kids again, to remember a part of your past, pat it on the head and move on. And as I left the center with my sister, deftly avoiding the giant waves of thirtysomething vagina juice cascading down the hallways, I thought how strange it is to be a 28-year-old straight male leaving a NKOTB concert.

But at least now I can buy beer to deal with it.

AN OLD LOVE FOR THE NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK In this week's Westword, Adam Cayton-Holland rediscovers his warm, wet feelings for New Kids on the Block. Here, see photos from his trip to the show last week, where he fell in love all over again.

nkotbthing.com USA

USA THE TRIBUNE NEWS 11.21.2008 www.thetribunenews.com

OLD IS NEW AGAIN ON NEW KIDS CONCERT TOUR JON BREAM; Minneapolis Star Tribune

What is the price of reliving your early teen years?

For Kim Carlton and Alexis Lomen, it’s $375 each. That bought the 31-year-old BFFs from St. Paul, Minn., a chance to meet their childhood idols, the New Kids on the Block, and sit near the stage when they were in Minneapolis earlier this fall.

“I’m so excited to finally get my Donnie hug,” gushed Carlton, referring to New Kids leader Donnie Wahlberg.

“Having an outlet for that stupid energy you have when you’re 13 is kind of important,” said Lomen, who is blogging with her pal about their trips to five New Kids reunion concerts at www.projectnkotb.com. “I guess you carry that with you for the rest of your life.”

Thanks to devoted 30-something fans like Kim and Alexis, New Kids have become the unlikely pop-music comeback of the year. Their new album, “The Block,” debuted at No. 2 with 139,000 copies sold in September, and their tour of the United States, Canada, Mexico and Europe is the hottest-selling reunion since the Police in 2007. It stops Saturday at the Tacoma Dome.

“The tour is going amazing, really. It’s like a time warp,” said Jordan Knight, 38, once known as the cute New Kid. (Now he’s the handsome one.) “It’s almost the same. We’re all a little older, a little wiser and we pace ourselves a little more. But it feels exactly the same.”

At the height of their popularity, a New York critic said New Kids were selling sincerity and sincere about selling it. From 1988 through 1990, the Boston quintet issued two studio albums, a Christmas CD and a remix album, which together sold more than 70 million copies worldwide and featured eight top 10 singles including “Step by Step” and “I’ll Be Loving You (Forever).” They were the top-grossing show-biz act of 1990.

So what are the New Kids selling now?

“It’s sincerity, it’s love for what we do, it’s nostalgia,” Knight said.

“And we’re selling good old-fashioned entertainment. Not too many gimmicks and special effects. We’re five creative guys. We’re not over the hill; we’re in our prime. You’re going to see a show that brings you back in time and is up to date. It is now and is cool and is hip.”

There has been talk of a New Kids reunion ever since their 1994 breakup.

“MTV tried to put us back together, VH1 tried to put us back together, different record companies, different promoters,” Knight said. “Everyone heard talk of it because they were trying to get us back together. (But) not till a year and a half ago, we all five didn’t start talking about it. We weren’t going to sell out for somebody else just because they’re flashing an idea in front of us and saying ‘You guys can make so much money.’”

Conceived by R&B producer Maurice Starr as a white version of the black vocal group New Edition, New Kids started in 1986 as mere teenagers, playing bubble-gum ballads and derivative R&B with rap touches. In 1994, after the ill-fated “Face the Music” album, they pulled the plug.

Still, New Kids became the prototype for such boy bands as Backstreet Boys and ’N Sync.

Unquestionably, the key man for this year’s reunion is Wahlberg, who has become a successful actor. Executive producer of “The Block,” he co-wrote nine of the 13 tracks on the CD, which features such famous guests as the Pussycat Dolls, Akon, Ne-Yo and New Edition and A-list producers Timbaland and Polow Da Don. Knight is not sure where New Kids fit in today’s pop world.

“I hope to think we’re making our marks,” he said. “Before, it was kind of like we did it, we faded away, we left a mark but maybe it was a flash in the pan. Now, by doing this, it’s really branding us as the real deal. That’s why I’m glad we came back, to prove to the world that we’re the real deal and to prove to the fans that they weren’t crazy for believing in us and liking us.”

That’s music to the ears of eternal Blockheads like Lomen and Carlton.

LIFE AFTER NKOTB OK, Jordan Knight admits that he did “The Surreal Life” in 2001 because he was bored and looking for a career boost. “Looking back, for me, it wasn’t smart,” he said. “I’m not that type of personality.”

Here’s what each of the New Kids has done since the band’s 1994 breakup.

Donnie Wahlberg: Although he produced the 1991 hit “Good Vibrations” for his brother Marky Mark and solo albums for exbandmates Joey McIntyre and Jordan Knight, he has mostly pursued acting, earning respect in more than 20 feature films (“Ransom,” “The Sixth Sense”) and several TV series and movies (“Boomtown,” “Band of Brothers,” “Runaway”).

Joey McIntyre: The youngest and most versatile New Kid, he has appeared on Broadway (“Wicked”), in films (“The Fantasticks”) and on TV (“Boston Public,” “Dancing With the Stars”). He also released four solo albums, with a top 10 single, “Stay the Same,” from his 1999 debut; 2006’s “Talk to Me” is a collection of covers.

Jordan Knight: A 1999 solo album yielded the top 10 hit “Give It to You.” He offered the embarrassing indie project “Jordan Knight Sings New Kids on the Block,” a 2004 one-man remix CD, and 2006’s “Love Songs,” including a duet with Deborah Gibson.

Desperate to keep his name out there, Knight was on VH1’s third season of “The Surreal Life” and a judge on “American Juniors,” an “American Idol” spin-off.

Jonathan Knight: On “Oprah,” he revealed that he suffered panic attacks and was clinically depressed after NKOTB disbanded. He became a real estate developer in Massachusetts.

