Monday, December 21, 2009
The holidays are supposed to be about togetherness, presents, cookies and other warm, fuzzy things. Boy bands, on the other hand, are usually about searing aural agony and the mutual humiliation of both performer and listener. Usually, boy bands are not about fuzzy things. Boy bands are about hogwash.
That doesn’t mean the New Kids on the Block can’t use their evil power to spread cheer. Sixty dollars might seem like a steep price to see yet another reunion from the Boston quintet who served as the late 80s/early 90s equivalent of the Jonas Brothers. But net proceeds from Sunday night’s NKOTB concert went to Toys for Tots, and many revelers brought a toy to donate. NKOTB may be exploiting their fans’ nostalgia, but this time, it was to improve the holidays for some underprivileged youngsters. Perhaps NKOTB are on the path to redemption.
By now, some of NKOTB’s original devotees are pushing the age requirement for cougardom. But when the curtain rose on the matching black-suit-outfitted former teen idols, the sold-out room unleashed a collective shriek that could match any response Robert Pattinson’s gotten recently. During some good-natured banter - and after Joey McIntyre admitted to flubbing a verse - Donnie Wahlberg mentioned it was getting moist at the end of the platform into the crowd. He was probably only exaggerating a little.
Of course their music is hammy and dated, and their latest tune, “Coming Home,” is so close to elevator music it barely qualifies as a song. On the plus side, it was sort of cool when two members of New Edition made a surprise appearance. At worse, it was pretty entertaining to watch five guys histrionically prance around as if they were playing street toughs in a Broadway musical.
After the New Editioners ducked out, opening act Ernie and the Automatics backed NKOTB for the second half of the show. Faux snow fell from the ceiling as NKOTB offered up a number from their 1990 Christmas album. Then this Herald scribe scrambled off early to make deadline.
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