tonight we're gonna party like it's 1999.
Jun. 29th, 2011 11:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
enamouredJust a thought before I go retrograde fangirl on you: being a fan of a boy band is like being in a really weird sorority of sorts. You have this thing in common and sometimes you get lumped into a cliched monolith simply by the virtue of having that thing in common with (mostly) other girls. That sounded a lot more poetic in my head, but hopefully you know what I mean.
So, rewind: I bought this ticket at the end of May. On Friday night I went to Walmart and discovered that my location now sells Ticketmaster tickets. I was intrigued, and I wanted to see if I could get a better seat, so at about 1 PM on Sunday I went back over to see what I had to do. It's just a touch screen in the electronics department, and ridiculously easy to use (once the cashier came along, and she was all, "This is the first time I've done this, so we're learning together!"). So after I did the basics of number of tickets and all, the page for price range pops up and I see the listing for floor seats, and I was all, "OOH SHINY", and I bought one ticket in section 19, row B, seat 2. It was only after that that I was suddenly really amped, because I was living the dream I'd had way back when: to be on the floor at a Backstreet Boys show, and not off on the side of the stage or on the lawn or whatever.
I still had my original ticket, but figured I could find some way to sell it/give it away once I got to the American Airlines Center.
Anyway.
So I got there around six-thirty, bypassing the whole "waiting in line to be let in" part, which I actually like doing! It's fun to see how amped people can get before shows, especially before pop concerts (I will never forget standing outside the RBC Center in Raleigh in the cold in my leopard print jacket chanting "BACK-STREET BOYS! BACK-STREET BOYS!" over and over). I kind of paced around, tried to find someone to sell my old ticket to, and got handed a pamphlet from PETA reps. I finally went in and walked around, people-watching and inwardly squealing with glee at various women wearing their old tour t-shirts, BSB and NKOTB included. After a little bit of that, I went to find my seat...
@yoitscandice I am one row from the front of the stage. I AM SO HAPPY I COULD PUKE A RAINBOW #NKOTBSB
After that happened, I went back to the concourse and wandered around, bought a tour program, and ended up selling my old ticket as I was leaving the women's restroom. There was lots of waiting and on the screens by the stage they played various New Kids/BSB member's solo videos--AJ and Joey's got the most screams, randomly.
Howie was my favorite Backstreet Boy, so I had my first moment of squee around then.
I ended up taking a bunch of pictures for other people, including four women behind me who were all collectively spazzing over Jordan Knight. Then around seven-fifteen the woman who had the seat next to me showed up. She was blonde, British, and said that she knew this guy who was friends with AJ, and I tried my best to not be all ORLY?! She mentioned that the All Access ticket package that you'd get for one of their concerts in the UK is about the same price as the ones over here ($500), but you get more, and other stuff. And then I noticed someone in my section dressed as Lady Gaga for no discernible reason:
@yoitscandice Spotted: blonde w/ wacky hat and sunglasses. Gaga, is that you?
@yoitscandice THE GAGAGANGER IS NOT WEARING PANTS.
There were two opening acts: Ashlynn Huff (who was unimpressive), and Jordin Sparks (who was quite good). The women in the row ahead of me started standing up around stage, and Girl Next to Me was like, "We should rush the stage before they start, yeah?" and I was like, "Uh, yeah." There was this moment right before the show started when the people in the section behind us started shrieking, and I turned and looked and there were two guys in pink shirts grooving and singing, and it was funny for a second. Then the lights went out and the screaming started.
@yoitscandice IT STAAAAAARTS!!!!!
Opening song: a mash-up of "Viva La Vida" and "The One". Better than it sounds, believe me.
