Entertainment

The greatest boy bands in Manila concert

June 6, 2012 | 12:00am

Donnie Wahlberg held my hand. (Scream.) Well, not really. He passed near my seat. I reached out to him, just like all the girls around me were doing. And too bad for the others, he reached out and got mine. (Double scream.)

I know I am passed the age of screaming over hand-holding with pop idols unless the guy singing happens to be Paul McCartney. (Sigh.) But it was just impossible not to get caught up in the excitement of those present.

I wonder how many people were there at the Mall of Asia Arena — 10, 12 or 15 thousand? They all came because the NKOTBSB was performing and the mood last Sunday evening, June 3, was boy band electric. (More screams.)

That is what the audience is supposed to do at boy band concerts. Swoon and scream. And the NKOTBSB is the ultimate boy band of all. The group combines two of the greatest boy bands of all time, the New Kids On The Block from the ’80s and the Backstreet Boys of the ’90s. Donnie Wahlberg, Jordan Knight, Jonathan Knight, Joey McIntyre and Danny Wood are the NKOTB. The BSB are Howie Dorough, AJ MacLean, Nick Carter and Brian Littrell.

The New Kids On The Block...

The Kids and the Boys have all had their days. Then two years ago, somebody came up with a clever idea. Combine forces, record some songs and go on tour. And the result of the union will now go down in pop music history as phenomenal. As Brian himself mentioned during the concert, they have now done a hundred shows together and Manila was their last stop.

(Scream again). Judging from the large amounts of love and energy they were giving out to the audience nonstop for nearly three hours, they were enjoying every minute of being NKOTBSB. There was proof that they are, indeed, the boy band for the ages.

The Arena, by the way, looks great and the sound is fantastic. SM has now also taken over our concert viewing habits. (Grrrrrr!) Hard, hard, hard for me because I live in Quezon City. But I felt it was a do anything for the NKOTB and the BSB night. After all, I might be watching them for the last time. I have never heard of a middle-aged boy band and the Kids and the Boys are fast nearing that boundary.

But then the majestic strains of Coldplay’s Viva La Vida filled the place, the white curtain dropped to the floor and there they were, nine handsome, slickly muscled men in bling and black leather. (Wow!) Like the arena, they looked fantastic and that “Wow!” stayed in the air all night.

I knew from the start I would get a good show. These guys have lots of hits between them and old songs are the power behind nostalgia events. Who wouldn’t want to hear Everybody or Hangin’ Tough one more time? But NKOTBSB gave much more than that. They got everything right.

Whoever conceptualized the show deserves a lot of praise. Build a stage with a ramp to maximize audience interaction up to the rafters. Keep the special effects down. Boy bands are known not got CGI but for faces, brothers Jonathan and Jordan’s looks can really kill, and bodies in several attractive costume changes. So save for some bits of pyrotechnics and lots of confetti, the whole show were NKOTBSB in song and dance. Then get a great live band and update all arrangements. Everything worked.

It helped a lot that they still do what they were famous for in great form. They sure danced up a storm and with all the well-remembered moves. And with tongue in cheek humor. Think of Howie’s jiggling butt, Danny’s breakdancing, Donnie tearing up his T-shirt to show off his abs and pecs and whatever. I didn’t know if Nick’s guitar was plugged in but he looked like a true-blue singing idol on stage. (Scream.)

Most of all, keep all the hits in. So we watched them roll out one hit after another and another. They made me think of those other acts, who believe that they had become too big to sing their early songs in their shows. Well, they should take a cue from NKOTBSB. You can sustain a long career if you have plenty of oldies. Presented fresh and new, of course, as in this case.

NKOTBSB rode these updates to success. AJ’s soulful baritone sounds even better. Howie’s tenor is still sweet. Jordan’s falsetto can really generate screams. And I never knew Donnie could hip-hop like that. But because they were performing for sentimental Pinoys, the best moment of the evening were the love songs set.

I do not know if you heard all those what with all those girls around. Please Don’t Go Girl, I’ll Be Loving You Forever, Quit Playing Games With My Heart, As Long As You Loved Me. And everything was scream, scream, scream.

I was not screaming anymore by that time. Too tired. Besides I was thinking that the NKOTBSB was so good I was hoping the show had been preserved on video. Then someday we can show the new boy bands that this is the way to do it. It would also be an excellent way to silence those who question the relevance, longevity and talent of boy bands. NKOTBSB has plenty of all those.