Danny Wood: He released little-noticed solo albums in 1999 (as DFuse), 2003 and 2007. The tattooed, muscle-bound Wood has acted in a few movies, including “Tequila Express.”

What: New Kids on the Block in concert, with Natasha Bedingfield and Lady Ga Ga When: 8 p.m. Saturday Where: Tacoma Dome, 2727 E. D St., Tacoma Tickets: $30.50-$78.50 Information: Ticketmaster (253-627-8497 in Tacoma, 206-628-0888 in Seattle or www.ticketmaster.com)

nkotbthing.com CANADA THE PROVINCE 11.21.2008 www.canada.com

CONCERT REVIEW: NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK STILL HANGIN' TOUGH Tom Harrison, The Province The 10,000-strong audience at GM Place hears them before it sees them and goes crazy.

It's Donnie that sings first. At the opening notes of "Single" the audience know this ends the 15-year gap since NKOTB were last here.

A lot has happened in that time. The New Kids are in their 30s and have new kids of their own.

Their audience has grown up to, but has come back to them to feel young again, and possibly to catch that flash in the pan that was NKOTB's brief career in the late '80s and early '90s.

It's been years since the boy-band craze ebbed, so getting together now might be for more personal than financial reasons.

And as they acknowledge on a video screen people who passed away recently, from James Brown to Heath Ledger to family, a lot has happened that gives meaning to a song such as "If You Go Away."

The dance moves remain but old songs like "Right Stuff" sound better without the '80s production.

Songs from current LP The Block mingle well with the old hits -- but just as NKOTB escaped the '80s and are able to look back and put years of experience into what were inoffensive boy-girl songs, there is also a sense the group is trying to look ahead.

Jordan Knight still has a good falsetto that he shows off during a version of the Stylistics' "Didn't I Blow Your Mind."

Donnie Wahlberg, Joey McIntyre, Jonathan Knight and Danny Wood have their moments as well but none of them could carry a two-hour show by themselves. They need each other.

Augmented by four dancers and supported by an efficient four-piece band, the New Kids waved their hands in the air like they didn't care.

Yes, they resorted to that old ploy, but the incorporation of hip-hop and break-dancing showed they haven't been sleeping or relying on nostalgia.

Ultimately this added meaning to the new of New Kids on the Block.

Grade: B Š The Vancouver Province 2008

New Kids On The Block performed in Vancouver on Nov. 21, 2008.

Nick Procaylo - The Province

nkotbthing.com CANADA GENERAL MOTORS PLACE HOMESITE 11.21.2008 http://www.generalmotorsplace.com

BACK ON THE BLOCK

By Derek Jory

Just when it looked like music was done with boy bands, New Kids on the Block go and do that.

shy guy and the young gun, they each held center stage.

The Kids, who aren’t exactly kids anymore, put on a performance 14 years in the making Friday night at GM Place and oh, oh, oh, oh, oh did the 10,500 fans in the house ever eat it up.

The loudest screams went to Jordan, who sang “Give It To You” with his shirt unbuttoned, Joey, who soloed with “Stay The Same” while showing off his dancing skills and Donnie, who looked for his “Cover Girl” while singing and playing guitar.

Eardrums shattered the moment the lights dimmed to mark the band’s entrance, and screaming would prove to be the theme of the night.

The two-hour show ended with a threesome of crowd pleasures, namely “Summertime,” “Step by Step” and “Hangin’ Tough,” which was remixed with Queen’s “We Will Rock You.”

Now we’re not talking light ‘freaky scene from a scary movie’ screaming, it was borderline reckless ‘not going to have a voice for the next month’ screaming.

I was a bottle-sucking one-year-old when NKOTB first began stealing hearts in the early 80s so the lyrics were lost on me, but everyone else in attendance knew them well. The fans sang along to every single word throughout the show.

Then again, 1994 was the last time fans had a chance to see Jonathan Knight, Donnie Wahlberg, Joey McIntyre, Danny Wood and Jordan Knight live, so they were just showing the Boston quintet some love. It was well deserved on this night.

Everyone’s favorite original boy band, touring in support of their 2008 album The Block, played a flawless 20-song show that featured the best of their old goodies mixed in with their latest chart-toppers.

On a massive rectangular stage perfectly fitted for five rambunctious buddies, which included a heightened section at the back with a short staircase the only way up, NKOTB – that’s what they go by these days – teased fans with “Single" and “Favorite Girl” to open the show.

Microphones in a row, voices rhythmically in unison, dance moves perfectly synced, in front of a colossal screen that filled the back of the stage, The Block played “The Right Stuff,” “No More Games,” “Grown Man” and “Tonight,” before visiting the lonely end of the rink.

There they bounced around on a tiny circular rotating stage while getting intimate with fans. They played three songs, including “2 In The Morning,” prior to scrambling back through the mob of fans on the floor to the main stage.

Donnie kissed a girl on the cheek en route, she immediately started crying and her friends had to keep her from falling over.

During the second half of the show each New Kid took their turn in the spotlight giving fans a chance to personalize their screams to their member of choice. The leader, the heartthrob, the bad boy, the

Seriously, it was impressive.

Just when it looked like music was done with boy bands, New Kids on the Block go and do that and make it look cool in the process.

I guess the music world isn’t quite finished with boy bands after all.

A pair of opening acts got the party started right as American dance-pop princess Lady GaGa and the English queen of blue-eyed soul Natasha Bedingfield each took the stage in succession before NKOTB. Boisterous Lady GaGa kicked the show off at 8 p.m. sharp.

Alongside four male backup dancers and three large interchanging screens, Lady GaGa played a short six-song set that included “Beautiful Dirty Rich,” “Starstruck,” “Poker Face” and her biggest single “Just Dance.”

Her energy was addictive and everywhere, much like the Sarah Jessica Parker tutu she sported while clamping to a glowing staff with her bleach blonde hair flowing all over.

Bedingfield was a complete change of pace, both in style and music. Laid back in a white tank top, checkered scarf and leopard print beret, she treated fans to seven songs, a mix from her three albums.

