New Kids on the Block celebrate past, live for now
Milwaukee Blockheads must really, really, really love New Kids on the Block.
When the boy band dared to wear bedazzled jerseys for their hometown NBA team, the Boston Celtics, during their Fiserv Forum show Wednesday, no one even booed them off the stage.
The Celtics don’t have too many fans in Milwaukee these days. The team eliminated the Bucks from the NBA playoffs and reached the NBA Finals.
So naturally, New Kids’ Donnie Wahlberg had to address the guys’ controversial fashion choice in enemy territory.
“Don’t worry, your guys are still the world champions for two more nights,” he said to cheers, later joking that the Bucks’ dry cleaning service intentionally knocked some sequins off their jerseys washing them before the show.
But in the eyes of their fans — largely, women blissfully reliving their childhoods and teen years — New Kids on the Block could do no wrong.
OK, so they could be a little wrong. Please, Blockheads, don’t attack me (and I hope that includes my wife), but some of you at the show Wednesday have to admit that Wahlberg sounded pretty terrible at times taking lead for “Cover Girl” early in the two-hourand-25-minute show.
But it didn’t matter that Wahlberg’s vocals were rough, because he was having a great time shaking his butt and showing off his gym-regimen results for a delighted capacity crowd.
“It’s too early,” Wahlberg said after giving fans a peek of his abs mid-song. “What am I talking about? It’s Milwaukee. It’s never too early,” he added, hiking the tee up to his shoulder.
Here was a guy who was having a blast, and that energy was infectious. I don’t expect many people caught this, but there was a moment when one of New Kids’ special guests, Salt-N-Pepa, was performing “Shoop” on the Bstage, when Wahlberg casually strutted onto the arena floor in the back. For several minutes, he just hung out with fans, posed for selfies, and even danced with a security guard. There wasn’t a spotlight anywhere near him. He just couldn’t keep himself away from all the fun. (It even looked like a security guy had to rush him onto the stage so he didn’t miss his cue.)
Danny Wood relished flexing his shirtless bod during a “quick change” camera segment. Joey McIntyre vamped it up with a fold-out fan from a fan in the pit at one point, frequently jumped into the crowd, and even rode around the arena floor on the shoulders of a security guard.
That joyride was one of several moments where the New Kids got close to their fans. Some artists opt for a Bstage in the middle of an arena floor, and yeah, New Kids did that, too. But more frequently, they came down to the pit up front and the seats — a way of showing thanks to one of pop music’s most enduring and passionate fan bases.
En Vogue, Salt-N-Pepa, Astley
Completing the “Mixtape Tour” stop Wednesday were En Vogue, Salt-n-Pepa and Rick Astley — except they weren’t openers.
Instead, the four acts took turns performing throughout the night — an inspired format NKOTB first used in 2019, and needs to keep using. The frequent change-ups kept the energy high all night and guaranteed the other acts the packed audiences they deserved.
Heck, En Vogue even had pyro access to their still fiery, prejudice roasting “Free Your Mind.” Lead singer Cindy Herron had a boot on her right leg, prompting her to sit on a stool for “Mind” and “My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It),” while Terry Ellis and Rhona Bennett walked around the stage.
Hip-hop pioneers Salt-N-Pepa haven’t lost any of their swagger, performing their radical, taboo-shredding ’90s hits like “Let’s Talk About Sex” and “Expression,” complemented by three throwback male hip-hop dancers.
Astley made the most of his more limited stage time, and naturally did “Never Gonna Give You Up” — twice, including as the night’s finale with all of the acts on stage, following their fun new ’80s-inspired joint track “Bring Back the Time.”