NKOTBSB – Take 2!

Thursday, June 2 I decided to once again head up to Mohegan Sun to check out the NKOTBSB tour.  Jordin Sparks was opening at this show and I found a decently priced single seat on StubHub that afternoon.  It was the front row of the upper section, but on the opposite side of the arena from where I had sat during Monday’s show.

When I got to the venue, doors were already open.   Buying tickets off websites other than livenation/ticketmaster always makes me a bit nervous (especially when they are e-tickets) and when it was scanned – the kid’s scanner said “INVALID”  I tried to remain calm but inside I was FREAKING OUT.  He called over a supervisor and she scanned it and it still said “INVALID” but then did something else and told me I was all set.  Whew!  Then I spent the 40 minutes before the show started paranoid that someone was going to come with a ticket to the same seat. (Never happened, but the 2 girls next to me were in the wrong section so they had to leave when 2 girls with the ‘same seats’ showed up!)

The first opening act was once again “The Goonies”… they did the same set but the Arena was even less full for them than on Monday. (They also went on stage 20 mins earlier)  Next up was Ashlyne Huff.  She also did the same set but she and her dancers had on different outfits.

While I was sitting in my seat I saw Donnie tweet that it looked like JON would be joining them for the show! I am not sure why that got me so excited, but it did. (Originally Jon had tweeted that he thought he’d be cleared by the doctor to start shows back up again Friday)

Next up was my girl, Jordin Sparks.  Her set was No Air, S.O.S., One Step at a Time, Tattoo and she did a mashup/medley of Irreplaceable (Beyonce) / Price Tag (Jessi J) / Perfect (Pink) / Where Is The Love (BEP).  She decicated her song “Battlefield” to “her soldier Brian” who is her bodyguard that is heading off to Iraq soon.  She said his family was in the audience (I believe he is originally from CT) and she finished off her set with her new single – I Am Woman.  She had 2 male dancers that joined her for several of the songs.

Then it was time for NKOTBSB!  The intro gets you soooo freaking hyped up for the show, it is ridiculous.  Even when I knew what was coming – it still made me so excited in anticipation for the curtain to drop.  And then there were 9 instead of 8!  It was cool to see how the show changed to add Jon back in to the set up.  He also seemed a bit rusty on his dance moves and was often looking at the other guys instead of straight ahead or wherever he was supposed to be looking and at one point Donnie grabbed him to take him down the stairs because it looked like Jon was a bit lost.  In the beginning he seemed to be keeping up quite well with all the dance moves, but he kind of toned it down a bit more towards the end.  I don’t blame him – it is a LONG show and a LOT of dancing!

Another difference with the show was that Joey McIntyre had a baby in the time between Monday and Thursday, so they showed a video of Joe wrapping the baby up and kissing her.  Kira Katherine is adorable and has a TON of hair. (He said he hopes it doesn’t get crazy curly like his was as a kid lol)

About an hour in to the show my camera battery was blinking so I decided to turn it off and just enjoy the show and wait until the end of the show to get bow photos.  It was nice that way I could attempt to pay attention to everything that was going on rather than focus on the lighting and when I could get a good photo, etc.  I really need to keep a stash of batteries in my car for these last minute decisions!

During the encore, Nick came out in a white tank top instead of his jersey and I thought my camera had died after taking a few photos of him.  Turns out – it didn’t… I just kept re-arranging the order the batteries were in and I was able to get a few more photos each time!

Ray Allen came out with NKOTB for the encore which was cool. He played for UCONN so I thought he’d get more of a cheer but maybe a lot of the audience didn’t know who he was?

The show was a lot of fun and I am glad that I got to see it a second time with Jordin and Jon included! The setlist was the same as Monday’s show so I am not going to bother posting it again.

NKOTBSB – May 30, 2011

Monday night was my once in a lifetime opportunity to see NKOTBSB at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT.

