October 31st, 1990 still stands out in my mind. That night was the first concert that my brother and I convinced our dad to take us to see. New Kids on the Block played the first of two sold out shows. I still remember highlights from it – a giant screen with cartoon versions of the boys kicking off the show, Donnie Whalberg flying above the crowd in a harness, and Jon Knight’s terrible choice of pants.

Fast forward 18 years and 19 days to November 19th, 2008. The Saddledome may not have been sold out, but the screams sounded just as loud as I remember. Yes the New Kids were back, and they were back big time. Sure, they are much older, but so was the fanbase. Everyone still rocked it like it was 1989.

The band reunited with a new album “The Block” which is actually, really, really good. The show kicked off with the song “Single” and went on with 2 hours of classic hits and current tracks.

Sure, some of it was incredibly cheesy, like Jordan Knight ripping open his shirt, with a fan to blow it open and show off his chest. But judging by the screams, it worked. The guys sounded great and had a ton of enthusiasm - it came back to them in spades from the crowd.

By the time the show ended with Step by Step and Hanging Tough, the band had shown that they still had a ton of talent. Jordan Knight and Joey Macntyre still have fantastic voices, and Donnie Whalberg’s charisma jumps off stage in ways that haven’t been captured in his film efforts. Danny Wood and Jon Knight, well, they have always existed more the background to the other three, but seemed to be having a great time.

Some may have called it a nostalgia kick, but NKOTB outperformed a lot of their pop counterparts in a show that sent everyone home satisfied.