“These Words,” “Soulmate,” “Love Like This” and “Unwritten” drew the biggest responses, not that the pop star noticed. Bedingfield was mellow and relaxed throughout, seemingly unrattled by the great reaction she got.

nkotbthing.com USA LOADED GUN 11.22.2008 www.loadedgunboston.com

DONNIE WAHLBERG DOES THE UNTHINKABLE IN NYC In this clip via Universal Hub, Dorchester native and NKOTB hellraiser Donnie Wahlberg sports a ... gasp ... Yankees cap at a New Kids on the Block show on Oct. 27 at Madison Square Garden.

Wahlberg will have to face his hometown fans next month while filming scenes for "Bunker Hill," a Charlestown-set TV pilot where he plays Mike Moriarty, a Boston cop determined to protect the streets he grew up on from crime and corruption. The native also acts and shares writing credits in the made-in-Southie flick "What Doesn't Kill You." Wahlberg's telling words to the NYC crowds: "This could cost me my life."

Click here for the latest on TNT's "Bunker Hill."

USA

USA UNIVERSAL HUB 11.22.2008 www.universalhub.com

DONNIE WAHLBERG: BOSTON TRAITOR "This could cost me my life," he says at Madison Square Garden concert:

nkotbthing.com CANADA 24 HOURS 11.22.2008 www.vancouver24hrs.ca

CONCERT REVIEW: NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK

By KEITH MACKENZIE, 24 HOURS

WHO: The New Kids on the Block, or NKOTB as they'd like to be known these days, were at GM Place on Friday, Nov. 21.

SET LIST: The Kids kicked off their show with “Boyfriend”. It didn’t take much more than that to get a lively crowd on their feet. Much of the set list had songs with “girl” in them: “My Favourite Girl”, “Valentine Girl”, and “Cover Girl”. At concert end, girls were en route home from GM Place with “Step by Step” and “Hangin’ Tough” still dancing in their ears.

THE CROWD: Being a 37-year-old red-blooded male, I wasn’t sure what to expect going in. Was I going to be one of the only 30-somethings in the crowd, surrounded by teenyboppers who never got to see the Kids the first time around? Not at all. Most of the crowd seemed to be women in their 20s and 30s, clearly old fans. Many had cold beers in their hands – something I realized they probably weren’t able to do legally back in them days.

THE BAND: Oh, it was the original five, all right, a few years older. They did seem a little slower than before, but there was a genuine energy in these boys.

No pot bellies either – they were in great shape, and it showed particularly when Jordan cranked out “Baby I Believe in You”, his shirt unbuttoned and wind blowing up at him, a performance that has sent tingles up millions of women’s spines during all these years. Danny showed off his breakdancing skills and didn’t even slip a disc. Donnie wowed the crowd with his noisy sermons and didn’t cough once.

These guys weren’t old hasbeens clinging to some driedout fountain of youth; they were on their game the entire evening.

THE HIGHLIGHT: Donnie nearly blew the roof off GM Place when he had the gall to suggest that the fans in Toronto were louder than in Vancouver. My eardrums are still stinging as I write this.

CULTURE CLASH: I’m no Kids pedigree, myself. The first time I saw them was in a video on Muchmusic, sometime in the mid-eighties, with baby-faced Joey leading the way and the other four members backing him up.

My first thought? “New Kids on the Block? What a dorky name.” My second thought? “They look like dorks.” My third thought? “I wonder what video’s coming next.” I was about Metallica and Billy Idol at the time, and that anti-social teenager would have been mortified to see me on my feet in 2008 actually enjoying this show.

ALL IN ALL: A thoroughly, unashamedly enjoyable performance. It was a moment where a good crowd allowed themselves to have fun, and the performers on stage enjoyed themselves as well. It was all a little silly, but it was a genuine kind of silly. And that’s what made it worthwhile.

HERE’S LOOKING AT YOU, KIDS: Before the Kids took the stage, fans were encouraged to send a text message that would appear on a big TV screen high above our heads.

Many were of the expected kind: “I LOVE YOU JORDAN! XOXOXO”, “MARRY ME JORDAN!” and other standard expressions of true love for the most popular (and easily the most charismatic) Kid, Jordan Knight. One gave me a chuckle: “I think I paid for your house with all the stuff I bought!”

But the one that stuck in my head was this one: “I don’t remember being this calm the last time NKOTB were in town.

I guess we’re not 12 any more.” I’m sure whoever sent that message changed their mind as soon as the Kids took the stage. Those boys made us all feel young again.

nkotbthing.com CANADA THE VANCOUVER SUN 11.22.2008 www.canada.com

REVIEW: NEW KIDS BACK ON THE BLOCK Elaine Corden, Special to The Sun

VANCOUVER - What with pop culture's current obsession with nostalgia, it's no surprise that a reunion tour will eventually come along that hits one square in the chest - that points out that the days of unblinking worship of a well-coifed and sixpack-ab'd band are years behind, and that what we have left of our innocent first crushes is campy, hormonal memories.

For women of a certain again, New Kids on the Block's return to Vancouver as men is exactly this moment. Some 14 years after the "original boy band" broke up, here they were - Donnie Wahlberg, Joey McIntyre, Jordan and Jon Knight and Danny Wood - not kids, not new, but grown men, presenting for all at GM Place a slice of a halcyon time when love took the uncomplicated form of logo'd lunchboxes, branded pillowslips and posters hastily blu-tacked to ceilings and locker doors.

And so they appeared, just 15 minutes late, after a rousing opening set eclectic popstress Lady Gaga and a prerecorded call from New Kid Joey McIntyre urging fans to text in their impressions to be broadcast on two screens flanking the stage. TTYL8R, simpler times.

The Bostonian five-piece appeared in good nick, as did the high-pitched lungs of their decidedly female fan base.