OMG THEY ARE COMING MY WAY
You know how they say you never forget your first love? You also never forget your first big celebrity crush. In my journal from the first half of seventh grade, there are at least six pages of carefully handwritten facts about Howie Dorough that I copied from various issues of Teen Beat, Tiger Beat, and God knows what other magazines that my best friend Katie had. Liking Howie meant that I was usually out of the loop, as Nick and Brian (and sometimes AJ) were way more popular, but at the same time in my early teenage mind it meant that I had more of a chance. You know how it is. It's weird how up until right about the time that I snapped this picture that I was convinced I'd be pretty calm because hey, I'm ten years older than the last time I saw these dudes in concert and I've experienced real heartbreak from real live dudes and I'm ~jaded~ or whatever but then BOOM, it was like I was thirteen again and for pretty much the rest of the night I was doing epic amounts of jumping up and down and waving and generally being all, "DSJGLJLGJG" whenever Howie was in my line of vision.
Also, it does not help that it's like he's gotten better looking in the past decade. HANDSOME SHARK. [/misfits]
The whole show was kind of a tag team effort. Backstreet would do a few songs, then New Kids would do a few songs. My knowledge of New Kids on the Block is kind of scant, as I was in preschool when they were super-popular. But I have vague memories of the NKOTB cartoon and hearing "The Right Stuff" at various points in my childhood, and, well, "Give it to You" is one of my most played songs on Last.fm.
I will say that I grew to appreciate Donnie Whalberg during the whole span of the show, though.
Nick was ON the entire night. And, as said before, I was always more of a Howie (and Kevin--oh, Kevin) girl, so I left the squeeing over Nick to my two Nick-crazed friends Katie and Shiara (who I missed desperately the whole time). But oh my goodness.
Brian, right as they were starting "Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely". One of my favorite pictures of the night.
Oh, AJ. *__* I forgot how much I really like AJ.
Be glad I did not tweet during this part. It would have been incomprehensible. Also, I am so glad Twitter did not exist in 1999, as I would have probably put the Justin Bieber fangirls to shame.
Remember how I said that the front row people were by the stage? Well, security was NOT joking, and they would ONLY let the front rows by the stage. There was an older lady in a folding chair near my section watching to make sure that no one would get by, and she sent me back to my seat at one point. I mention this because BSB did that thing where they go into the crowd and pick a girl to sing to for "I'll Never Break Your Heart" and I was jumping up and down like a crazy. It did not work.
And while Brian and Nick made their picks (and Nick went way the hell over to the side section where I would have been sitting had I kept my old ticket), AJ picks the Gagaganger!
Then there was more New Kids, and it got fun because they did "Step By Step" and "Tonight" (the only other songs of theirs that I knew besides "The Right Stuff")! And Donnie ripped his shirt off and threw it into the audience, and the woman who got it was holding on to that like you'd hold on to a winning lotto ticket. (Relatedly, I found this Tumblr earlier when I was going through tags.)
During "Tonight" they all went into the audience. Jordan was closest to me.
And then for "Shape of My Heart", the Backstreet guys all come down through the audience. On the right, we got Nick and Brian, and I kept looking over at AJ and Howie and shrieking at the girl on my left, "WHY AREN'T THEY OVER HERE?!" like she knew. She was a Nick fan, so she was fine with this.
The next two songs were two of my favorites, "As Long As You Love Me" and "All I Have to Give", and it was v. v. nice!
Back to New Kids! Jordan was kind of awesome at this point.
At the end, BSB did "Everybody" and New Kids did "Hangin' Tough" (the other song of theirs that I knew) right after the intro song, which was "Shipping Up to Boston". Nice. And then both groups did "We Will Rock You", and it was awesome. They were all wearing Mavs jerseys, and Donnie, well...
And it rained confetti at the end. Right as I was leaving, I did manage to get a picture with the Gagaganger, who was cool.
Basically, it was awesome. I am so glad I got that ticket, and I wish I could go to another one of the shows. And if you want to see more, I have more pictures here.
