NKOTBSB Live in Manila: Most epic concert EVER! - NKOTBSB Review by SongBlog

I've only been to a few concerts. But THIS was definitely the most epic.

“All you people can’t you see, can’t you see~ NKOTBSB!”

These men started my fan girl history.

NKOTBSB live in Manila was one of the most epic concert ever!!! I had so much fun and I think I’ve never screamed or cheered that LOUD ever. Now I know the feeling of SCREAMING YOUR LUNGS OUT. Right from the start every performance just kept us clapping and cheering and screaming! It was just a nonstop stream of excitement and fan girl heaven.

Wishes do come true. My friends and I never thought they would go to our country for this tour…

When we found out about this ‘collaboration’ concert tour, we were like OMFG PLS COME TO OUR COUNTRY… but then we found out it was mostly in North (?) America, so, fat chance. When I found out that they were INDEED coming to our country, I literally spilled my coffee from excitement!!! It was just one of those things you’d never thought would happen ever, but then it did and you were just too ecstatic about it, you don’t even know what to say.

TBH, I grew up listening to BSB’s music. I was in 4th grade in elementary when ‘Get Down’ came out and became a huge hit. Everyone was dancing to it. It was the first song that I danced to in front of a crowd (in school). After that there was ‘Quit Playing Games With My Heart‘, which almost got me in trouble with my parents coz I stayed out late practicing our choreography for our dance performance. I think I pretty much listened to and memorized every single hit song of BSB, or at least the popular ones. I begged my mom to buy me a cassette tape – yep, a CASSETTE TAPE – of their first album so that I can listen to it on my Walkman. Even when I kinda outgrew their music and younger boybands like Westlife, The Moffats and A1 came to take over; BSB still had a soft spot in my heart. I breathe in every song and album they had released.

As for New Kids On The Block… I can’t say I’m a big fan. I was born in ‘87 so by the time I was growing up, or at least old enough to listen to music and actually enjoy it, I don’t think NKOTB was THAT active in the music scene. Well, maybe they’re active but I’ve never heard a single song from them. OR maybe I’ve heard one or two songs, but I have no idea that it was them who sang it. Forgive my short term memory.

ANYWAY, I think somewhere along the way, I knew that there was a boyband called NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK and that they were a BIG HIT back then. But I was too preoccupied with BSB and all the other newer boybands to research NKOTB or take some time to listen to them. See, I wasn’t a hardcore fan girl back then. I was just a simple school girl who likes listening to music, buying song magazines and watching MTV. I didn’t go online to research them and I surely didn’t beg my parents to let me see their concert or something like that. I just admired them in my own way – cheered for them whenever I see them on TV, hear their songs on the radio or see their faces on the covers of magazines.

I first got to hear an NKOTB song when this KPOP group – ZE:A – sang ‘Single’ and ‘2 in the morning‘ in one radio show. I was so impressed and I immediately fell in love with both songs. I found out later that these were NKOTB songs. But it stopped there. I was so obsessed with KPOP at that time that I didn’t have time to start another fandom. I know, it was kinda disappointing.

OKAY, moving on. My roommate and some of my older friends were really into them so I got to know tidbits of info about them. I realized I already KNEW some members but I wasn’t AWARE of it at that time.

For instance, back in my freshmen of high school, I was sooooo in love with the song ‘STAY THE SAME’ by this guy named Joey Mclntyre. It was my anthem – the song that signifies my life. It was my jam. I even sang it in front of my classmates during our music class. I think it was only last year when I found out that Joey Mclntyre was actually a member of the NKOTB. *gets bricked*

One more thing, Jordan Knight. Yes, I had listened to his song as a solo act before – CLOSE MY EYES – and I even found him cute when I saw the MV. But I had absolutely NO IDEA that he was also a part of NKOTB. I also found out last year, I think. That’s how much of a noob I was back then. I also just found out during the concert, while my friend and I were chitchatting after the concert, that Jordan and Jonathan Knight were BROTHERS.

I honestly didn’t review their discography or listened to their old albums before the concert, but this I can say – I totally LOVED their music! I mean, I couldn’t sing along to most of the songs that they performed, except for ‘Step by Step’, ‘Single’ and ‘We will rock you’ but I enjoyed clapping along and tapping my foot to their songs. I feel even more ashamed of myself after realizing how awesome their music was.

Unfortunately, I’m not that rich to afford the most expensive tickets and honestly, I’m not really that keen on seeing them ‘in the flesh’, so I opted to watch the concert from afar. I got the cheapest tickets but I can say it was definitely worth it. I enjoyed their music and every performance made my heart beat twice faster.

There were too many front acts though. The concert was supposed to start at 8 PM but NKOTBSB came out at 9 PM already. There were two local front acts before that and a 20-minute interval before it officially started. The crowd went wild when the lights went out and the boys (can I still call them BOYS? or KIDS?) came out. I was way too happy when they sang NKOTB’s SINGLE which they mashed up with Backstreet Boys’ THE ONE right from the start! It gave me goosebumps seeing all 10 of them dancing and singing in one stage.

It was every fan girl’s dream come true.

After the amazing opening number, it was a nonstop, back-to-back, performance of their respective hits. I couldn’t remember each song but they pretty much performed all of their ‘greatest hits’.

