Joe Mac at the Cabaret

Wednesday night, Joey McIntyre did an intimate show at the Mohegan Sun Cabaret Theater.  The tickets were an absolute pain to buy (thanks for nothing, ticketmaster) but in the end it was worth all the drama.  He started the show in a black zip up and black pants in a chair and did 30/90 from Tick Tick Boom and added in a few lines about turning 50. Then he did a quick change into the sparkliest red suit I think I have ever seen. He went into New York New York and at one point gestured wildly with his arm and it sent his bracelets flying.  One was found on the stage but it seemed like a second might have still been missing.  After a couple more songs he invited Shoshana Bean on stage to do a few songs.

During “When Somebody Love You” a single piece of confetti fell and after he finished he said “Did anyone see – ”  and the whole crowd went “YES” so he said it must’ve been Dottie sending it down from the rafters. (Later a second fell and he said only the first one counted and he wanted it laminated and on a plague and then after a 3rd fell he said fine – 3 pieces fell. Each one was a different color though – red, blue and then white!)

He then made a comment about how he had a lot of Leos in his life and rattled off some birthdays – one being Donnie Wahlberg’s which got someone in the crowd to yell “ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME”, maybe thinking Donnie was there? But it was Emanuel Kiriakou (EMan) which was awesome because last time I had seen Joe solo EMan was there too and they did an amazing rendition of ‘One’ and that ended up being the next song!

After a few more songs, Shoshana came back out to do a couple of songs.  Then he got into the NKOTB songs including Please Don’t Go Girl where he adlibbed about how he gets to be him and you get to be you and “we get to be we” which ended up in him then singing “I said wee wee”
As this song was a workshop some things were a bit rough while the band got used to everything – which was pretty clear when he got to The Right Stuff and ended up singing “first time was a sweet time… second time was… SHIT!” and they ended up starting it over LOL
He ended the show with a couple of songs where he played piano – carefully putting the top down on it and moving everything out of the way so those on the other side would still be able to see him playing.

After the show I had VIP passes for a M&G with Joe – Mohegan Sun really dropped the bar on being accessible which was shocking.  The M&G was also up 5 steps with no railing but fortunately security ended up helping me out and the VIP people apologized profusely for not knowing anyone was there who would have issues and if they had known, they’d have brought him to me.  The M&G was pretty quick – a couple of photos snapped a quick chat!  Accessibility drama aside, it was an amazing show and I am sad to be missing out on the big show at Carnegie hall this weekend!

Mixtape Tour 2

Friday and Saturday I made my return to the Arena at Mohegan Sun for the first time since 2019 for NKOTB and their Mixtape Tour 2 – featuring Rick Astley, En Vogue and Salt n Pepa.  The show was supposed to start at 8 and I assumed doors were at 7, so I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived on Friday at 6:45 and was able to get right in.  For Friday’s show I had front row upper level, right by the main stage. For Saturday’s show I was further back in the accessible section, but with a straight on view of the main stage (Friday the screen was a bit obstructed) and a closer view of the B Stage.  While Saturday night was a more head on view, when NKOTB first took the stage with all the flashing lights I really thought I may have had to ask to be relocated because it was just way too much for me. (While I’ve never had a seizure, with CP it is always a possibility) Fortunately after the first song or two it calmed down a lot and I was able to stay where I was.

I typically try to avoid reviews before going to shows so I can come up with my own thoughts after, but I did read one about this tour.  It said that the acts alternated like a mixtape – so I thought they would rotate out after every song, which was not the case. But the additional acts weren’t treated like openers.  NKOTB kicked off the show and did a handful of songs before En Vogue took the stage.  Both nights on of the En Vogue ladies had her foot in a boot.  On Friday, she sat during their initial set but by Saturday she was up on her feet for all their songs.  Rick Astley was next and then NKOTB came back.  After another handful of NKOTB songs, Salt N Pepa took the stage and was joined for En Vogue on “Whatta Man” before En Vogue got another song to themselves. Another chunk of NKOTB songs and Rick Astley was back to rick roll us all.  Donnie joined Salt N Pepa for Shoop on the B stage. Jordan sang without a shirt. (What else is new) and then it was just about time for the show to be over.