Kicking the set off with the double-entendre of "Single," from their 2008 chart-topping comeback album The Block, the kids-turned-men milked their arrival for all it was worth, appearing on a rising platform amongst a barrage of smoke, all syncopated dance moves and amorous gazes. Though the group onstage were all pushing 40, it was hard not to see them as their younger selves, especially with McIntyre's puppy-dog eyes broadcast in crush-inducing hidef. Make no mistake - the dance moves were cheesy; the thumping of the chest, followed by a meaningful point at the audience appears to be a boy-band move not in danger of going out of style. But somehow it worked, especially when the choreographed lads launched into 20-year-old blockbuster "Favourite Girl," with handsome Jordan Knight taking the lead with an admirably intact falsetto.

Ultimately, how does one even begin to critically assess a New Kids on the Block reunion show? Was every Kid still looking fetching, if not a little longer in the tooth? Absolutely. Were the dance moves all that a once-12-year-old fan could hope for? To be sure. The crowd, looking to capture a little face time with their first blush of non-threatening manhood undoubtedly went away pleased, with the still fantastically catchy "Right Stuff" in their head. Indeed, it may have passed that otherwise self-respecting spectators found themselves singing "Please Don't Go Girl" at the top of their lungs, the lyrics surprisingly present at the tip of their tongue. Indeed, anyone looking for a singalong got their money's worth, and anyone doubting the prowess of the men onstage needed only to regard the breakdance section of "No More Games." To be almost 40 and pulling headspins is nothing to scoff at.

Was it ABBA reunited, or Elvis resurrected? No, it was a boy band, all grown up - a bit silly, but still pretty handsome performers. A bit of kitschy fun for those of us who grew up in the ''80s, and a retro throwback for the few in the crowd who weren't born during the first wave of "Hangin' Tough," maybe a lesson, even, about the boy band that started it all, If there was one confusing moment in the evening, it was the Oscars-style memorial montage of "Those We've Lost," which featured images of Heath Ledger, Tupac Shakur, Notorious B.I.G., Aaliyah, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, Kurt Cobain, Frank Sinatra and Betty Wood, Danny Wood's mother who passed away from breast cancer.

It was a bit strange, but hey, so is the whole idea of New Kids on the Block 20 years later. All in all, a laugh, and a funny little glimpse at more innocent pop-music era, when crotch shots and sex tapes were unheard of in a pre-teen fan's mind. And in these grim and pressing times, who can ask for more than that?

Š Vancouver Sun 2008

CANADA

nkotbthing.com CANADA MSN MOVIES 11.23.2008 www.movies.msn.com

CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS: WEEK OF NOV. 23, 2008

JONATHAN KNIGHT TURNS 40 ON NOV. 29.

USA BOSTON MUSIC AWARDS HOMESITE 11.23.2008 http://contest.flyfi.com/bostonmusicawards08

ARTIST OF THE YEAR: AMANDA PALMER BOYS LIKE GIRLS

DROPKICK MURPHYS JOSH RITTER

LORI MCKENNA NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK

RAY LAMONTAGNE TERMANOLOGY

nkotbthing.com USA ABC 11.23.2008 abc.go.com/primetime/ama

RED CARPET ARRIVALS 2008 AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS - ARRIVALS - The "2008 American Music Awards" airs live from the NOKIA Theatre L.A. LIVE on SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 23 on the ABC Television Network. NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK

INTERVIEW

nkotbthing.com SHOW

nkotbthing.com USA ACCESS HOLLYWOOD 11.23.2008 www.accesshollywood.com

2008 AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS: ARRIVALS, PART IV New Kids on the Block, Lance Bass, Jesse McCartney and David Archuleta talk with Access’ guest correspondent Quddus on the red carpet just before the show at the 2008 AMAs in Los Angeles.

nkotbthing.com USA SEATTLE POST -INTELLIGENCER 11.23.2008 http://seattlepi.nwsource.com _PRESS_ZIMBI AFTER A 15-YEAR HIATUS FROM THE ROAD,

NEW KIDS STILL HAVE THE RIGHT STUFF

By GENE STOUTP-I POP MUSIC CRITIC

MUSIC REVIEWNEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK WHEN: Saturday night WHERE: Tacoma Dome The pioneering boy band that stole the hearts of young, female fans with romantic ballads and heartpumping R&B songs nearly two decades ago brought awed looks, grins, tears and even panting and screaming from a predominantly female audience Saturday night at the Tacoma Dome.

With attendance at about 12,000, the Dome was far short of its full capacity of 23,000. But it was a loud, enthusiastic crowd energized by dozens of "ohmygod" moments.

It had been nearly 20 years since the group rocked the Puyallup Fair grandstand in its first big Northwest show -- in September 1989. Some in the audience Saturday were too young to have been there, even as infants.

The evening began with a colorful but overwrought opening set by New York's geographically challenged Lady Gaga (she kept yelling, "Hello, Seattle!") and a classy, powerful show

by English singer Natasha Bedingfield (who sang "Pieces of Your Heart" and her recent hit single "Unwritten"). New Kids on the Block opened with the new song "Single" (from the current album "The Block") accompanied by plumes of stage fog. Concertgoers, cheering, screaming, waving and swaying back and forth, held up their lighted cell phones. Throughout the show, fans were all-too-eager to participate in sing-alongs and other crowd-participation drills.

The Boston-based band -- Donnie Wahlberg, Joey McIntyre, Danny Wood (who entertained the audience with his break-dancing) and brothers Jordan and Jonathan Knight -- looked great in an ever-changing array of clothing and accessories in the beautifully choreographed show.

Wahlberg also sported multi-colored Red Sox caps, one of many Boston sports references in the colorful, high-powered concert. The show packed a huge emotional punch for fans, though it occasionally bogged down with a surfeit of heavy-hearted ballads. Providing eye candy were a giant LED screen, two smaller hanging video screens and a multi-level stage that featured an Erector-set upper deck accessible by stairs.

Accompanying the band were four musicians and a crew of dancers.

