New Kids Out Rock Diva

I am about to completely date myself.

This week I attended two concerts. Let me add that up to that point, I had only seen two concerts in the past two years. Anyway...my in laws very generously and thoughtfully got me and my sisters in law tickets to see Madonna. She had never before been to our state (which is actually kind of weird in and of itself) seeing as she has been around for twenty five years. We are a BIT of a "one horse town", but most big artists make it here after they hit the BIG venues. So it was a HUGE ticket here. Everyone I talked to wanted to go, but couldn't justify the price of admission...a boat I too would have been in, had the ticket not been a gift. Anyway- the other concert I got a ticket to was the New Kids on the Block, whom I loved intensely in my pre/early teens. And being my obsessive-compulsive self...have never totally let them go... Also-high priced, but about half what Madonna was.

Okay so to make a long story longer...Madonna was on a Tuesday night and the concert was to start at eight. We were told as we walked in the door that she would be taking the stage late, so we figured eight thirty, eight forty five...There was no opening act btw...Well Madonna took the stage at nine thirty. Let me say that the choreography, lighting, etc. were AMAZING. Every single song looked like a music video. Do they still make those? If they do, they aren't on MTV anymore...haha...Of course she looks unbelievable and sounds better than I expected. She sang "You Must Love Me" from Evita and it was fab...but here is the thing, her limited interaction with the audience was a bit obnoxious...she told us to clap over our heads that "we needed the exercise"...Let me note that the state I live in is regularly rated the healthiest...so whatever...Anyway, when did she start dressing like Gwen Stefani? So the energy and the music is great...but she sings about five old songs and the rest is off the new cd. Let me say that she made me want the new cd, which certainly is the goal she hoped to achieve-but let's face it, most of us stopped buying Madonna cds after Ray of Light (even that is pushing it). Seems a bit self indulgent that she played mostly new music in a place she has never been. Beyond that, she sang literally a quarter of "Like a Virgin"...Seriously?! She asked an audience member for the request then sang back and forth with the audience and didn't finish it. After performing about an hour and forty five minutes, the screen says Game Over and the light come up. She wastes an hour and a half of our time and doesn't do an encore. REALLY! Oh and t-shirts were $45.00, sweat shirts were $100.00. A bit of a mixed bag...I mean Madonna is Madonna...what she DID perform surpassed expectation, it was what she didn't do that left a bad taste in my mouth. She clearly is not a diva in reputation only. Seemed to have no appreciation for those that spent hundreds of dollars to see her for probably the first and only time in twenty five years.


Okay, okay...So then there is the New Kids on the Block. As I mentioned, not a cheap ticket but about half the price of Madonna. They played to a much smaller venue that was not completely sold out. They have released less than half the cd's Madonna has. Loved them at thirteen and they still hold a pink fluffy cotton candy scented place in my heart. I am loyal to a fault and while the posters are all boxed up, I still follow their careers...from Jordan on Surreal Life, Joey McIntyre's season on Dancing with the Stars, to Donnie Wahlberg's movie career (Sixth Sense, Ransom, Band of Brothers..."So when I saw them on Today Show...I lost it...bought the Greatest Hits and the new cd (most of mine were on cassette...haha) and THEN I heard they were coming hear and rounded up my middle school girlfriends, even dragged my husband, sister in law and cousins! Okay-they have two opening acts, one of which is Natasha Bettingfield (sp?) who was gracious and good...because she knew it made no difference what she did as everyone was waiting for the NKOTB. The other was Lady Gaga who COMPLETELY won me over, how faboo IS she?

They were UNBELIEVABLE. They gave us exactly what we wanted and then some. Think it was better than when I saw their show seventeen years ago. They sang every single old song anyone would have wanted to hear AND their new stuff. They played two and a half hours and did two encores. They updated, but still played into the things we loved...like Jordan's open blowing white shirt (woohoo) and Donnie's gyrations...haha...Plus-Joe is solid through puberty now and much more machismo. My ONLY complaint is the stripper-looking dancers...probably for THEIR entertainment, but no girl wants to see her middle school heartthrob being rubbed down by a hooch. I am sure they are VERY nice girls...but I have to admit (mmrreeoorrr) that I wanted to drag them out by their hair a time or two...I screamed louder than a tweener at a Jonas Brother's Concert...haha! Hoarse and sore the next day-so NOT as young as I used to be. But I SO fell in love all over again! I would see them again when they are sixty...teehee. May be a bit more Tom Jones-ish then. "Hangin' Tough" at eighty means trying not to break a hip...but Whateva...LOYAL. As I said. Walking in and out of that venue was like entering and departing Neverland....I must admit I NEVER wanted to leave Block Land. No apologies. I just didn't...


Any way...two shows-one week, one conclusion. New Kids out Rock the Diva. Is it appreciation, camaraderie? Time out of the limelight, perspective perhaps? Hard to say...Of course music taste is completely subjective-but I think most people would expect Madonna to perform them under the table she is dancing on but they outdid her in every aspect. Most people would consider them fluff and her the real talent. They made their fans feel valued and important and she made us feel as if we were putting her out. Both good performances, but the heart of the matter was universally different...