Friday night, when they all came out for the encore, Donnie stopped a young man from leaving and he and another girl were called up on stage.  I thought I had seen the young man with Joey’s son Griffin (Who helped open the show with Illtown Sluggaz both nights) earlier in the night so I thought it might have been a set up and he was a plant.  I figured I’d know for sure if the same thing happened Saturday – but Donnie instead called out a couple on the other side of the stage and made them go back to their seats.  Saturday at the very end Donnie brought a different even younger boy up on stage to dance for a bit.  Joe also grabbed someone from the barstools and had her come up on stage at one point as well.  Even though the setlist may have been the same (and really, has it changed much in the last 10+ years? lol) every night is always a little bit different.

I ended up with 449 photos on my camera over the 2 nights and honestly don’t feel like uploading that many here – so you get the one up top. Maybe if I get bored I’ll add a gallery later, but I’m not liking how the main blog page doesn’t show if I’ve added a gallery so I need to sort that out…

Joey McIntyre in Waitress on Broadway

One Saturday at the end of February I headed to New York City with my mom to see Joey McIntyre in Waitress. I had previously seen Jason Mraz in the same role a little over a year ago so I was curious to see how their portrayals matched up. At the end of Part I, I was thinking Jason had the edge – as the doctor I think is supposed to be a little bit strange and awkward and Jason could play that with ease, where as Joey came across a bit more confident.  By the end, I wasn’t really sure who I thought did better as they both kind of brought something different to the character.  I teased that if Joey came out to sign, he would win, as Jason did not come out.   I managed to get my playbill signed by Joey in addition to the actresses that played Becky and Jenna.  We debated waiting for Ogie and trying to get a selfie with Joey – but the crowd was creeping in as Joey came near, so once my playbill was signed we ducked out and went to dinner.  This is a really fun show and the only one I have seen more than once!

NKOTB Fenway Park

Saturday we made the trek to Fenway Park to see NKOTB and The Total Package Tour.  This was my first concert at a ballpark! As soon as we had gotten let onto the field to take our seats, it started raining.  Fortunately I had some ponchos in my purse and we quickly put them on. The rain was on again off again.

Boyz II Men opened the show and it was slightly drizzling their whole set – which made trying to get any photos tricky! When they started playing Water Runs Dry it started raining harder! I thought that they had a great set and it was a lot different from their set on The Package Tour.

Motownphilly
On Bended Knee
It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday
Water Runs Dry
Are You Gonna Go My Way/American Woman/Locked Out of Heaven
I’ll Make Love to You
End of the Road
In the Still of the Night
A Song for Momma
One Sweet Day
End of the Road

Paula Abdul was next up, and it started absolutely pouring so half her set I was hiding in my poncho to try and stay dry.  She talked about how singing in the rain inspired her when she was younger to become a singer and dancer… but it took her quite a while to realize… she was SINGING IN THE RAIN.  A few songs in she announced she had to leave the stage and then the PA announcer said severe weather was in the area and we had to take cover in the grandstands.

I have to say, the Fenway staff did an AMAZING job making sure all the wheelchairs were able to get out of the ADA area and to the ramp that was several sections away by holding back the rest of the concert go’ers and doing the same when we went back after we got the all clear.  If not, navigating through the crowd with the wheelchairs would have been impossible.

When we were let back to the seats, everything was being set up for NKOTB to take the stage.  It still was raining lightly, but by the time NKOTB came out the rain had stopped – but that didn’t stop the guys from stomping around in all the puddles that had formed on the stage!

I feel like for the past few NKOTB tours their setlists have been pretty much the same.  With the release of a new EP (which I still haven’t had the time to check out, bad fan!) and them being at it for so long (Jordan said they had been performing in Boston for 33 years!) they switched things up a bit and did a lot of throwbacks to the older stuff as they went through their discography and band timeline.

Highlights included the quick change camera which is hilarious and definitely live because Donnie had a piece of confetti stuck to his arm that appeared in the video just in case anyone thought it might have been pre-recorded and Joe’s son Griff joining him on stage to sing Please Don’t Go Girl. Adorable.