The opening sequence, with all members lined up in front of microphone stands, included "My Favorite Girl," "(You Got It) The Right Stuff," a pyrotechnics-enhanced "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)" (with everyone wearing fedoras and sport jackets) and the plaintive "Please Don't Go Girl." After another new song, the tepid "Grown Man," Wahlberg hollered "Tacoma!" at the top of his lungs for the delirious, foot-stomping crowd.

Jordan Knight and McIntyre traded vocals on the melancholy "If You Go Away," which featured images of beloved celebrities and family members who have passed on -- from Frank Sinatra, Kurt Cobain, Heath Ledger, Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. to Wahlberg's father and Wood's mother.

One of the show's more interesting, up-close-and-personal segments was a trio of songs -- "2 in the Morning," "Dirty Dancing" and "Tonight" - performed from a circular, rotating satellite stage in the middle of the main floor. In a heartfelt moment, Wood dedicated "Tonight" to his late mother, who died of breast cancer nine years ago, and asked fans to join the fight for a cure via the band's Web site.

New Kids on the Block returned to the main stage for an explosive version of "Twisted" (with four female dancers), followed by "Baby, I Believe in You," "Give It To You," "Stay the Same" and "Cover Girl," which Wahlberg introduced to squealing fans by saying, "I need a friend. In fact, I need a female friend."

The final segment featured all five members in white outfits, singing the gushy "I'll Be Loving You," followed by the sexy "Click Click Click" and the wistful single, "Summertime," which closed the main set. Too bad they didn't complete the winter wonderland theme with "Funky, Funky Christmas." The band's encore featured the spirited "Step by Step" (accompanied by a hail of sparks) and "Hangin' Tough," interjected with "We Will Rock You" in a loud, Fourth of July finish.

It was an impressive comeback for a group that once played stadiums, such as the Kingdome in 1990. Whether the group will continue to evolve and mature with its audience remains to be seen. Could they become New Men on the Block?

P-I pop music critic Gene Stout can be reached at 206-448-8383 or genestout@seattlepi.com

nkotbthing.com USA YAHOO NEWS 11.23.2008 http://new.music.yahoo.com

"AMA" STANDS FOR "AVERAGE, MEDIOCRE AWARDS" OK, enough about the laydeez. As far as the male performances went, New Kids On The Block were surprisingly solid. Sure, Joey McIntyre was a bit pitchy in places and Jordan Knight struggled with his falsetto, but they did not embarrass themselves whatsoever.

Their comeback has been a much bigger, and more credible, success than I ever would have predicted. Apparently they still have the right stuff!

USA

USA POP SUGAR 11.24.2008 http://popsugar.com

NKOTB MEDLEY ON THE AMAS — LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT? The New Kids On The Block hit the stage at tonight's American Music Awards to perform a medley of their hits both new and old. The guys danced like they used to and tried their hardest to hit the high notes. NKOTB has been working hard at their comeback this year and this is just another stop on the road. So check the video out below and tell us — New Kids On The Block medley on the AMAs, love it or leave it?

Love it — They're hot as ever and the medley was so fun! 73% (2,349) Leave it — It's embarrassing to watch them still trying to sing and dance.27% (855) Total votes: 3,204

nkotbthing.com USA PEOPLE 11.24.2008 www.people.com

WHO HAS THE BEST COMEBACK? BRITNEY SPEARS GWYNELTH PALTROW NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK fourtenn years after they called it quits New Kids on the Block – Danny Wood, Sonnie Wlahberg, Joey McIntyre, Jordan Knight and Jonathan Knight- reunited this year for a CD (the No. 1 disc The Block) and a largely sold out arena tour. “there’s nothing like walking on stage with your boys,” McIntyre told PEOPLE. SHANEN DOGHERTY ROBERT DOWNEY JR TOM CRUISE

AMERICA’S SCRAPBOOK LOOK! I MET A CELEBRITY Our readers have the the pictures to prove it!

See who ran into NKOTB, Carrie Underwood, Brad Pitt and other stars KELSEY MET ... DONNIE WAHLBERG! "That is one of the biggest smiles I have ever had on my face!" writes Kelsey Ervin of Chicago, who met Donnie Wahlberg outside a New Kids on the Block show in October.