The show started pretty promptly at 7:30 with The Goonies.  Looking them up now, apparently they are from Connecticut and I guess they were a last minute addition since Jordin Sparks was not at our show. 🙁  I wasn’t too into their (short) set, but if you like Hip Hop you can check them out at http://www.thegoonietunes.com/

Next up was Ashlyne Huff who had a DJ and 4 backup dancers with her.  She did White Flag, which was her single released early this year, followed by Whatever which is her upcoming single.  She also did a slower song called Runway and then she and her dancers did a dance medley consisting of I think Janet Jackson, Madonna and Britney Spears and then went into her song Let It Out.  Ashlyne’s CD Let It Out is going to be hitting stores June 7th, but was available for sale at shows or you can pre-order it for $8 at http://ashlynehuffmerch.com/.  Look for ConcertKatie to be doing a giveaway for this album (& signed!)  in the upcoming weeks!

Then there was a really, really long break before NKOTBSB was set to start.  Ashlyne had finished about 8:15 or maybe even 8:20 and the main event did not start until 9pm.

I have to say, the intro on the screens got me SO hyped up, it was ridiculous.  First they went through an intro on the side screens and then on the big main screen that was blocking the main stage. It went through all the band members and said NKOTBSB at least 5 times and everyone was to the point of “ahh! just drop the curtain already!”

And then the curtain dropped and the 8 guys were all there! (Jon Knight had to sit the show out because he hurt his knee/leg)  For the most part, they just alternated with who had stage time and did a few songs before switching out.  This gave the band members some time to sit out – but for us, not so much! It was basically upbeat hit after hit!  Fortunately we were the front row of the upper level and able to sit pretty much the whole show and still be able to see fine.

It is going to be hard to remember *everything* that happened – especially since when all the guys were on the stage NKOTB was often on one side and BSB was on the other and it was hard to keep track of everything going on at once.  I found it the hardest to decide who to focus on when both bands were on stage because I love both Joey McIntyre and Nick Carter so I was having an internal battle of “Who do I love more? Who should I be looking at right now?” If they were all up there.  When it was just one of the bands it was a little bit easier – but at the same time I wanted to make sure I had photos of everyone and we’ll see how well I did with that when it comes to ordering prints for the scrapbook.  (Although I took nearly 300 photos – you would HOPE everyone would be pretty well represented in there!)

During Tonight – the guys went out into the crowd.  Donnie and Jordan were on the opposite side of the arena from us, but Joe and Danny were on our side and Danny was right below us!  Danny went up through the stairs with security but the other 3 did not go up farther into the sections that I saw.  It was funny to see the girls try and grab at Danny and security rip their arms off of him.

Right after, for Shape of My Heart, BSB came in through the crowds.  It was the sections towards the back – Brian and Nick came down one side and AJ and Howie down the other.  I gotta say – both groups are pretty brave for going out in to the crowd like that, I don’t think I’d want to try that if I were them!

At the end, BSB came out and did Everybody and then NKOTB came out and did Hangin Tough and then they kind of did almost a “battle” going back and forth between songs and walking towards each other on the catwalk.

I’m so glad I got to go – I’ve been in desperate need for a boyband show for a WHILE now!  I just wish Jordin Sparks would have been there as well.  She will be there Thursday but at $110 a ticket, I don’t think I can splurge on another.  Word is Jon Knight won’t be back either – he seems to think he’ll be back on Friday.

(Setlist under the cut!)
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106.5 Mixfest featuring Hanson, Backstreet Boys, Train and more!

We got to Baltimore about 3pm, the show was set to start at 6.  We parked right near the buses and hung out near them for a little bit.  Around 4:15 Taylor came out and we got a photo with him.  I apparently missed Nick from Backstreet Boys running by (although it might have been better that I did miss him lol)  After we met Taylor, we headed over to the other pier to eat and go to the Hard Rock Cafe to pick up some bears. I was excited that they had the Mermaid bear!  I was told they were no longer selling that one.

When we got back to Pier 6, gates were open.  We went in and entered to win upgraded front row seats and then Maribeth played Plinko and won a T-Shirt. I opted to not play because I didn’t want to waste my luck on the front row to win a T-shirt.