There also was a point in the show when the guys left the main stage and we had no idea where they were – and it seemed like the camera guys had no idea either as the screens on stage just kept panning around.  Turns out the guys were running around on the infield and then ended up on the dugouts for a song as well!

It was a great show and definitely a great first for me! It rained, it snowed, there was tons of confetti (though I only ended up catching a few pieces even though I was convinced we were going to be covered in it due to our wet ponchos) and even fireworks!

Act 1 – The Beginning

One More Night
My Favorite Girl
Dirty Dancing
You Got It (The Right Stuff)
Remix (I Like The)
Block Party
Tonight
Summertime
Games
Cover Girl
The Whisper

Act 2 – Storytellers

Stop It Girl
Popsicle
Be My Girl
I Wanna Be Loved by You
Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time)
Call It What You Want
Valentine Girl
Happy Birthday
You Got the Flavor
Dirty Dawg
Never Let You Go
If You Go Away
Merry, Merry Christmas
This One’s for the Children
Hard (Not Lovin’ U)
Single
Please Don’t Go Girl

Act 3 – The Close

Step by Step
I’ll Be Loving You (Forever)
Hangin’ Tough

NKOTB 6/12/15

Friday night, NKOTB brought “The Main Event” tour to Mohegan Sun.  At first I wasn’t sure that I was going to attend, but then found a pretty nice single ticket so I decided I might as well.   Opening the show were Nelly and TLC.  Before the show Mohegan Sun presented the guys with a star on the Mohegan Sun Walk Of Fame since they have had 9 consecutive sell out shows there.  (I think I was at 7 of them?)

Nelly was a big part of the reason why I did not want to go. I had no desire to see him.  His performance didn’t change my mind. I feel like the sound was also off for his set and it was hard to hear him. It seemed like no one else had any problems hearing though since when he held the mic out (which was a lot) everyone was ready with the next line.  His setlist seems like it was really long, but it is because he did not actually go through a full version of any of the songs.

TLC was up next. I never saw them before Left Eye passed away and I always feel a bit funny seeing them now.  They had tracks for most of her raps but it still just made me sad.  I loved their outfits and they had a lot of energy and played up the whole stage too which was great.  They also had everyone hold up their phones before Waterfalls for Left Eye and it looked really cool.

NKOTB put on a great show. They have so much fun on stage, joking around and play fighting with each other in the middle of the songs.  At one point Donnie saw a pregnant girl in the crowd and asked her when she was due. “Monday!” she said. “Monday!? Holy shit! Name it Donnie!” he said back before running back onstage.  For “Cover Girl” he also brought up a little girl on stage. I was at a bad angle to get a good photo of her face – but up on the screen she looked like this 😯  huge eyes and just in complete shock she was on stage. Too cute!

For “Tonight”, I thought I had a great spot. The security was all talking about “when they stand on boxes” and telling each other what they’d need to do to keep fans back.  A couple songs before,the box arrived just at the bottom of my section.  Someone else walked by and the girls nearby asked who was coming by us. It was Jordan.  Then the time came and Jordan walked off the stage and went to some random box 1 section over. He didn’t stay there very long and then headed back to the stage so he could get ready for his solo performance. I guess that’s what I get for being disappointed when I heard it was going to be Jordan.

 

Setlists under the cut

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Mixtape Festival Day 2

After the broomball game we hung out in the car for a bit and heard some of the Jonas Brothers soundcheck.  We then went to Chocolate World to kill time before night 2.  We knew that it was predicted to rain, so we grabbed our rain coats and headed in to the stadium.

MKTO kicked off the show.

Emblem 3 was up next.  About 2 songs into their set they told us that lightning was in the forecast and that we had to go under the stands for our safety while it passed.

We were underneath for about an hour and it was ridiculous because there was no room for people to move yet everyone was trying to get somewhere else.  I was also told I was too young to know Boyz II Men songs. LOL, I’ll take it. (Turns out I was older than the people who said that to me.)

Emblem 3 continued their set at 7:15 and the show just went on from there – but it was still raining. We were all SOAKED.

