sakon76 | Entries tagged with nkotb

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Have been listening to the RotG soundtrack on my way to/from work when there's nothing good on the radio. It's actually pretty good stuff.

Taylor Swift's newest single, "I Knew You Were Trouble"? I gave it the courtesy of one solid listen-through the first time I heard it. Now it's a change-the-channel tune. It sounds like a Jem and the Holograms song. And not one of the good ones either. Which is kind of a pity, because her last single, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together," really amused me.

Have clawed my way out of persistent mild depression by forgiving myself for not writing very much at all this month on Field of Stars. What I did write, I think is good. And I'm just about at the point where I get to join two plot threads and do a really big WHAT THE HELL rugpull reveal about one of the basic assumptions the entire kingdom has made. And now that I'm no longer depressed, I think I can handle Maralys and the writing class. *knocks on wood*

Tickets for the next NKOTB tour go on sale this weekend. They have Boyz II Men and 98 Degrees as opening acts. Trying to decide if I want to go to their sole LA performance or not. Have texted

stitchy, my usual compatriot for boyband events, with the info; waiting to see how interested she is....

Anniversary coming up this weekend. Can't believe I've been married almost nine years. But we both looked at the gift suggestions for ninth anniversaries (willow, pottery, and leather) and decided we couldn't come up with a thing along any of the lines. So our gift to one another is upgraded seats for our trip to England in May.

There's a very odd confluence of reality when you're listening absently to NKOTB at the gym and a cop show comes on and you realize it's the one Donnie Wahlberg is in. (For the record? Blue Bloods was actually pretty good.)

We watched the third episode of Once Upon A Time earlier, while we were eating dinner. The sheriff is definitely the huntsman. And Emma definitely got her toughness from her mother. (Though, a comment to the writer(s) of the last episode: liking cinnamon on your hot chocolate is NOT a genetic trait!) Though that really makes me sad upon reflection, because as long as she was single, Snow was kick-ass. Then she got married and pregnant and all of a sudden she was emotional and conflicted and dependent and by the time she hits the real world she's a total milquetoast. In the first episode I loved her being the one to draw the prince's sword when the wedding was interrupted by the Evil Queen; I can't imagine Mary Margaret Blanchard doing any such thing.

So tonight

stitchy and I satisfied our inner screaming thirteen-year-olds....

( Picture heavy. )

I has them. ^_^

I have questionable taste in music. In fact, I have questionable taste in many things. My novel, for instance, is about a mermaid ~~fairy~~ demi-goddess princess with pretty clothing! I blame this, and my love for boybands, on the fact that a part of my brain obviously got stuck somewhere around twelve years old.

That said OMGWTFSQUEEEEEEE~!

New Kids on the Block. And Backstreet Boys. One stage, one concert. And it's going to be in my neck of the woods!!

*happy place reached for at least the next several days*

Current Mood: happy

Feet hurt. This would be because last night I dragged

iaurcalien (yes, she does exist!) to an NKOTB concert. Amusingly, it was at the same venue (Hollywood Palladium) as the last boyband concert we saw together (Backstreet Boys). Amusingly, unbeknownst to us, this show was also the last one of the tour.

NKOTB's opening act, Jabbawockeez, made up for the BSB's sucky one. They're actually a dance group, not singers. Think a touch of Cirque du Soleil mixed with a liberal helping of Blue Man Group with just a hint of Daft Punk (whose music they actually used for a part of their routine). Oh, and any opening group that isn't afraid to reference/gently mock the main act is good in my book. ^_^

The set list was, I think, different from their first time through LA on the tour. And if I had any delusions about being completely heterosexual I'd have to throw them out the window with how much I liked watching their dancers. But all in all it was a good concert, even if their choreography was a little loose. One nice thing was that Joey, in the part where he usually does a medley of some of their earlier songs, performed a brand new song he'd written about how it felt to come back as NKOTB and thanking the fans. The song felt like it was much more "him" than "them" (his style from his solo albums, I mean) but I find myself really really hoping it'll be on their next album because it was a very fun, clever song.

