Well first off, ever since August when I found out about the meet and greets (M&G) with New Kids on the Block, I have been in a whirl of frenzy! From my previous blog about my first experience meeting the boys, it is obvious that it would be very hard to top that day. This day, November 26th came pretty close.
The day started early. Clouds covered the sky, the air was chilly, and soon after 8am the rain started pouring down. Regardless of the weather, nothing was going to slow us down. Around 11:30 my co-worker Lisa and her 6yr old daughter Jazlin arrived. Jazlin had no idea about the day that lay ahead of her - Donnie is her favourite and she thought we were getting ready to go watch an NKOTB movie with other fans. Little did she know that this was going to be her first concert and much much more!
We were soon on the road to the Nokia Theatre. Again, I purposely wanted to arrive early in hopes to get a glimpse of our boys arriving. We were lucky that the rain trickled in spurts. I'm not sure of the time really but we all got glimpses of Danny, Jordan, and Joey arriving. We got a few waves, pictures and a small video clip of Joey. Shortly after, and as usual, Donnie arrived with open arms. He casually made his way over to the fans to give out hugs, kisses, and autographs. I had my camera at hand and was recording Shauntelle's first contact with Donnie Wahlberg. Her expression was priceless. Tears. Tears. Tears. Donnie heard her call his name, he turned around, saw those tears and immediately smiled and put his arms around her; comforting her. Then we had him sign her shirt; then mine. It was soon over - for now.
Eventually we made our way through to the VIP room. This meet and greet for me personally wasn't nearly as great as the first time but for me to watch Shauntelle like how my mom watched me, was amazing. As soon as Donnie saw Shauntelle in tears of joy again, he was at her side and wrapping his arms around her, asking her if she was feeling any better. After she gained her composure, she made her way over to me and Danny (her "favourite" new kid) and was showing Danny her shirt we had made and the overalls of mine she was sportin'. Danny checked it all out and smiled and soon we were in our position for the group pic. Before the picture was taken though, I heard Donnie say to Jazlin "where do you think you're going" and lifted her up in his arms for the photo shot. BEAUTIFUL! I hope she smiled!!!
As we were walking out, Shauntelle was giving her last hugs to Donnie... and I knew there was something I had planned to ask him but totally forgot and just as he was letting her go, he glanced up at me and smiled as I mouthed the words to him "thank you." He winked and smiled at me and we left the room.
We got word that Donnie was pissed because he wanted to sign autographs and his body guard was not letting him. To our surprise, Donnie came back into the VIP room to do just that! And although we were to NOT have cameras in hand, I was like"f*ck it!" and took mine out and was recording. I didn't get much because of the crowd but I did get Donnie to sign my VIP pass, Lisa's VIP pass and my NKOTB overalls. Mission complete! Or no wait! I had almost forgot AGAIN and just right before Donnie slipped away behind the door, I frantically reminded Shauntelle to ask him about a lyric to one of the new songs that Michelle and I were debating over. You can scarcely hear the conversation between Donnie and Shuantelle when she asked the question and as if Shauntelle's voice was like music to his ears, he leaned back over to her to listen and answer her question above everyone else's screams and hollers. The question was "whats the beginning lyrics to "Grown Man" and his answer was "yo check out Addidas band." NOW my mission was complete. Although I wasn't completely correct on the lyrics, I was by far closer than what Michelle thought it was. I thought it was "yo check out Addidas fan" and she swore it was "yo check out our latest thang."
Anyway, if that wasn't enough, after we watched Lady Ga Ga, Natasha Beddingfield came on. We were sitting in the first 3 rows and Shauntelle naturally made her way through to the front. Natasha took quite a notice to her and grabbed her hand and smiled. After her performance, me and Shauntelle went back into the VIP room to use the restroom. As we were walking by a table occupied by a couple guys and girls, we both kinda stopped, and looked back at the table, then we looked at eachother and we said "omg is that Nick Lachey?!" It sure was! So we casually introduced ourselves, then went on our way back to our seats. I then grabbed Lisa and Jazlin back to the VIP room and asked Nick if it was ok that we take a picture with him. He had no problem and smiled for the camera. He was very sweet.
The concert was amazing of course and Shauntelle danced to the heavens! All in all... my NKOTB experience was the BEST I could ever wish for. I never thought I would see the day that I'd actually meet them not once, but twice! All the guys are extremely sweet and they DO care for their fans; their supporters. Donnie has a love for us and he shows it. He goes out of his way and I appreciate all of what the guys have provided and done for us. This experience could not get any better. Or could it? Do I hear a summer tour coming? Traveling? Do I dare?! Ha ha... time will tell...