Boyz II Men came out next and I think they did a bit of a modified set compared to what they did on The Package Tour (we figured if everyone cut a song or two from their sets, everything could kind of stay on schedule)  We spotted Zac Hanson checking them out on the side of the stage in the beginning of the set too and then he went into the gold VIP side stage area to take some pics.

Jonas Brothers played what seemed to be the longest set ever – and I’m a fan. I don’t know, they seemed to just never end and I was soggy and pruney and just wanted to get the show moving.  They sang Thats Just The Way We Roll – Joe didn’t change the lyric from Hanson and I thought for sure they’d come out, but Kevin just pointed off in the back of the stage where I assume at least one of them was watching the set.

TLC’s reunion was next.  They started off with some technical issues with TBoz’s mic but then they seemed to get everything worked out. Before Waterfalls they said that it was a song that meant a lot to Lisa Left Eye Lopes and had us all hold up lighters, cell phones, etc in honor of Lisa.  The stadium lit up and it looked so beautiful!  Most people held them up for the whole song.  They had all of Left Eye’s raps on a track.  It was a bittersweet set because I loved TLC growing up, but never had the chance to see them until now.  They said that they will never replace her but that they wanted to move on and continue to make music and share with everyone.

NKOTB was up next and they also did a more modified set from The Package Tour. It was a ton of fun and during Tonight, Danny and Joe walked right by the ADA seating and we got to shake Joe’s hand!

We were hoping that all the bands would come out on stage again, but that didn’t happen.  And by that point we were freezing and soggy so we just decided to leave.

All in all it was a fun weekend and I hope that Hanson goes back again next year!

 

NKOTB Show #3

Last night was my last show of The Package Tour. (I think. I can probably be convinced to go to more lol)  This show I had VIP for 98 Degrees.  I was supposed to be at the casino at 5 but was stuck in traffic and FREAKING OUT.  Who does construction work on a Friday night!? Oh, Connecticut does.  I ended up getting there about 5:45 (I was told they’d bring everyone back at 5:30) and had to “run” to where they were holding it.  Fortunately I got there in time and was last in the auto signing line.  Which meant I got even more time with them (says Drew “everything happens for a reason”) and then it was time for the Q&A which was relatively short – they talked a bit about why Jeff was facing sideways on the cover of the album  “that’s my side!” and that it was actually 4 separate photos put together.  They talked about how they formed as a band and how when they got back together they couldn’t really remember the lyrics “Nick can’t even remember lyrics to songs HE WROTE” and that the harmonies were there but they did have to re-learn the older songs.  And then someone asked them what the underlying meaning of Microphone was and Nick said there wasn’t one and that there was a technique to using it – if you don’t hold it close enough to your mouth, no one can hear you.  Then it was time for the picture and Jeff was very happy I made it back to them after missing the signing – so much so he kept repeating it to me when I was talking to Nick. haha

For the show I had the farthest back seats of the whole run – which stunk. I kind of wished I had these seats first (and technically this was the first announced show then they added more BEFORE!) because now I was spoiled.  The section also was ROCKING during Motownphilly so I was a little bit concerned about standing for the New Kids set if it was shaking around that much for Boyz II Men.  Boyz II Men and 98 Degrees set was basically the same – though I do think 98 Degrees may have had new outfits again. And they did switch up who had ties and who had bowties.

New Kids changed up their set a bit again – and they just look like they are having SO MUCH FUN on stage it is hard not to have the time of your life.  They didn’t do Crash in the encore.  Their Boston jerseys were now Red Sox (the Bruins ones they gave away at the Boston Strong concert the night before) and after Cover Girl and a couple other songs when Donnie had his shirt off – when he went to put his jacket on everyone BOO’ed! So he threw the jacket down and everyone cheered and continued without his shirt on – but then went over to Danny and tore HIS shirt off too!

