The Block is Back in Words, Pictures and Video
As I mentioned in a previous article, my Mom saw the Beatles three times as a teenager.
The first time, August 1964 at the Hollywood Bowl, was a night of firsts. It was The Beatles’ first United States tour and also the first time Mom borrowed her parents’ car to drive into Hollywood. She would later do this often and don a fake-ID to go dancing at the Whiskey-A-Go-Go, but that is for another article. She left around noon for an 8:00pm show. The drive from Pasadena, where she lived, to the Capitol Records building on Hollywood and Vine (where the label had provided buses to the Bowl) took about forty minutes, but she and her friend, Marian, wanted to be sure they arrived in time, so they allowed the entire afternoon. As they were on the freeway, the radio DJ revealed the address in Benedict Canyon where the Fab Four were staying, so they pulled off and drove up the canyon to try their luck. Other eager young ladies did the same, and by the time Mom and Marian arrived, the grounds of the house were littered with nothing but sad fans. I found out years later that one of my Mom’s best friends to this day, also attended this show, and had also driven up the canyon to this mystical house. She, though, took her fandom to a whole new level and filled up a vial with water from the swimming pool where George, her favorite Beatle, had supposedly swam in earlier that day. I wonder where that water ended up… But I digress. Before the show, Mom kept reiterating how she didn’t understand why people screamed at concerts; it was SUCH a silly thing to do. Of course, she ate her words when the band opened with her favorite song, “Twist And Shout”- she was on her feet dancing and screaming at the top of her lungs for the entire duration of the show.
The second time was in August of 1965 at the Hollywood Bowl, also with Marian. This tour, there were two shows of which she only attended one. (In recounting this, she was chided by Her Dear Daughter that she wasn’t a very good fan. Clearly, I would have attended both shows, and seriously contemplated borrowing the car to drive to the Cow Palace in San Francisco the next night…) She also had no details to offer from this show; a result Smartass Daughter Noel said was due to her (non-existent, actually) pot-smoking.
The last time was in August of 1966 at Dodger Stadium, with Marian and two other friends, one of which flew home early from Europe to attend. This was to be the second-to-last Beatles show ever (third-to=last if you count the roof of Apple Studios) and Mom and her friends were among the group who famously rushed the gates of center field to get at the band. They didn’t get very far, but if you ever see the archival footage, you can see my teenaged-Mother and her posse of friends whom she still has to this day.
On Thursday night, May 15 into Friday morning, May 16, 2008, I partook in fandom that was the closest thing I have ever seen, or probably will ever see, to resembling Beatlemania. New Kids On The Block (or NKOTB, depending on which era and which record label we’re choosing to recognize) gave their first public performance in fifteen years on the Today Show, and I, among hundreds of other die-hards, went to witness all of the glory… about seven hours before it even began!
Now Listen Up: I Am Not, I Repeat, AM NOT Comparing The New Kids To The Beatles. I’m not stupid, people, and I sure as hell know better than that to go down that road. (Oh, and Snobby McMusic-Snob; if you’re reading: I may have attended an N’Sync concert, and Britney ((twice)) but I also went to Cream’s reunion on opening night at Madison Square Garden, AND have seen Radiohead ((twice)) so nyah…. I know what’s up, biatch, and I don’t think you wanna play).
What I WILL compare is the level of fan-dom of the two groups. The word ‘fan’ is derived from ‘fanatic,’ which causes people to react in fanatical ways. Like my Mother and her friends trekking to the house on Benedict Canyon, New Kids fans are die-hard. Period. They will wait in line for a full two days before the show in order to be in the front row. They will insist that their Mom in Canada search through the boxes in the basement to find a New Kids sweatshirt and send it for them to wear to the show. They will dig out their over-sized buttons, hats, silk-screened t-shirts and acid-washed jean jackets. They will finally open the package containing a New Kids flag for the occasion- a flag that, until now, had remained untouched in its pure form and with price-tag attached, waiting for an occasion such as this one to debut its glory. These fans have been waiting fifteen years, still harboring the love from their youth. In this fickle world of ours, especially in a music climate that goes from trend to trend, God bless us for holding on.
The show was really, really fun. They played a medley of the hits, “(You Got It) The Right Stuff” (But this time with a dancehall backbeat… odd? To me, yes.), “Hangin’ Tough,” “Please Don’t Go Girl,” and “Step By Step.” When I hear ‘medley’ I think, ‘cheesy junior high choir concert,’ but somehow it just worked. We heard the new single, (yes, there is a new album coming!) “Summertime” and fan-favorite, “Tonight” in its entirety. “Tonight” prompted the fans to fill Rockefeller Plaza and its surrounding area with insanity, in the vein of my Mom and “Twist And Shout,” over forty years ago. It also prompted a text message from a friend (whose first concert and love was New Kids On The Block. Upon them breaking up she became an even bigger Fleetwood Mac fan) which read, “OMFG-today is the second-best day of my life.” (The first for her was when she saw the Mac perform “Sara” off the “Tusk” record…again, fodder for another article, I’m sure).
What touched me the most about the show, was just before their interview, when I noticed how taken aback Jonathan Knight was by all of the signs, screaming and sheer number of people. Granted, in the hey-day of this group, it was blaringly apparent that there were millions of fans worldwide, but that was a long while back. He is the only member who has not pursued a career in entertainment after the New Kids. Watching him take all of it (us) in was like watching a kid on Christmas morning opening an XBOX. And not THIS kid:
If nothing else, the tour is going to be a whole lot of fun, not to mention the guaranteed college tuition for the kids of the New Kids.
Myself? I am still recovering from staying out all night. Clearly I’m not the kid I once was. Judging by the fact that the keys of all of the songs have been lowered to fit their changed-voices, neither are they. Tired or not, I couldn’t help but giggle in joy at the sight of it all; we may all grow up, but some things will always make you a Kid again.
Major, major thanks to my friend, Kasey Gomien, for taking all of these pictures and filming the video portion of this piece. Kasey Rocks! Enjoy the visual journey that is The New Kids on the Block Reunion!
