New Kids On the Block – Live at The Air Canada Centre 06/28/15 with Nelly and TLC

(Toronto, ON) – New Kids On The Block are not new, nor are they kids, but they perform with the energy and attitude that gained them their popularity from back in the mid ’80s. Live Nation brought the NKOTB Main Event tour to the Air Canada Centre in Toronto for two shows. This loosely based boxing themed event, had the generation x crowd coming out in droves, filling the venue with eager and appreciative fans. Their direct support for the evening was American hip hop artist Nelly, along with multi Grammy Award winners TLC.

The NKOTB set started in true boxing fashion with a pre recorded video shown on the jumbo tron of Michael Buffer doing his signature intro “Lets get ready to rumble” . The guys from the band appeared on the 360 degree stage dawning cloaks. That was the extent of the boxing theme. The audience erupted at the first glance of Donnie Wahlberg, Joey McIntyre, Danny Wood, Jordan Knight and Jonathan Knight.  Five separate risers emerged from the stage for interesting choreography, raising the guys at different intervals and heights. Pyrotechnics exploded through out. It’s apparent that after 30+ years since their inception, they still have die hard fans in their corner. They opened the show with “Block Party” followed by “Crash” and the “My Favorite Girl“. Donny went into the audience for the latter of the songs and hugged a girl, serenading her while singing she’s My Favorite Girl. “You Got It” and “The Whisper” round out the energetic opening. All the guys disappeared into the belly of the stage for a wardrobe change. The jumbo tron illuminated and showed the “Quick Change Camera”. Previewing some of the guys stripping down to their underwear, while Donny shaking his backside at the camera, wearing Canadian themed underwear. Needless to say the ladies all around the venue went completely insane at the sight of this. Ultimately the guys changed into tuxedos for the slowdown of their set, with the song “Let’s Try It Again“. Once again emerging on the risers. They maintained the same pace for the next few songs with “We Own Tonight“, “Didn’t I” combined with “Valentine Girl“, “If I Go Away” combined with “Please Don’t Go Girl“.  Donny proclaims Toronto to be like a second home for the NKOTB , saying they’ve have arrived home. Speeding up the pace with “I Like The Remix” gets the the crowd singing the chorus. The guys make their way into the audience at separate ends of the venue, meeting with their fans. A piano appears on stage for the next few songs “Summertime” and “Dirty Dancing“. Just like most touring bands these days , they tossed in a few cover songs.  Biz Markie – “Just A Friend“, Marky Marks  – “Good Vibrations“and Neil Diamonds -“Sweet Caroline“.  The song “Tonight” followed. The individual showcasing portion had Jordon sing “Baby I Believe In You” and “Give It To You“.  Joey sang the Eurythmics song “Sweet Dreams” and “Twisted“. Donny sang “I Need You” and took over the piano for the cover of “Lean On Me” which was dedicated to a fan by the name of Stacey who recently passed away. He finished off his solo portion with the song “Cover Girl“, where he brought up a cute little girl in a tutu. Saying she’s his cover girl. The song ends with disco balls shimmering their lights throughout. The song “Games” had Danny Wood break dancing center stage. “Step By Step” brought out the fancy foot work, while Jordan Knight sang “I’ll Be Loving You” with the accompaniment of the audience.  “Hanging Tough” meshed with Queens “We Will Rock You” rounded off night.

I will admit that this performance surprised me in many ways, from their relentless energy to their impressive singing abilities. If they continue down the path that they are going on they will easily maintain their popularity with the fans for many years to come.

A special thanks to Live Nation Ontario for media accreditation.

© 2015. All photos are copyrighted. Please DO NOT copy or use without permission.

All images captured by Sue Sadzak

New Kids On The Block

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Nelly

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TLC

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New Kids On The Block (WEBSITE) (TWITTER) (FACEBOOK)

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