After the show I went to the After Party – hosted by Donnie with special guests Danny and Boyz II Men.  When I got in, Jeff and Justin from 98 Degrees were there dancing around.  It was really NUTS – probably too many people and pure chaos when Donnie showed up (but he walked right by me!) and he said he was going to go in the crowd but that everyone had to be cool and not grab at him and stuff – of course that didn’t work at ALL.  Why these women can not act like the adults that they are, is beyond me.  If everyone just kind of hung out where they were it would have been a lot easier for him to mingle with everyone.  He came by to get back to the stage and then a parade of people were just following him.  Get your pic, say hi, get a hug, whatever, and then move on.  I didn’t try for a pic with him because it was too nutty.  But I did get a pic with Wanya from Boyz II Men and Danny’s dad!

I got home at 3am which is why this post is so late.  Pictures coming… maybe someday lol I’m beat 🙂

I will give you this photo of 98 Degrees Q&A.

The Package Tour – Night 2

Night 2 of The Package Tour!  For this show I splurged and got a package through VIP Nation for 5* 1st row.  Which meant I got a seat in the first row as well as a M&G opportunity with NKOTB (in groups off 10).  I had only met Joey before, not the whole group so I was pretty much freaking out over it from the moment that I bought the package.  Fortunately my friend from college Sarah had also bought a front row package and she is a M&G pro with NKOTB so I knew that I would have a great mentor!  I ended up finding a group for the M&G pic (2 girls to a guy, so you can get with your “favorite” you make a group a head of time)  I figured I had NO chance of being with Joe, but since I had a pic with him already from a few years ago I’d go for my 2nd favorite, Jon.  We had been talking and getting each other excited on Facebook and met up before check in.  We checked in together to make sure we’d all be in the same group and got group B.   Sarah was nowhere to be found so she was getting quite a few panicked texts from me!

We were taken upstairs to the club and given 2 drink tickets (if we were 21+) and would wait there to meet the guys.  Sarah ended up showing up and was in group I.  The final girl from our group showed up and was given I instead of B, so I told her I would trade with her because I didn’t mind switching to be with my other friends.  Then I kind of panicked – no group had been arranged for group I!  Sarah said it didn’t matter and we’d just do what we had to do and try to get me to Joe.  The group was really cool and when they found out I hadn’t met the group before and I wanted to be by Joe no one had any objections!  It was really quick and I really just said “hi nice to meet you” to all of them, but I got hugs from all 5 and Joe talked a bit more since we were near him longest.  Since it was my first M&G he said they’d try to make it a good one. ha.  It was Danny, Joe, Jordan, Donnie and finally Jon – who I was warned gives the best hugs and I would have to agree!

Also in our VIP package was a tote bag that contained our gift of tube socks (I’m pretty excited I can wear these with my brace!) and a speaker.  I haven’t taken anything out of the bag yet though to check it out.  Too busy!

Our seats were pretty awesome in the front row – except when everyone started their set out on the secondary stage – you had to stand up or else the main stage completely blocked your view of everything.  And sometimes, even if you were standing there were bright lights in your eye and you had no idea where anyone was.  Not that happened to me or anything.  ok, it totally did.  I was the perfect height for the light to hit me in the eye every now and then.

The show was changed up a little bit from the first night.  Boyz II Men’s set was basically the same – and 3 of the 4 of us in our little group (Yes, I ended up with seats RIGHT NEXT TO Sarah’s even though we bought them separately and her friends were on either side of us!) got roses.  I was the only one that didn’t because I can’t catch haha.

98 Degrees had new outfits for their show – although Jeff ended up with his shirt practically unbuttoned and his tie was going through the buttons on the shirt by the end of the night. I don’t know what he was doing! (But I was totally ok with it!)  I thought they had the girls on stage for 2 songs and not 1 the first night, but now i’m not totally sure.  They also had a CD signing after the show – it was supposed to be limited so I grabbed a CD and wristband right away when I got there, but the line was INSANE so I didn’t end up hanging around for it.  When Justin was talking about it, Nick ended up explaining to us what a CD was.  Thanks Nick, I had no idea.

And then it was time for NKOTB!  I’m trying to remember what they switched up.  For Step By Step the first night mics came down from the ceiling and they all ran from one to the next to sing, Danny’s didn’t come down and then Donnie forgot to run at one point – they didn’t end up doing that Night 2.  They still did Step By Step, but with a different set up.  I wonder if they’ll be scrapping that idea completely now.  The acoustic medley was also a bit different – Joe did a Bruno Mars song and Stay The Same which I don’t think he did the 2nd night. (This is from memory I took no notes from the front row so sorry if I’m not totally accurate!)  Donnie had a different shirt for Cover Girl so that he could rip it off and throw it into the crowd.  For the finale they added Crash to the end of the set instead of just ending it on Hangin’ Tough.

