The night was bound to be exciting.
I was seeing 98 Degrees…my sister was seeing her loves, NKOTB.
When people in my family like something, we REALLY like something. We tend to see the line of obsession, and then jump over it. We really, really love to love what we love.
Around sixth grade, my sister fell in love with Joey McIntyre. IN LOVE. The other thing you should know about my family is that we’re extremely loyal. So even when it wasn’t cool to love NKOTB any more – she carried her torch and stood proud in her love for Joey.
To this day, she has all the tapes, CD, t-shirts and a million little buttons from NKOTB concerts.
I wasn’t surprised when she wanted to go to this concert. I figured I would enjoy Boys to Men…LOVE 98 Degree…and enjoy NKOTB. I had a thing for Donnie Wahlberg, but that was about it. Turns out – the whole show…start to finish, was AMAZING.
So let me set the stage – there were five of us girls going to the show at the Amway Center. (We had one dude who was supposed to go with us…but more on that later.)
The girls ready for The Package Tour in Orlando!
And yes, on my left is my sister, Julie, in her original old school NKOTB shirt.
We walked into Amway and saw our dude that was supposed to join us. He wasn’t attending the concert as a guest, since he ended up working the event. He told us to follow him – we did. He took us to an elevator that was behind some security lines. He pressed the button. We waited, the elevator opened.
A man in front of the elevator walks out and says, “everybody stand back!” And then all of the New Kids on the Block walked right past us and into some back stage door.
It all happened so fast, yet in my head…it was slow motion.
Honestly, the doors open, this man yells – and we couldn’t figure out why really. I mean – there were just six of us standing there. We most likely wouldn’t have paid ANY attention if he just acted normal. Instead, we all turned our heads to figure out who was there.
I scanned all the guys and in my head was only looking for a Lachey boy (98 Degrees) and so I remember being like…no…no…no…YES…..and locked eyes with Donnie Wahlberg. Apparently I still have a thing for him. He was playing a ukulele. Weird?? And I said….”Hey…Heeeeeeeey.”
Yep – that’s what I said. Have no fear, by sister would save the day…right? NOPE. She was on the other side of the elevator entrance and locked eyes with her boyfriend…Joey. And all she said was….”Hey….”
Can you tell we’re related? Well – at least we said SOMETHING. No one else said anything. AND – none of us had the cameras ready. Which is a HUGE fail. I tried to take one…and the stupid flash was on my phone so it took so long and this is all I have…
The arrow shows you the back of Donnie’s head.
All of those people were standing in line for some VIP signup thing and had no idea what was happening around them.
We went up to the Grey Goose Lounge atop Amway – and OMG. What a cool place. Unfortunately, we were too stunned to really even focus on the surroundings.
You know that scene in Ferris Bueller’s Day off where Cameron is totally comatosed for a good portion of the movie? Well, that was my sister.
She can’t talk.
I had almost the same face when I looked at the drink menu in the Grey Goose Lounge:
Amway Center’s Grey Goose Lounge Menu.
I mean really. I opted for something much cheaper! It did ofter a great view of the city, despite the rain.
The view of Orlando from the Amway Center’s Grey Goose Lounge.
Once we could breathe again, we hit the bathrooms here (since there were no lines!) and then hit the elevator to find our seats.
Of course, my sister sees someone in the elevator with a VIP NKOTB red bag, and starts asking her all sorts of questions about what is in the bag. The girl basically gave her everything thing the bag, since she already had it from another show. My sister is so easy to please.
Julie hugging a random stranger who gave her NKOTB socks.
We had some great seats and these were some not-so-terrible photos from my iphone.
And of course, I knew so many people at the show!!
I call this one, “The Jen’s.”
Hanging with the News 13 peeps!
I was surprised how much I enjoyed all the bands. It was just a fun, fun show. Boys to Men surprised me a lot. I went into it thinking I was going to only know one song…but I think I knew them all? They all had great energy and put on great shows. All-in-all, an entertaining night with lots of great people!!!!
Now…I wait for Justin Timberlake to hit Orlando!!!
Who was your favorite New Kid?? What 80s band do you wish would tour?? I’m holding out for Debbie Gibson 😉
