If you’re not sure what that acronym means let me spell it out:

NKOTB = New Kids On the Block,  BSB= Backstreet Boys

I still remember the day distinctly. It was cold and my mom had come with me to the Rite Aid in Redmond, Washington. I was 11 or 12 years old and we stood in a long line outside waiting to get in to buy Backstreet Boys concert tickets. Finally they opened the doors and while my dad had been calling ticketmaster (this was before tickets were easily bought online, and clearly a family effort) we proceeded to move in the line in hopes of getting tickets for the concert. Unfortunately, with just seven people ahead of me they sold out. My mom tried to console me by suggesting I try to win them on the radio. Like that was ever going to happen…

Fast forward a decade later and I’m living in New York City with a roommate who works at Twist magazine and shares my love for pop culture and bad TV. So when she surprised me one evening saying she had scored BSB (you should know the acronym now) tickets for $17 on Gilt City, I was more than escatic. I was going to live out my adolescent dream of seeing them live! Never mind who NKOTB were, I had to brush up on my “I Want It That Way” lyrics.

Well we trekked up to Port Authority where we had to board a bus to the IZOD center. In a line full of 20-30 year old women we hilariously made our trip to New Jersey where we surprisingly had awesome seats. Highlights of the concert:

Spotting Nick Carter walking into the stadium before the concert:

Nick Carter, dreamy as ever. Also Katie’s celebrity crush…

Being a foot away from Brian Littrel and Howie Dorough (two of the BSBers) while they sang down the isle:

Howie                                          Brian, looking a little frightened

A Naughty by Nature surprise performance (OPP, yea you know me!):

Definitely felt like we were in the 90’s

The “Don’t Turn The Lights Out” duo between NKOTB and BSB:

Lastly: Katie and I turning into pathetic fan girls screaming, dancing and singing every lyric to all the Backstreet Boys’ songs and then running outside in hopes of seeing them. We did get to snap this photo of Brian Littrel after the concert:

Brian running by the buses

Added bonus: Obsessing about how amazing they were the next day and watching countless BSB interviews and music videos of them. Oh, not to mention finding old school NKOTB videos… if I had been a teenager in the 80’s I would’ve TOTALLY loved them… you’ve got to watch it:

New Kids On The Block - Step by Step

More photos from the concert:

So intense!

BSB, they were so good it may as well have been 2000...

He’s a NKOTB, I think Donnie? Pretty sure he’s almost 40, but can still dance like he’s 15! We were just a couple rows away from him!

Overall, I think it was one of the BEST concerts I had ever been to. It made me miss boy bands and totally took me back to being 12. Oh the 90’s were the best!

PS: All these photos were taken by my fab roomie Katie whose camera is a-mazing.