So

iaurcalien has now been introduced to Old Skool Boybands and seems to like 'em. ^_^ Which was my none-too-subtle goal in the first place....

Current Mood: cheerful
Current Location: home, office

Well, last night. There was a concert. There was NKOTB. There was a not-so-random celebrity sitting in the same section I was, which slightly weirds me out but fortunately amuses me much more. There was a drunk woman tripping on the stairs next to me, spilling her beer on my trousers in the process, and all over the floor so it was sticky later. I wrote down the set list and will be doing a looooong post about it behind the magical cut tag later, but in short, was it awesome? IT WAS.

Somehow a boyband has managed to age with grace and dignity, keep their own style, and make me really happy that they came back together, even if I still think their new album is one of their weakest.

Current Mood: happy

So, tonight I finally listened to the new NKOTB CD....

I am... disappointed.

There were a few songs that I liked. I think "Single," in fact, is rather clever in its view of the relationship between fans and boyband songs. Overall, though, the CD is some pseudo-balladic pieces and a lot of what's called "dance" music (which, generally, is something I wouldn't be caught dead dancing to). What's missing? POP. There's nothing upbeat and catchy, which is, frankly, what the entire pop genre and specifically boybands get sold on. Even the pseudo-romantic pieces fail pretty hard, being more "I love your body" than "I love you." Hint: women of all ages prefer the latter to the former. Especially when repeated in the chorus for 3-4 minutes at a stretch....

I can appreciate that the artists are older and at different places in their lives than they were 15-20 years ago. I can write off my feelings of vague insult of their subject still being "girl" as a dialectical difference between Boston and Los Angeles. I can even get over not knowing who's singing 90-95% of the time, as their harmony is still good. But what I can't forgive is the lack of liveliness and sparkle to their songs.

I love the boybands I do for their ability to inject color into my imagination. I want the old 'Kids back. I'm not sure I like the ones who wear monochrome and business suits in their photo shoots. It's not avante garde... it's boring and staid. Which is not what music should be.

Trying not to feel betrayed. Hoping Wednesday's concert will be better than I'm currently thinking.

Current Mood: disappointed
Current Location: home, heading toward bed

It probably shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who knows me that I have extremely questionable taste in music. In fact, I often envy my Wonderful Husband's eclectic taste and

racerxmachina's far more meaningful taste. But in the end I remain who I am, a rock/pop girl with leanings toward the music of the '50s through '90s. And more recently, due to the positive influence of Princess Tutu, I've finally started listening to a bit of classical.

Now, the first concert I ever went to "on my own" (ie, not going with my parents and sister to see The Grateful Dead) was The New Kids On The Block. This was back in early high school, so it probably would have been 1990-91...? And while times have come and gone and NKOTB long ago disbanded, eventually I got hooked by boybands again, specifically *N Sync and Backstreet Boys. For the most part it's fluffy music, happy and poppy and, as was once writ of something else, signifying nothing.

Being just a little bit cynical, I reacted with amusement when I heard that NKOTB was getting back together, fifteen years on. I mean, 40-something-year-olds in a boy band. There's a good joke or three in that, I'm sure. Not to mention that I'd thought the chances of getting Jon Knight back on stage were, well, let's just say "slim to none." But I guess he's overcome his problems because I just bought my concert ticket.

October 8th, Staples Center, me and several thousand other 30-40-year-old women, screaming like we're 16 again. It's a date.

Though I still wonder how much dancing they're going to be able to do. ^_^;

Current Mood: amused
Current Location: work

Oookay. So long ago there was this group called "New Kids on the Block." Or, when they wanted a bit more respectability, simply "NKOTB." And I have all their CDs and some of their solo stuff from afterwards. Joe McIntyre's, anyway. Jordan Knight's kind of creeps me out. And I still like their music. At one point in high school I went to a concert. And I've since gone to one of Joe McIntyre's concerts.

And now they're reuniting.

This is my brain, broken for the rest of the day, please leave a message after the beep.

Current Mood: boggled
Current Location: work