Review: New Kids in the P&L

Find a man in this picture and win a Kewpie doll. (Don't waste your time.) Photos by Shane Keyser/The Star

The people who manage the Sprint Center made a reasonable calculation before Tuesday night's show and responded accordingly: They designated some men's restrooms as women's restrooms (but please stay off the urinals).

At least that's what they told me. I didn't notice any of those so I can't verify that, but I did see women dashing in and out of men's rooms that hadn't undergone a gender change. About 9,000 fans showed up Tuesday to see the reunited boys band New Kids On The Block, and about 95 percent it seemed were women and girls. They looked like a huge Chippendale audience.

This wasn't a typical reunion show. Those tend to draw baby boomers reliving their tumultuous teens and post-adolescence. This show drew mostly grown women reliving their girlhoods. As one of the Kids said: You weren't drinking beer the last time we saw you.

They would hear songs that weren't around the last time, either: seven from their new album, "The Block," including "Single," which opened the show. The ladies seemed familiar with most of the new stuff but they were way more geared up for the older songs, especially the "girl" songs: "My Favorite Girl," "Please Don't Go Girl," "Cover Girl."

All five Kids are in their late 30s (Jonathan Knight turns 40 in a couple weeks), but they re-created their teen- idolism without shedding a scrap of dignity. Their voices were clean and firm, except during their famous cover of "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)," which, 20 years later, now suffers in comparison to the Delfonics' original. (Someone's falsetto failed him.) However, the boys' rudimentary dance moves were slick and precise and mostly synchronized, and they gave the ladies plenty of reason to whoop, whistle and scream, especially when someone bared a part of his well-toned body.

The show included some visual effects: fireworks, flashpots and confetti. About halfway through, the Kids ignited a friendly riot when they appeared on a satellite stage towards the back of the floor and sang a three-song set that included "Tonight," an early hit. During that set, nearly half the women on the floor stood on their folding chairs and danced (as ushers tried in vain to get them back on the floor).

There was plenty of dancing going on all night. The Kids music jumps gently from one genre to another: R&B, pop, funk, disco, new jack swing -- all of it homogenized and sweetened. They take credit for preceding the boy-band hysteria that filled the late 1990s and produced giants like N' Sync and the Backstreet Boys. True, they did. But with all due respect to Maurice Starr, those boys had better songwriters behind them.

They ended the evening with two title tracks that turned the place into a massive, joyous dance-along/sing-along: "Step by Step" then "Hangin' Tough." During those two numbers, the arena was as loud and boisterous as it was for Janet Jackson.

Late in the show Donnie Wahlberg thanked the few husbands and boyfriends who showed up with their ladies, reminding them that their "reward" would come after the show, a remark that elicited more whoops and screams. Who knew nostalgia was an aphrodisiac?

Set list: Single; My Favorite Girl; (You Got It) The Right Stuff; Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time); Valentine Girl; Please Don’t Go Girl; Grown Man (with a virtual Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls); Games; If You Go Away; 2 In the Morning; Dirty Dancing; Tonight; Twisted; Baby I Believe in You; Give It To You; Stay the Same; Cover Girl; I’ll Be Lovin’ You (Forever); Click, Click, Click; Summertime. Encore: Step By Step; Hangin’ Tough.

Natasha Bedingfield: She was one of two openers (I missed the first). I was a little surprised how good she sounded in an arena. Her set included "Tricky Angel," "Unwritten" and the irrepressibly catchy "Pocketful of Sunshine." She'd be perfect in a place like the Uptown or Midland.

| Timothy Finn, The Star

Comments

[Nikki]

Can anyone tell me what time the show got over? I'm going to the show in Omaha tonight and then have to drive back in to KC tomorrow for work. Just curious what time the show lets out.

[Maggie]

It got out at 11:30. With the opening act coming out about 8:15, it was just over 3 hours.

[Glow]

Tim, you earned your paycheck last night.

[Steve]

9K not bad. Sound like they all had fun. And "reliving their girlhoods" is a good thing. How many men will relive there youth and buy "Chinese Democracy" this month.

[Derek Donovan]

Steve, that's a good one. You actually made me spit up a little coffee.

And in response, I'd say not many. I could be wrong, but I just think that ship has long sailed. And Axl looks weird and not at all rock any more.

[Esther]

Thanks for being kind to the New Kids and all of us reliving our "girlhood," Tim. And, as one of the ones standing on my folding chair, next to the satellite stage... all I can say is that for a few hours I felt like a 14-year-old again, swooning over those "boys." And there are worse ways to spend a Tuesday night.

[Smart Alex]

Anyone up for 'Menopause--the Musical'?

[MikeA]

I love the expression on the NKOTB on the far left in the third picture! Looks like he is really enjoying himself!

[Joe]

Tim,

This should be listed as Combat Pay on your paycheck...

[jm]

What is the name of this tour: "We are broke, and VH1 doesn't even want to hire us for "We are the 90's" vol 3?

[OKOTB]

Ugh. They were bad enough the first time around. Not everything needs to be dragged around for a "comeback."

[smartman]

Sad