Nostalgia acts have a tendency to take you back in a time machine to a happier time and the New Kids On The Block Mixtape Tour was the Delorean that a nearly sold out crowd at the Bridgestone Arena needed.
NKOTB MIXTOUR
-New Kids on the Block
-Tiffany
-Debbie Gibson
-Salt-N-Pepa
-Naughty By Nature
Now, don’t get it twisted. I am not your average over-40 heterosexual male. I’ve been a proud card-carrying Blockhead, the proud name of a devoted New Kids fan, since I first heard Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time) in 1986 and nor was this my first NKOTB show. Not even close. The Mixtape Tour stop in Nashville marked my 7th time seeing the boys from Boston in concert dating all the way back to when I saw them open for Tiffany at the Mud Island Amphitheater over three decades ago.
The Mixtape Tour shares a lot of similarities to that show, but not necessarily for the good. The similarity that is most notable is there is no backing band for this tour, so everyone is basically singing to a track and there are times during the show that it’s truly noticeable that a band could have added more to the show. Past tours of the New Kids have always included a live band with even the boys picking up instruments. The other extremely noticeable similarity to the 1988 Tiffany tour is the still unwavering love the female Blockheads have for Jordan, Joey, Danny, Johnathan and Donnie. The vastly overwhelmingly female crowd was throwing deafening screams from the second the house lights dropped and the boys hit the stage.
The screaming appeared to help Jordan getting through a rough patch in the beginning of the show when it seemed his ear monitor wasn’t quite working right and had difficulty hearing himself. Jordan wasn’t the only victim of a faulty ear piece as the same seemed to happen to Debbie Gibson as she began her first set. Both hung tough and showed they had the right stuff to succeed. See what I did there? I’m not very proud of it.
This tour operates completely different from any other show I have seen from any artist. Have you ever been to a show where the headliner opens the show? Nothing comes to mind for me either. The Five Bad Brothers From Beantown hit the stage promptly at 8:00 to welcome every one to the Mixtape tour and proceed to give the crowd 30 minutes of mainly smaller hits that still sent everyone in a frenzy. The show opened with The Way, a way lesser known song from the recently released 30th anniversary edition of Hangin’ Tough, followed by My Favorite Girl, Dirty Dancing, and Summertime. The first major hit of the night followed next as the boys let all the ladies in attendance know they had the Right Stuff. The first set of their’s wrapped up with some of my personal faves Remix (I Like That), Block Party, and Games.
The simplicity of the stage gave every artist plenty of room to interact with the crowd. A large LED wall stood and was often shown in the shape of an old boom box straight out of the ‘80s while the floor is shaped as a cassette tape where the label on the table changes to show the name of the song.
On the other side of the arena was a smaller second stage designed to look like a compact disc which nearly every artist used at some point. A platform in the middle of the tape would rise and lower for artist change and the first to rise from it was Tiffany. The I Think We’re Alone Now singer was one and done her first time out as she sang what appeared to be the extended, extended, extended version of her biggest hit. The lights go dark and once they arise we find the main reason I was at this show in the middle of the crowd on the floor. Debbie Gibson was my main crush as a teenage boy and my love for her is still strong. The beginning of Out the Blue was rough as she was struggling with her in-ear monitor while making her way to the CD shaped stage. Debbie powered through Shake your Love and Electric Youth and quickly returned the show to the New Kids where they serenaded the women in the crowd with a medley of ballads.
Outside of NKOTB, Salt-N-Pepa was easily everyone’s favorite. The hip hop icons hit the stage with five male dancers and a DJ that was definitely not Spinderella. Between their two times on stage, they kept the high energy going with hits My Mic Sounds Nice, None of Your Business, Whatta Man, Let’s Talk About Sex, Shoop, and Push It. Just to let you know, Papa is a woman in her fifties and looks damn good. I mean damn good. The crowd was ready for the ladies and rapped along to every song. With three decades in the game, Cheryl and Sandra can still deliver the goods.
The show segues back to the Boys as they run through the floor and the aisles with their Beatles-inspired hit Tonight that was followed by their new song Boys in the Band, an ode to boy bands of today and yesterday. After this set finishes with Cover Girl, we get what I thought was the most interesting selection on the bill: Naughty By Nature.
With the history between Pepa and Naughty lead man Treach, I found it odd for them both to be on the same bill. Treach is still jacked as hell and gave Donnie and Danny a run for their money in the abs department. Treach and Vin had the crowd on their feet swaying their arms from side to side as they ran through O.P.P., Feel Me Flow, Jamboree, and Hip Hop Hooray.
It naturally only makes sense that Debbie Gibson follows Naughty By Natures – she rises from under the stage while playing piano and singing her first number one hit Foolish Beat. It was great to actually hear an instrument being played. Debbie shared the stage with Joey McIntyre for her hit Lost in Your Eyes before leaving the stage.
A video of the boys thanking Tiffany for giving them their big break and letting everyone know that if it wasn’t for her there would be no New Kids On The Block followed by Tiffany returning to the stage for the other hits that everyone forgot about. All This Time and Could’ve Been wraps up the voice of Judy Jetson’s time on the stage.
At this point, we are closing in on two hours of synchronized dance moves, harmonies and call backs as NKOTB hit the stage one more time to deliver the big guns. Whatever problems Jordan was having earlier were long gone by the time I’ll Be Loving You (Forever) came along. Step By Step transitioned to Salt-N-Pepa hitting the stage for Push It before the Boys gave everyone what they wanted to hear the most, Hangin’ Tough. The rest of the artists hit the stage to end the show with the New Kids as they sang their collaboration 80’s Baby. After nearly two and a half hours of confetti, streamers, pyro, lasers and pelvic thrusts, it was time for Doc Brown to bring us all back to 2019.
Without a doubt the highlight of a show like this is just people watching and this show delivered on all levels. From crimped hair to side pony tails to days and days of neon colored outfits to the overwhelming smell of Aqua Net, the Mixtape Tour had every sign of 80’s nostalgia one could ask for. I even saw some Jelly shoes and Swatch watches. If you have a need to walk down memory lane, then please step by step to the Mixtape tour when it comes to a city near you.
This post was submitted by our dear close personal friend Steven McCash. Follow Steven on Twitter: @MC_Cash75.
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