nkotbthing.com USA NKOTB COM 11.24.2008 EMAIL

nkotbthing.com USA NKOTB COM 11.25.2008 www.nkotb.com

GRATEFUL AFTER THE SHOW IN VANCOUVER I WAS TALKING TO A FAN- I REALLY DON’T LIKE REFERRING TO PEOPLE AS FANS, SO LETS SAY SUPPORTER… THAT FEELS BETTER. SO ANYWAY, I WAS TALKING ABOUT HOW AFTER THE SEATTLE SHOW (THE FOLLOWING NIGHT) WE HAVE TO GET ON A PLANE AT 1 IN THE MORNING, THEN LAND IN LA AT 4 AM THEN BE UP AT 7:30 AM FOR SOUNDCHECK AT THE AMA’S AND THEN FITTINGS AND THEN A RUN THRU AND THEN TRY TO GET A COUPLE HOURS SLEEP BEFORE GETTING READY FOR RED CARPET AND THEN THE AWARDS SHOW AT 5 PM AND THEN WE ARE THE SECOND PERFORMANCE OF THE NIGHT. NOW WHEN I WAS SAYING IT, I WASN’T REALLY COMPLAINING BUT I GUESS I HAD A LITTLE “WHOA IS ME” IN MY VOICE, MAYBE A LITTLE DRAMATIC. AND SHE VERY DRYLY SAID “NICE LIFE” WITH A TAD OF SARCASM. I GOT A GOOD CHUCKLE AT IT. I’VE FELT THAT I HAVE BEEN RIGHTLY GRATEFUL THRU OUT FOR ALL THE AMAZING THINGS THAT HAVE HAPPENED TO ME/US, BUT IT’S ALWAYS FUNNY TO BE CHECKED UP ON. ALL THAT BEING SAID, IT WAS QUITE A 24 HOUR PERIOD- FROM REHEARSING ONCE BEFORE THE SHOW IN TACOMA THEN OFF TO ALL ACCESS VIP TO MEET OUR SUPPORTERS (THESE PARTIES ARE GETTING MORE AND MORE FUN… NOW GROUPS ARE PERFORMING FOR US), THEN AN AWESOME SHOW IN TACOMA, THEN THE FLIGHT WHERE YOU WERE LUCKY TO GET ANY SLEEP WITH JON KNIGHT AND NATASHA BEDINGFIELD YAPPING AWAY INTO THE WEE HOURS OF THE MORNING. THEN 2 HOURS SLEEP THEN SOME SORT OF A RUN THRU IN A HAZY MORNING FOG. FOR ME TO GO BACK TO THE HOTEL AFTER THAT AND CLOSE MY EYES AND CLOSE OFF ALL THE NOISE AND EXCITEMENT TAKES ALOT OF PATIENCE AND FOCUS. THAT’S AN OXYMORON, “TRYING HARD TO FALL ASLEEP”. BUT I DID CUZ I PERSONALLY WOULD HAVE BEEN A ZOMBIE IF I DIDN’T. AFTER ALL THAT, THE AMA’S WAS A REALLY GOOD TIME. I FELT A SOLID UNITY AMONG US AND I THOUGHT OUR PERFORMANCE SHOWED THAT. THROUGH THE WHOLE WHIRLWIND, WE HAD FUN AND PUT TOGETHER A GOOD PERFORMANCE. I WAS NOT SURPRISED WHEN DONNIE TOLD EVERYBODY TO GET UP (HE’S BEEN DOING THAT FOR YEARS, BUT IT ISN’T ANY LESS BALLSY TO DO SO NOW) AND I WASN’T TOTALLY SURPRISED WHEN THE WHOLE AUDIENCE STOOD UP, BUT IT FELT GOOD TO FEEL THE LOVE. I THOUGHT THE WHOLE SHOW LOOKED AMAZING WITH A BUNCH OF GREAT PERFORMANCES- BEYONCE IS FROM ANOTHER PLANET, AND NE-YO CAN HANDLE THAT MIC STAND, HUH? IT WAS GREAT TO BE BACK AT THE SHOW. AND LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING, OUT OF ALL THE PEOPLE THERE, THEY WERE STILL SCREAMING OUR NAMES FROM THE CHEAP SEATS… NOT DURING THE PERFORMANCE, I’M TALKING ABOUT WHEN WE WERE SITTING IN THE AUDIENCE DURING COMMERCIAL BREAKS. I DIDN’T HEAR ANY OTHER NAMES BEING SHOUTED. THOSE ARE THE KIND OF FANS… I MEAN SUPPORTERS WE HAVE. I HEAR BANDS AND ARTISTS SAY ALOT HOW THEY HAVE THE BEST FANS IN THE WORLD AND I’M SURE THEY FEEL THAT WAY. I THINK WE HAVE THE MOST SPECIAL FANS IN THE WORLD. XOXOXO

-JM

nkotbthing.com USA DRUM CHANNEL 11.25.2008 www.drumchannel.com

AWARD-WINNING AMERICAN POP GROUP NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK (NKOTB) San Diego, CA (CNS) - Award-winning American pop group New Kids On The Block (NKOTB) is all set to perform in San Diego's Cox Arena on November 25. After a 15-year hiatus from the road, the band is back again and touring in most cities.

Celine Dion, who was supposed to return to the stage last week on her "Taking Chances World Tour," is still fighting a respiratory virus and has postponed more concerts. However, the singer is scheduled to be back on the tour on Nov. 25 in San Diego. She still has dates in North America and shows in Quebec, as well as Mexico.

Also this week will see American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins perform at the RIMAC Arena, UC San Diego on November 30. The group earlier canceled November 22nd show in Chicago "due to illness."

nkotbthing.com USA NK TV 11.26.2008 www.nkotb.com

MEET TONY - PART 2!

Tony Spallelli has more to say!

nkotbthing.com USA MSNBC 11.26.2008 www.msnbcn.com

20 CONCERT TOURS The Top 20 Concert Tours ranks artists by average box office gross per city and includes the average ticket price for shows in North America. The previous week's ranking is in parentheses. The list is based on data provided to the trade publication Pollstar by concert promoters and venue managers.

1. (1) Madonna; $6,029,779; $173.03.

2. (2) Celine Dion; $2,543,742; $110.73.

3. (3) Elton John; $2,288,159; $124.94.

4. (4) Neil Diamond; $1,082,091; $85.79.

5. (5) Rascal Flatts; $910,152; $60.88.

6. (7) New Kids On The Block; $792,401; $62.75.

7. (6) Janet Jackson; $757,653; $90.08.

8. (8) Journey; $729,322; $49.85.

9. (9) Luis Miguel; $704,033; $91.46.

10. (10) American Idols Live; $527,805; $60.42.

11. (11) Santana; $433,733; $52.35.

12. (12) Brad Paisley; $429,705; $41.64.

13. (13) Counting Crows / Maroon 5; $385,392; $37.83.

14. (New) Robin Williams; $368,848; $73.15.

15. (14) So You Think You Can Dance; $321,681; $48.81.

16. (16) Carrie Underwood; $293,170; $48.53.

17. (17) David Copperfield; $284,024; $67.23.

18. (15) The Allman Brothers Band; $282,113; $42.12.

19. (18) Sheryl Crow; $253,954; $56.72.

20. (19) Jeff Dunham; $248,851; $42.53.

