Fast forward a few years...or 27 actually, and one day I was watching my favorite show "The Soup." They showed a clip from the show "Rock This Boat." It is a reality show that follows super fans that have sacrificed all year to be able to be on the NKOTB cruise. The clip they showed was of this lady crying like crazy because she had embarrassed herself in front of Danny Wood. Of course I realized right away that I needed to watch this show and make fun of it, so I set it to record on my DVR. It sat on there for a while. Then one day I started watching it and all of the sudden I realized how into the New Kids I was getting. They were really adorable guys, and they were so fun with their fans. I'm embarrassed to say that this was my Facebook status on February 24th, 2015:
"So I think something is seriously wrong with me. I started watching the NKOTB fan cruise as kind of a joke after seeing clips of crazy old lady New Kids fans on The Soup. I took my anti-fan status very seriously when I was a kid and 25 years later I'm sitting here like actually crying real tears as Donnie and Joey help surprise a girl getting married on the boat. Yes, crying real tears as Joey walks her down the aisle and Donnie officiates. What the heck?! I've grown too soft in my old age."
But I hadn't grown soft--it was really that the New Kids were amazing and their charisma was charming me through my television. I had to share this show with someone. Heidi was the obvious choice, and guess what, she loved it too. We were hooked.
Imagine our delight when the show returned for a second season at sea and it had even more coverage of the New Kids. By now we were pretty much in love with each and every one of them. I told Heidi that if I had a ton of money the first thing I would do was take her on that cruise. So it only seemed natural that when they announced a tour that was coming to Salt Lake on July 9th we would be in attendance. I've gotten much better at buying tickets these days and I got us seats on the front row on the left side of the stage. We were pumped!
The week before the show Vivi got sick, Stella got sick, and then I got sick. It was pretty rough for all of us. And the night before the concert I was laying on my couch basically feeling sicker than I have ever felt in my life. I was trying not to die, but I couldn't help but worry about the New Kids concert that was in less than 24 hours. I'm so glad that even though the next day I wasn't 100%, I was still well enough to go and have the night of my life.
Paula Abdul was the opening act, and if you had told my 5th grade self that I would see her sing my favorite songs one day in the future I would have DIED. I loved her so much back in the day. We unfortunately didn't get to see all of her songs, and on top of that, when we got to our seats we were sad to realize that they had a really obstructed view. We were feeling pretty bummed. She was still great though.
Then before we knew it, the lights went down and out came the New Kids. Oh my goodness, we were so excited and we screamed like crazy! (Well, I tried to scream--I had pretty much lost my voice, but still...) Our seats ended up being absolutely perfect, because the New Kids didn't use the part of the stage we couldn't see. On top of that, right away Donnie came right up by us and totally gave eyes to Heidi. It was so obvious that it was to her that even the people behind us mentioned it. And he wasn't the only band member to do just that.
The concert was absolutely fantastic. Truth be told, we aren't really fans of the music (Heidi didn't even know the steps in the song "Step by Step") so really at least half of the songs they sang we had never even heard. But it truly didn't matter--it was so fun just to see them! They had so much energy and sent so much confetti flying in the air--it was seriously a dream. And we were so close! We even touched Donnie Wahlberg's hand two times as he stepped out to see his wife Jenny McCarthy during a break between songs. We were entranced.
We both could not believe how much energy they projected on stage. I was exhausted by the end of the show and all I had done was stand the whole time and cheer for them. I really don't know how they do it night after night. Color me impressed. If I didn't already love them before, I sure loved them after the show. And I tell you what...that Jordan Knight has aged better than any other male in the world. He was okay looking before, but now he is straight up so handsome. Heidi and I are for sure Jordan girls.
After it was all over and we thought the boys had left, Donnie came out once more and gave our little corner a snuggle. I was so freaked out I tried to hurry and get a picture, but I wasn't ready in time. Heidi just took her chance and gave his arm a squeeze. (Jordan, please don't be hurt--it meant nothing.) I was so glad the girl behind us got a picture of it and sent it to us. That's another thing that was so fun about the show. I don't remember ever seeing a show where everyone around me was so obviously such a straight-up nerd about how much they loved the performers, and we all were in it together as fans. It was so fun.
After the show was over we met up with Lindsey and my friend Lori and their group. Lori and her sister were obsessive fans back in the day so it was fun to talk to them for a long time and re-hash each amazing Jordan moment. Lindsey had told me a while ago that she was a huge child fan as well, but she had to be in love with Jon because her older sister had dibs on the more popular New Kids. Now that she is an adult though she can love whomever she wants and Donnie is her fave. So our many Donnie encounters made her very jealous.
By the end of it all, I basically had no voice. I really have to say it was one of my favorite Heidi nights of all time, and we have had so many great nights together. I think we were both surprised by how much fun it was, and that definitely added to the thrill of it all. And you can guarantee that if they ever come back into town we will be there!
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