Donnie also grabbed the camera from our friend the camera man (he put us on the big screens quite a few times!) and was zooming in on people dancing in the crowd. That he didn’t do the first night either.  Overall, I thought the 2nd night was more fun, but it may have been because I was that much closer and it wasn’t all completely new and overwhelming.  We’ll see how tonight goes…

After the show, as I mentioned, I opted to not stay for the 98 degrees meet and greet. It apparently went on til close to 2am! By that point I was already home and ready for bed! I did listen to their new CD 2.0 on the way home though, to make up for not waiting around.

The Package Tour Night 1

At first I was not going to be going to the first night of the package tour – because it was added last.  I bought tickets for what was supposed to be the first night, they added another night before that, so I bought tickets to that and then they added another. Fed up (and having spent FAR too much on VIP packages for the other 2 nights) I decided not to do it.  Then I won tickets from Mohegan Sun with a twitter contest.  They were very close to the last row in the arena, if not the last row.  Fortunately my friends won seats IN THE BARRICADE and gave me an extra ticket in the 3rd row and it was amazing.  Tonight I have 5* front row VIP with a NKOTB M&G and then Friday night I have regular seats (which are going to be so bad compared to the first 2 nights lol) and a VIP Package with 98 degrees.

The stage set up is interesting.  There is what typically would be the “main stage” but for this tour it is the secondary stage. (“Stage” in the above photo)  So all the seats that would be facing the front are actually facing the back where the main, let’s call it “flower stage” is.  I would assume the numbers actually went backwards as well (so 1st would be closer to the flower stage) but I am not totally sure.  Where it looks like 4 and 5 in the photo above would be sideways, it wasn’t.  2, 3, 6, 7 equivalents last night were 3 rows. (I was in the equivalent of 6/7)

There are 5 “petals” that come off the flower stage. In between those petals are the inside the barricade seats.  These ran for $1k through VIP Nation but I know NKOTB gave away a few on twitter yesterday and I think they upgraded some other VIP ticket buyers as well.  The sections were N, K, O, T and B.  If you are standing on the secondary stage looking at the main stage, N was to the left and went around so B would be on your right.

All the info we got for VIP stated that 98 Degrees would be on at 7:30, Boyz II Men at 8:30 and NKOTB at 9:30.  The show started late, I think around 7:45 and when I looked at the secondary stage – there was Boyz II Men.  In the early info for the tour everyone was saying BIIM would be first, and I think I preferred this line up, but it was a bit of a surprise.  After their set I sat down for about 3 seconds before 98 Degrees took the stage! I was hoping to have time to post the setlist but I barely had time to correct the typos from autocorrect!

Boyz II Men’s set seemed really short – but they basically did all of their hits and ended it with Motownphilly, which I thought was perfect since most of their other stuff is ballads.  They also gave out roses to girls in the crowd. I didn’t catch one.  Maybe tonight?  98 Degrees set seemed really long. It was about half stuff from 2.0 and I felt like a lot of it fell flat.  They were trying to get people to sing along – but no one knew what to sing.  It will be interesting to see if they mix up their set a little bit tonight or not.  I think they have a couple other “hits” they can throw in there.  I don’t even have the new album yet so I was lost for most of the new stuff. (I am hopefully buying it tonight because they are doing a CD signing. Assuming I can get up there early enough to get a wristband for the signing)

Photos at some point in the near future from all the shows… it’s a busy week.

The Package Tour Setlist

Just got back from night 1 of The Package Tour! It was so much fun and I will (hopefully) post more about it tomorrow. But until then – here is the setlist – I think.

And here is some more babble just to make sure that it doesn’t come up in the twitter text just in case….

Tomorrow I do it all again so if anything changes up (I felt like a few songs didnt go over so well in 98’s set) I’ll try to take note!

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