For free upcoming tour information, go to www.poll

UK NKOTB UK 11.26.2008 http://www.newkidsareback.com/

‘2 IN THE MORNING’ SINGLE RELEASE We are pleased to announce that nw kids on the block will be releasing their new single ‘2 in the morning’. this is the third release from their album ‘the block’ and will be available in stores and to download from February 9th.

nkotbthing.com USA 933 CHANNEL AJ’S HOUSE 11.26.2008 www.playhouse3d.com

BACKSTAGE INTERVIEW AND HULA AND GEENA’S PHOTOS

nkotbthing.com USA NORTHSHORE NEWS 11.28.2008 www.canada.com/northshorenews

JUST LIKE OLD TIMES FOR NEW KIDS FANS - New Kids on the Block, Natasha Bedingfield, Lady Gaga, GM Place, Nov. 21.

This concert was 15 years in the making and for so many reasons I just couldn't miss it. The moment I heard NKOTB were getting back together my heart jumped out of my chest and ran laps around the room. Suddenly memories of my youth and my best friend Brittany and pouring over countless pages of Tiger Beat and Big Bopper came rushing back. The T-shirts, books, pillow cases, dolls, Joey McIntyre . . . sigh.

For those of you who aren't females in their late-20s to mid-30s then you may not know that NKOTB are a Boston-bred boy band who started in the early '80s, broke up in the early '90s and then reunited recently to record a new album and tour. The boys, err men, are Joey McIntyre, the cute one; Jordan Knight, the voice; Donnie Wahlberg, the funny bad-ass; Jon Knight, the . . . Jordan's brother; and Danny Wood, the muscles.

So I scampered through old stand-by Vancouver rain with my vintage neon pink New Kids T-Shirt circa 1989 in giddy anticipation. Once I got inside GM Place I weaved my way threw a labyrinth of scantily-clad groupies, fellow dorky super-fans, gay men, too-young-to-be-fans-of-yore hipsters and your typical run-of-the-mill mass audience of Top 40 pop.

It was just turning 8:10 p.m. as I found my seat and caught the last song of Lady Gaga's brief set. The aptly-titled hit single, Just Dance, pretty much sums her up. She had presence, a decent voice and sashayed satisfactorily amongst her male backup dancers. If she lasts she could be a Lady Miss Kier meets Madonna icon for the stay-up-late party crowd.

Next on the bill was British pop idol Natasha Bedingfield who while clearly a seasoned performer was just a little too saccharine for my taste. The melodies were as sing-along as nursery rhymes and rather banal. The crowd while receptive was obviously keen to get to the main attraction.

Finally at 9:15 p.m., thousands of young girls all grown up, including myself, got to relive their childhoods once more. A screen started up with the words "You Ready?

It's Time." Screaming ensued and the first peep heard from our beloved New Kids On The Block was the piano riff from their latest single, Single, and then, Knight's trademark falsetto. Yes, naysayers he can still hit those Mariah Carey high notes almost flawlessly.

When the boys finally rose up onto the stage they were greeted with a standing ovation that would last for the next two hours. It was hard to hide my goofy grin and I even caught the guy seated next to me smirk. Well hey dude you're at this concert too! NKOTB got right into their classic Temptations-style synchronized choreography as they crooned and harmonized. Oldie My Favorite Girl followed.

The Right Stuff drove the crowd even crazier and had everyone singing along. The Kids then disappeared backstage for a few minutes and reappeared wearing suits and top hats all styled uniquely for each member. Didn't I Do it Better gave way into personal favourite and Joey McIntyre swan song Please Don't Go Girl. Yes I may as well mention that my favourite New Kid was and is still Joey. I have no shame.

While I don't want to appear to be completely biased, he was definitely the most consistent New Kid of the night. His vocals were strong and in tune and his dancing perfectly timed and effortless. His constant performing since the group parted ways definitely shone through.

Grown Man from their current release The Block, featured a video version of Nicole Scherzinger from the Pussy Cat Dolls while Games was fodder for some compulsory audience participation. While I could wax poetic all day about how much I loved this show, I just don't find waving my hands in the air like I don't care and/or repeating simplistic lyrics in unison with 10,000 odd people that rewarding.Wood then went into some attempt at break dancing, pretty good for an almost middle-aged man, and he is definitely fit. But it was little like when Avril Lavigne plays the guitar, it's cute, but, really?

If You Go Away came next and brought with it a sentimental vibe. A screen showed pictures of artists dear to their hearts and family and friends that have passed over the years. Reminding everyone that a lot has happened in the 15 years since Vancouver last saw NKOTB, to all of us. I lost my childhood best friend at 17 and New Kids on the Block was a major part of our bond. I thought about her for the duration of the show. My neon pink New Kids T-shirt was a Christmas gift from her and the only thing I have left. It was pretty cool that a campy concert could make me feel connected to her again.

The mood lightened when the boys disappeared yet again, only to appear in the middle of the floor on a circular spinning platform complete with a piano and a female dancer. They played Two in the Morning and McIntyre wore his familiar old Hangin' Tough smiley face leather jacket. They also played another new song Dirty Dancing with the hilariously rhyming lyrics of "crazy" and "Swayze". What a guilty pleasure.

Wood then spoke about his mother who died of breast cancer and promoted a tank top for which all the proceeds go to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. McIntyre got a little misty saying "Is this really happening . . . feeling a little nostalgic," and "I hope it's obvious how much fun we're having on this tour" and how it must be nice to have our own little reunions with our friends. Their quasi-Beatles song Tonight came next with everyone singing along. Then they were all escorted through the crowd back to the stage. This was a highlight of the night but it quickly dissolved into about 25 minutes that I could've really done without.

What was probably the most eek-worthy part of the night and what can really only be described as a bathroom break for the other four guys. Wood went around the stage with a camera man looking for the "best dancers" while Lady Gaga's Just Dance played. Then Knight took it to the next level by singing Baby I Believe in You dressed in his signature flowing white shirt unbuttoned all the way while swaying amidst the breeze of a wind machine. While it may have seemed sexy to 13-year-olds 20 years ago, it was just kind of embarrassing, sorry Knight.