So, rewind: I bought this ticket at the end of May. On Friday night I went to Walmart and discovered that my location now sells Ticketmaster tickets. I was intrigued, and I wanted to see if I could get a better seat, so at about 1 PM on Sunday I went back over to see what I had to do. It's just a touch screen in the electronics department, and ridiculously easy to use (once the cashier came along, and she was all, "This is the first time I've done this, so we're learning together!"). So after I did the basics of number of tickets and all, the page for price range pops up and I see the listing for floor seats, and I was all, "OOH SHINY", and I bought one ticket in section 19, row B, seat 2. It was only after that that I was suddenly really amped, because I was living the dream I'd had way back when: to be on the floor at a Backstreet Boys show, and not off on the side of the stage or on the lawn or whatever.
I still had my original ticket, but figured I could find some way to sell it/give it away once I got to the American Airlines Center.
Anyway.
So I got there around six-thirty, bypassing the whole "waiting in line to be let in" part, which I actually like doing! It's fun to see how amped people can get before shows, especially before pop concerts (I will never forget standing outside the RBC Center in Raleigh in the cold in my leopard print jacket chanting "BACK-STREET BOYS! BACK-STREET BOYS!" over and over). I kind of paced around, tried to find someone to sell my old ticket to, and got handed a pamphlet from PETA reps. I finally went in and walked around, people-watching and inwardly squealing with glee at various women wearing their old tour t-shirts, BSB and NKOTB included. After a little bit of that, I went to find my seat...
@yoitscandice I am one row from the front of the stage. I AM SO HAPPY I COULD PUKE A RAINBOW #NKOTBSB
After that happened, I went back to the concourse and wandered around, bought a tour program, and ended up selling my old ticket as I was leaving the women's restroom. There was lots of waiting and on the screens by the stage they played various New Kids/BSB member's solo videos--AJ and Joey's got the most screams, randomly.
@yoitscandice They're showing 1 of Nick's solo videos. He was my first fave, & if you know me this is a shock.
@yoitscandice Now an AJ video! Directed by... Wade Robson? ZOMG. #NKOTBSB
@yoitscandice So the crowd rlly loves AJ and Joey Mc...
@yoitscandice omg a howie video, omg you guys i cannot
Howie was my favorite Backstreet Boy, so I had my first moment of squee around then.
I ended up taking a bunch of pictures for other people, including four women behind me who were all collectively spazzing over Jordan Knight. Then around seven-fifteen the woman who had the seat next to me showed up. She was blonde, British, and said that she knew this guy who was friends with AJ, and I tried my best to not be all ORLY?! She mentioned that the All Access ticket package that you'd get for one of their concerts in the UK is about the same price as the ones over here ($500), but you get more, and other stuff. And then I noticed someone in my section dressed as Lady Gaga for no discernible reason:
@yoitscandice Spotted: blonde w/ wacky hat and sunglasses. Gaga, is that you?
@yoitscandice THE GAGAGANGER IS NOT WEARING PANTS.
There were two opening acts: Ashlynn Huff (who was unimpressive), and Jordin Sparks (who was quite good). The women in the row ahead of me started standing up around stage, and Girl Next to Me was like, "We should rush the stage before they start, yeah?" and I was like, "Uh, yeah." There was this moment right before the show started when the people in the section behind us started shrieking, and I turned and looked and there were two guys in pink shirts grooving and singing, and it was funny for a second. Then the lights went out and the screaming started.
@yoitscandice IT STAAAAAARTS!!!!!
Opening song: a mash-up of "Viva La Vida" and "The One". Better than it sounds, believe me.
