We were totally Hanging Tough

So now that the apology is out of the way I can tell you a little bit about The Phi's first concert experience. First thing, if you ever get tickets for the Santa Barbara Bowl and you are in section AA, DO NOT think you are all bad with good seats. You are a loser with seats at the top. We were losers. My Mom and sister were in like L and had great seats. Right before the show starts and if the place is not sold out (and it was so not sold out) they let you move down. Since PR Dad was getting a tissue from the bathroom when they told us we could move. I resisted the urge to ditch The Phi and RUN to the front of the stage. Since we had The Phi with us (and practically the entire Section AA to ourselves) we stayed put.

First up was the Jobbowakeez dance group. You know those guys with the masks from America's Best Dance Crew. They were great. Great music mix and totally fun to watch. They even did the "single ladies" Beyonce dance.

Then the magic started. After a very funny into talking about how after 15 years they were back! The boys emerged out of smoke and holy crap I was 13 years old again. I will admit it. I screamed along with all the other 30+ year old women in the audience. They performed mostly old songs and a few new ones. I was surprised to find out that I knew every lyric to every single song they played. Even when Jordan and Joey performed one of their solo songs. EVERY SINGLE WORD!

Now that the boys are all grown men the playful banter hit new x-rated levels. At one point Donnie (of course Donnie) sniffed some panties that were thrown on stage and then basically invited the audience over for an orgy. There was talk about "balls" of all kinds and even some curse words were thrown around. There was some covering of The Phi's eyes and ears.

During one song they 5 ran into the audience. And yes they stood on the sound equipment right near Section L, right next to my Mom. Here is a shot from Mom's cell phone.

Oh and about cameras and the SB Bowl. I am one of those weird rule following people. So I checked their site and it said NO CAMERAS so I didn't even bring the Nikon, but everyone had a freakin' camera. Everyone! We even saw the ushers taking pictures of some concert goers. So yea I was a bit pissed about that. I probably could have brought the Nikon and imagine the pictures I could have got.

The Phi had a good time. She insisted she wear a dress and since it is an outside venue she got cold. She had on her sweater and her Dad's sweater around her legs. We got our groove on during some dance break and they played Lady Gaga "Just Dance". Joey McIntyre even did the "single ladies" dance. And of course we waved our hands back and forth during the finale of Hanging Tough.

The concert was a lot of fun. The music took me back to a much simpler time in my life. As sad as this sounds The New Kids on the Block were a big part of my pre-teen / early teen years. Getting to experience that excitement again and to share it with The Phi, Joey, Mom and Elaine was awesome. It was like getting into a time machine and visiting 1990. When my days were spent writing notes to Jessica about how we are going to meet and marry Donnie and Joey.

And I have to admit it, those boys still got it. Jordan even did the whole slow song, wind machine open shirt thing and damn boy. You have aged well. And I was not the only one to think that they boys have become sexy grown men. As we were hiking back to the car after the show (oh and the parking at the bowl sucks!) we walked past 2 girls and we heard one exclaim loud and clear.....

"If I see Donnie Wahlberg I am going to rape the shit out of him"

PR Dad, Elaine and I just started cracking up!