A few more solo songs later the boys back as a unit dedicated ballad I'll Be Loving You (Forever) to the audience, swoon. Click Click Click came next, then Summertime, both offerings from their latest release. While I have to say I definitely prefer the original material, some of the new songs sound all right. They didn't really grab me on first listen of the record, but played live I have to admit I kind of got into them. Then the boys left the stage and that was it. Of course that wasn't it.

They still had a couple more favourites to sing for us including Step By Step and Hangin' Tough. Yes the show wasn't perfect, but NKOTB didn't disappoint at all. We heard all the songs we wanted to hear as well as a few we didn't need to hear. But all in all they put on a fun show and brought back a lot of great memories from my formative years. I would totally go see them again.

To many people it may seem like some cheesy reunion band grasping at one last ounce of glory. But to me, it's a piece of my past brought back to life. If they have another reunion concert in 15 more years I am so there.

nkotbthing.com USA FEEDING AMERICA 11.28.2008 http://feedingamerica.org

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK AUTOGRAPHED BOWL Own the bowl signed by recording group New Kids on the Block. Danny Wood, Donny Wahlberg, Jonathan Knight and others signed the bowl at the American Music Awards to support Feeding America and their "Fill a Bowl, Feed America" campaign.

Remember that $1 provides 16 meals for a child. Proceeds from the auction benefit Feeding America. Special thanks to Dick Clark Productions, the American Music Awards and the Official Silver Spoon Gifting Lounge for their support.

CLOTHES OFF OUR BACK HOSTING A CELEBRITY CHARITY BOWL AUCTION Clothes off Our Back, the national leader in online charity auctions is hosting a celebrity charity bowl auction to benefit Feeding America, the largest domestic hunger relief charity, as part of the “Fill A Bowl, Feed America” campaign, a nationwide call to action to engage the public in the fight against hunger in America.

Many celebrities signed bowls to be put up for auction at www.clothesoffourback.org running through December 12th. Bid now on bowls signed by actors and musicians such as David Arquette, Courteney Cox, Daughtry, Julianne Hough, Mariah Carey, Chris Brown, Taylor Swift and many others to support the "Fill a Bowl, Feed America" campaign.

The Complete List of Celebrity Signed Bowls Includes: Jennifer Aniston, David Archuleta, David Arquette, Patricia Arquette, Lance Bass, Philip Bloch, Brenda Blythen, Chris Brown, Mariah Carey, George Clooney, Sacha Baron Cohen as Borat, Courteney Cox, Matt Damon, Daughtry, Laura Dern, Josh Groban, Lukas Haas, Ben Harper, Paris Hilton, Julianne Hough, Kevin James, Thomas Jane, Wyclef Jean, Ali Landry, Annie Lennox, Demi Levato, Adam Levine (Maroon 5), Julia LouisDreyfus, Sarah McLachlan, New Kids On The Block (Jordan Knight, Jonathan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg

and Danny Wood), Brad Paisley, Matthew Perry, Quddus Philippe - Access Hollywood, Richie Sambora, Adam Sandler, Carlos Santana, Garry Shandling, Christian Siriano, Jordin Sparks, Taylor Swift, Wanda Sykes, Chuck Wicks, Shailene Woodley, Renee Zellweger, Cast of "Old Christine", GROUP BOWL (Arquette x2, Cox, Aniston, Shandling), Rascal Flatts (Jay DeMarcus; Gary LeVox), The Fray (Isaac Slade, Joe King, Dave Welsh, Ben Wysocki) and Three 6 Mafia (DJ Paul)

nkotbthing.com USA AGENCIES 11.28.2008 www.getyimages.com

CELEBRITIES AT THE LAKERS GAME LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 28: Donnie Wahlberg attends the Los Angeles Lakers vs Dallas Mavericks game at the Staples Center on November 28, 2008 in Los Angeles, California.

nkotbthing.com USA NKOTB COM 11.29.2008 www.nkotb.com

OH, NO, THE BIG 4-0!

OH SH*T!!!!! IT’S OFFICIAL, I’M FORTY!!!!!! THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR CARDS, DONATIONS, AND WELL WISHES! HEADING TO MEXICO TODAY. LOOKING FORWARD TO HAVING A WELL DESERVED BREAK AFTER OUR SHOWS DOWN THERE! DON’T KNOW HOW MUCH I WILL BE IN TOUCH FROM NOW UNTIL THE NEW YEAR, BUT WILL DO MY BEST TO CHECK IN BRIEFLY. I HAVE A MILLION THINGS TO DO AND ONLY A FEW WEEKS TO GET THEM DONE. JON

nkotbthing.com USA BLACK TREE TV 11. 30.2008 http://my.blacktree.tv

2008 AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS; MILEY CYRUS, THREE SIX MAFIA, JOEY MCINTYRE LOS ANGELES, Nov 24, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Winners of the 36th annual American Music Awards (AMAs) were announced this evening in a star studded event hosted by late night talk show host and comedian Jimmy Kimmel. The show was broadcast live by ABC from the NOKIA Theatre L.A. Live. The 2008 AMA's were produced by dick clark productions. Producer was Larry Klein and executive producer was Orly Adelson, president of Dick Clark Productions.

The show featured a record 19 performances, most notably Alicia Keyes' performance of "Superwoman" with surprise guests Queen Latifah and star Kathleen Battle and a special collaboration by P!nk and Sarah McLachlan of the hit song "Angel." Other highlights included an opening 7-minute medley of Christina Aguilera's greatest hits as well as show-stopping performances by Beyonce, Coldplay, Jonas Brothers, Kanye West, Mariah Carey, Rihanna, Miley Cyrus, Ne-Yo, New Kids on the Block, Natasha Bedingfield, Leona Lewis, Pussycat Dolls, Taylor Swift, a solo performance by P!nk and The Fray.

The biggest winners of the night were Chris Brown who won three awards including Favorite Artist of the Year and Alicia Keys, Rihanna and Kanye West, each taking home two AMA trophies

nkotbthing.com