At 6pm, VV Brown performed.  She did 6 songs.  Then they broke down her set and Angel Taylor came out and I believe she did 6 songs as well.  Next up was Serena Ryder and she also did about 6 songs. All 3 of the ladies were great, but I am always a little bit impatient and want Hanson to perform first haha

7:50 Hanson came out – the sun had just set (thank god – it was in a really bad spot blinding us for most of Serena Ryder’s set) and they also streamed their performance on the Mix 106.5 website and Hanson.net.  They did 9 songs,
1. Waiting for This/Watch Over Me/Rock N Roll Razorblade/In The City medley
2. If Only
3. And I Waited
4. This Time Around
5. Penny & Me
6. Thinking ‘Bout Somethin’
7. MMMBop
8. Give A Little
9. Where’s The Love

The place went pretty crazy for MMMBop and the crowd seemed really receptive of them, which was nice 🙂

Backstreet Boys were up next – I still forget that Kevin left the group sometimes.  Their set was really short! They did
Everybody (Backstreets Back)
If I Knew Then What I Knew Now
Shape Of My Heart
Straight Through My Heart
I Want It That Way

And let me just say for someone who had a sore throat, I was screaming along a bit too much…

Next up was Train – we only ended up staying for 2 of their songs.  Then we went to check out the bus situation and saw AJ go by and then security tried to shoo all the BSB fans away, then Taylor came out and they all went running back.  It seemed like they might have been gearing up to leave, and there wasn’t room on the barricades so we decided to just leave.

“Just leave” meant an 18 point turn lol to back out of the spot our car ended up in! And then get $3 in quarters when we left the parking lot. (Where was this dude and his quarters when I needed them at the penny machine at the rest stop?)

I still haven’t gotten my photos on to the computer – Ive been sick since I got home so most of my time has been spent sleeping! I will try to get them up tonight or tomorrow and make a few photo posts!

Backstreet Boys 11/2

Sunday night I met up with Lisa and we headed to Oakdale to see the Backstreet Boys. We hadn’t seen them since 2001 and I haven’t really kept up with them much since then. I checked out the set list on wikipedia ahead of time and there were only a few songs I didn’t recognize so I was glad for that.

We picked up our tickets at will call, which took a while because apparently fanclub tickets were kept separate than everyone elses.

The opening act was Donnie Klang from Making the Band 4. I have no idea who he is because I haven’t kept up with Making the Band since O-Town was formed, long before Diddy took it over (or whatever it is he is going by now) Donnie was cute, he could sing, but a lot of his lyrics were L-A-M-E. Hopefully he didn’t write them all himself.

BSB came out and made their way into a boxing ring and began their set. It was a great mix of both new and old so it wasn’t too many songs in a row that I weren’t familiar with. However, I thought that holding up huge signs was something that we got over after we were 12 or 14. Or maybe that was just me. Fortunately for me, most of these so called fans left before the show was over so I at least was able to have an unobstructed view for the last several songs.

The boys (or are they men now?) were very candid and silly – the stage was a much more stripped down version than the production we saw in 2001. Kevin was missing – but you wouldn’t even know it. It’s not like he had many parts in the songs anyway!

As we pulled out of the parking lot after the show, there was a crowd of girls waiting for one of the boys to come out. Of course, I thought no one would come out but as we drove by Howie came out to a sea of screaming girls. Many girls had also drove by and parked on the side street and ran back to catch a glimpse of them. Maybe they were Never Gone afterall…

Pictures and setlist under the cut

 

Larger Than Life / Stronger
Everyone
Any Other Way
You Can Let Go
Unmistakable
I Want It That Way
Shes Like The Sun (Howie Solo)
Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely
More Than That
Trouble
Incomplete
Drive By Love (AJs disturbing solo)
Panic
I Got You (Nick Solo)
Quit Playin Games (With My Heart)
As Long As You Love Me
All I Have To Give
I’ll Never Break Your Heart
Inconsolable
Welcome Home (Brian Solo)
The One
Treat Me Right
The Call
Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)

Shape Of My Heart

Row K and Jonas 3d Movie

I’ve finally gotten word from the Backstreet Boys that my seats are in Row K. I think that is 9th row because if I remember correctly, the section they are in starts with C. But at the most, it’s 11 rows back which is not bad at all. Significantly closer than our 2001 show – so I’ll take it!

Jonas Brothers have named their 3D movie:

Not sure if I’m feeling the name, it’s kind of blah. But no matter what it’s called I’ll be seeing it, since I very well might be in it!

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