New Kids On The Block Live at the NEC Birmingham - Review and setlist

Jan 18 2009 By Alison Dayani

They were my first ever concert and adorable Joey McIntyre was the object of my first teenage crush.

Memories of buying an NKOTB bright pink baseball cap and screaming constantly at Birmingham NEC will be etched in golden glory on my brain forever.

With this in mind, the reemergence of New Kids on the Block after 15 years has a lot to live up to.

I no longer wear Dock Martins with coloured laces, Naf Naf jackets or neon(thankfully) and I am worried that I will leave this concert feeling NKOTB should also remain in the 1990s.

It’s a little bit of a shaky start, as they emerge more weathered than I remember but wearing matching outfits and doing exactly the same dance routines, although they are no longer in sync.

But with an audience of mainly women in their 30s, an atmosphere like that at The Chippendales soon emerges.

Every crotch-grabbing moment is cheered, Donnie wiggles his bum at the camera and says ‘There’s not many 39-year-olds with a butt like that” and even a bra is thrown on stage.

There’s even some adult jokes about how long Danny’s fingers are.

It’s electric with a mix of hormones and nostalgia.

The latest songs are tolerated but it’s the old anthems that get the biggest