Here’s a SET LIST from Philippine Concerts

NKOTBSB: Opening Medley “Single” / “The One” (“Viva la Vida”)

Backstreet Boys: “The Call” “Get Down (You’re the One for Me)” “Larger Than Life” “Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely” “10,000 Promises” “I’ll Never Break Your Heart” “Drowning” “Incomplete” “Shape of My Heart” As Long As You Love Me” “All I Have to Give” “We’ve Got It Goin’ On” “Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)” “I’ll Be Loving You (Forever)” “I Want It That Way” “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)” NKOTBSB: Medley “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)” / “Hangin’ Tough” (Reprise)

NKOTB: “Summertime Remix” “Dirty Dancing” “You Got It (The Right Stuff)” “Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time)” “Valentine Girl” “If You Go Away” “Please Don’t Go Girl” “Step By Step” “Cover Girl” “My Favorite Girl” “Games” “Tonight” “I’ll Be Loving You (Forever)” “Don’t Turn Out the Lights” “Hangin’ Tough” (contains excerpts from “We Will Rock You”) NKOTBSB: Medley “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)” / “Hangin’ Tough” (Reprise)

The crowd was very responsive and the whole stadium exploded with energy and love from the fans. I think even NKOTBSB were so overwhelmed. There was a time when Brian was just looking around at the crowd, speechless and teary-eyed. They told us that we were actually the LAST STOP of this amazing concert tour! Wow. That was something. They went to Asia just for my country… and Indonesia. But they decided to end it here. It was very touching to say the least.

RANDOM FAN GIRL COMMENTS

*Nick Carter – ADHD much? I swear, right from the start he was jumping up and down, running around the stage and mingling with the crowd. He was like this ADHD kid who couldn’t stop the adrenaline pump. Haha. But it was cute. I mean, who would’ve thought this 30-something man can still do all of those stuff? He even did some break dancing. The crowd near the stage were too lucky because they got to see him up close and even touch him. There was a sort of ‘intermission’ where the song ‘CALL ME, MAYBE’ was played while BSB looked around for some lucky fan to bring up on stage. Every time it’s the CHORUS PART, Nick would dance cutely like an insane person among the crowd. It was totally hilarious.

*Brian Litrell – He was a bit emotional during the ballad songs but he was also active and he loved the crowd. He wore such outrageously bright clothes during the later performances. He was wearing NEON PINK SHIRT AND SHOES and then the next perf he wore NEON YELLOW-GREEN SHOES. That’s why I was able to find him even from afar. LOL.

*A.J. – My bias. He was all over the stage too. His tattoos looked threatening even from afar. During the first part of the concert, he actually TOOK OFF HIS PANTS. Oh yes he did. There was too much happening at that time and I didn’t notice him taking it off. He went to our side so that’s when I realized, he was wearing ‘skin-toned pants’ instead of the dark pants earlier. I asked my friend ‘Did he just take off his pants???’ and she said yes! Hahaha! What a way to tease the fans. We were too stunned to take a pic of that moment though.

* Donnie Wahlberg– I became an instant fan of this dude right here. He was sort of like the rapper, along with Danny, and in my fan girl history, I always fall for the rapper. He just had that really manly and cool attitude. He was also very hyperactive like Nick Carter. He ran around, jumped in the crowd and even dived among the sea of confetti on stage! We were like, ‘how old is this man again???’ He was like a child… with abs and huge muscles. LOL. Yes, he kept on unbuttoning his shirt and at one point he totally removed it. Talk about fan service.

* Joey Mclntyre– This dude was so adorable! I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. Like Nick Carter, he was also running around like a kid. He danced like he’s a 20-year-old dude and he sang ‘Please don’t go girl’ with such a powerful and emotional voice that it sent the crowd wild. It was so cute how he wore a white tank top and khaki shorts at the end. It made him look so much younger.

My friend and I were still sitting during the early parts of the concert… but when they sang QUIT PLAYING GAMES, well, screw the people sitting behind us – I JUST HAD TO FREAKIN’ GET TO MY FEET AND JUMP AND DANCE LIKE A DEMENTED FAN GIRL!!!

I think I stood up during most of the later parts of the concert because that’s when they sang some of my fave songs.

All in all, these 40-ish or 30-ish something men definitely put a shame to all the other so-called boybands out there. They danced, sang and performed like they’re in their prime! The choreography was changed a bit, especially with BSB, but they still had it in them. The spirit, the spunk and the charisma – it’s all in there.

Another thing that I love about this concert was the fact that they were not afraid of throwing themselves out in the crowd. They were among the fans during, like, 60% of the concert! They just loved interacting with the crazy crowd. I think one woman even got to steal a kiss from Donnie (or was it Danny? Not sure). That’s when I realized that I should’ve been DOWN THERE – among the lucky crowd.

While I was in line before the concert, I realized how music transcends gender, ages, and even social status. This concert definitely had one of the most diverse crowds ever.

There were kids, tweens, teenagers, young adults, adults and even senior citizens. There were also couples – bf-gf and husband-wife. Although most of the men in there were probably forced by their respective partners to come along, there were some really cool fan boys who sang and danced along to every song too. It’s like everyone forgot about their “normal” lives for once and came together for a common cause or something. It was quite a spectacular scene.

Like I said, I grew up listening to these men… they were a part of my history – my fan girl history, that is – and I will never forget how their songs affected me. It was such an epic and historical moment for me and I will never forget this in a million years.

CREDITS (for the pictures):

chuvaness.com