OMG THEY ARE COMING MY WAY
You know how they say you never forget your first love? You also never forget your first big celebrity crush. In my journal from the first half of seventh grade, there are at least six pages of carefully handwritten facts about Howie Dorough that I copied from various issues of Teen Beat, Tiger Beat, and God knows what other magazines that my best friend Katie had. Liking Howie meant that I was usually out of the loop, as Nick and Brian (and sometimes AJ) were way more popular, but at the same time in my early teenage mind it meant that I had more of a chance. You know how it is. It's weird how up until right about the time that I snapped this picture that I was convinced I'd be pretty calm because hey, I'm ten years older than the last time I saw these dudes in concert and I've experienced real heartbreak from real live dudes and I'm ~jaded~ or whatever but then BOOM, it was like I was thirteen again and for pretty much the rest of the night I was doing epic amounts of jumping up and down and waving and generally being all, "DSJGLJLGJG" whenever Howie was in my line of vision.
Also, it does not help that it's like he's gotten better looking in the past decade. HANDSOME SHARK. [/misfits]
The whole show was kind of a tag team effort. Backstreet would do a few songs, then New Kids would do a few songs. My knowledge of New Kids on the Block is kind of scant, as I was in preschool when they were super-popular. But I have vague memories of the NKOTB cartoon and hearing "The Right Stuff" at various points in my childhood, and, well, "Give it to You" is one of my most played songs on Last.fm.
I will say that I grew to appreciate Donnie Whalberg during the whole span of the show, though.
Nick was ON the entire night. And, as said before, I was always more of a Howie (and Kevin--oh, Kevin) girl, so I left the squeeing over Nick to my two Nick-crazed friends Katie and Shiara (who I missed desperately the whole time). But oh my goodness.
Brian, right as they were starting "Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely". One of my favorite pictures of the night.
Oh, AJ. *__* I forgot how much I really like AJ.
Be glad I did not tweet during this part. It would have been incomprehensible. Also, I am so glad Twitter did not exist in 1999, as I would have probably put the Justin Bieber fangirls to shame.
Remember how I said that the front row people were by the stage? Well, security was NOT joking, and they would ONLY let the front rows by the stage. There was an older lady in a folding chair near my section watching to make sure that no one would get by, and she sent me back to my seat at one point. I mention this because BSB did that thing where they go into the crowd and pick a girl to sing to for "I'll Never Break Your Heart" and I was jumping up and down like a crazy. It did not work.
And while Brian and Nick made their picks (and Nick went way the hell over to the side section where I would have been sitting had I kept my old ticket), AJ picks the Gagaganger!
Then there was more New Kids, and it got fun because they did "Step By Step" and "Tonight" (the only other songs of theirs that I knew besides "The Right Stuff")! And Donnie ripped his shirt off and threw it into the audience, and the woman who got it was holding on to that like you'd hold on to a winning lotto ticket. (Relatedly, I found this Tumblr earlier when I was going through tags.)
During "Tonight" they all went into the audience. Jordan was closest to me.
And then for "Shape of My Heart", the Backstreet guys all come down through the audience. On the right, we got Nick and Brian, and I kept looking over at AJ and Howie and shrieking at the girl on my left, "WHY AREN'T THEY OVER HERE?!" like she knew. She was a Nick fan, so she was fine with this.
The next two songs were two of my favorites, "As Long As You Love Me" and "All I Have to Give", and it was v. v. nice!
Back to New Kids! Jordan was kind of awesome at this point.
At the end, BSB did "Everybody" and New Kids did "Hangin' Tough" (the other song of theirs that I knew) right after the intro song, which was "Shipping Up to Boston". Nice. And then both groups did "We Will Rock You", and it was awesome. They were all wearing Mavs jerseys, and Donnie, well...
And it rained confetti at the end. Right as I was leaving, I did manage to get a picture with the Gagaganger, who was cool.
Basically, it was awesome. I am so glad I got that ticket, and I wish I could go to another one of the shows. And if you want to see more, I have more pictures here.
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Date: 2011-07-01 12:37 am (UTC)I was a big NSYNC gal but my best friend was a BSB girl so we were constantly fighting over who was better/hotter (because really, that was the most important). Even at 25-years-old we will have the arguement for fun. I'm amazed we've managed to stay friends since 1998 when the boy bands emerged on the scene.