New Kids are back On the Block

It was Fourth of July weekend. The year was 1990. Tapered jeans, florescent-colored socks and scrunchies were all at the height of their popularity.

That fateful weekend, I was attending my first ever concert and it was a dandy. How this came to be, I still can't quite figure out, but my dad (who stopped listening to new music after Led Zeppelin peaked) had agreed to shuttle four (4!) 12-year-old girls to a New Kids on the Block concert on Harriet Island. Was he angling for a father of the year award or what?

So while everyone was preparing a patriotic barbeque to celebrate the birth of our nation, we were making the three hour trek from the Twin Ports to the Twin Cities.

My friends and I were giddy beyond belief. We listened to "Hanging Tough," "Step by Step," and "Cover Girl" all the way down. How my dad didn't stop in Hinkley to shoot himself in the head, I'm not sure. I like to think that he spent the entire time trying to figure out how to keep four hormonal pre-teens in check that night.

Harriet Island was already buzz by the time we got there several hours before the concert was to begin. When it kicked off later that night, we were in a state of delierium.

I remember my dad lifting me up so I could see Tommy Page's ruby red shoes as he sang his (one and only) hit single "I'll Be Your Everything." There was another opening act that escapes my memory and then, at last, the fab five took the stage.

To be within a football field of Donnie Wahlberg was heaven. I'm sure my friends felt the same way about Jordan, Jon and Joe (nobody really liked Danny Wood back then).

The night flew by - a whirl of pop songs, group choreography and screams. By the time all was said and done, we were blissfully happy, hoarse and exhausted beyond belief.

It was the only New Kids on the Block concert I ever attended but it all came flooding back this morning as I watched them take the stage at the Today Show to signal their comeback after a 16-year hiatus.

To be honest, I've moved on to bigger and better boy bands (helped by more disposable income than I had as a 12-year-old) but it was still fun to hear the old songs again. Amazingly, the lyrics came flooding back out of my mouth as soon as the music started up. I was in sixth grade all over again and loving every minute of it.

TELL US: What was your first concert? What musical act from your youth still has your heart?