Yesterday was a feel good Sunday (June 03, 2012). Not only did me and my housemate enjoyed 2 rounds of complimentary drinks from Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf at their Bonifacio Global City Branch as it was a one day open house affair, where from the hours 10:00 am- 11:30 am, they generously gave treats to their customers to give free drinks from the Caramel Series: Caramel Macchiatto, Caramel Teal Latte and Caramel Iced Blended drink. Indeed, best things in life are free! :-D Yesterday was also the day where generation from the 80’s and the 90’s converged at one arena to witness a once in a lifetime concert brought about by two boybands that defined their era - New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys. Ok, here’s a brief background of these two bands. New Kids on the block (NKOTB) was formed on 1984. They experienced success on American shores from the late 80’s to the early 90’s. Members are siblings Jordan and Jonathan Knight. Jordan Knight is known to hit the high notes. Joey McIntyre, Danny Wood and Donnie Wahlberg a.k.a Mark Wahlberg’s brother and goodness if you’re not familiar with Mark Wahlberg, watch Italian Job, or better yet, see Donnie on the TV series Blue Bloods :-D
Backstreet boys(BSB) was formed 1993 and composed of members A.J Mclean, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, Kevin Richardson (who decided to leave the band year 2006 to pursue other interests) and the most famous member among the group members, Nick Carter.
I arrived at the newest concert venue in the metro, Mall of Asia Arena around 6pm and for people that have scored the blue ticket, main entrance was Coral way (blue entrance) and ascended to the 5th floor where my companions had already reserved a seat (Thanks Lala, Chiqui and Rob).
Apparently, one of our companions, Kat and her boyfriend were seated in another section as our area was already filled to the rafters. We also had an ‘extra’ companion of which me and a colleague had dared Lala to bring it with her and indeed, she brought it and had shown it with full glory everytime they perform - a vintage NKOTB poster :-D
The concert started 8 pm and 2 local front acts performed and around past 9 pm, with all the theatrical introduction came out 9 gentlemen singing their latest single entitled ‘Single’ (with a collaboration with Ne-yo). The energy and the vibe of the arena was at its natural high as screams and chants were at its full throttle.
I don’t have the best and personal close up view of the boys from where I was seated (well, that’s a given) but it does help that there were massive screens set up on both sides.
Jordan Knight is well, still handsome as ever and Joey McIntyre looked thin. Donnie Wahlberg was indeed a standout as well — handsome and rockin’ those abs, of which, he was not ashamed to flaunt it (Because he truly have the ABS to show it :-D) which made the ladies swoon ;-D. ‘Twas great to see the BSB gents most especially Nick Carter of which, he still is boyishly handsome.
First to perform was NKOTB. I was not familiar with some of their songs but the stand outs of which I was familiar with were ‘You got it (the right stuff)’, ‘Step by Step’, ‘Please don’t go girl’, ‘I’ll be loving you forever’ of which, I didn’t mind singing it along with the group and danced to some of their tunes. Memories conjured of which I remembered tuning in to MTV and whenever I would see or hear an NKOTB ballad or pop song, I would be glued to the tube for a few minutes and hence, I came to know of some of their songs :-D I’m still at awe with Jordan: he can still hit the high notes and when they sang the ballads, their harmonious voices were just effortless and their serenades would just melt your heart out :-D It was also great to see these guys that went the extra mile to reach out to the audience as they descended from the stage and embraced and sang to them. Ladies kissed and hugged them..tsk tsk tsk! Boo! :-D
Donnie’s a sweetheart. Not only was he a hit among the ladies, he kept saying ‘Mahal kita’ or ‘Mahal na mahal kita’ to the audience of which the audience roared with ecstatic joy.
When it was time for BSB to showcase their talents, people went wild and the whole arena became a massive videoke session and at the same time, people were up on their feet. I couldn’t care less as I danced and sung to their tunes. They sang a medley of their hit songs — ‘Get down’, ‘Quit playing games with my heart’, ‘I want it that way’, ‘Larger than life’, ‘Show me the meaning of being lonely’, ‘Shape of my heart’,’Incomplete’,’As long as you love me’, ‘Everybody’. During the number ‘I’ll never break your heart’, they had to choose from the crowd 4 lucky ladies and serenaded them on stage. I believe Nick had the prettiest among the lot. She looked familiar..my guess was, she is a commercial model/VJ..not sure though..and Nick almost kissed her on the lips :-D
In the midst of the BSB’s performance, they couldn’t help but poke fun at the song ‘Call me maybe’ by Carly Rae Jepsen, of which, Nick made some flamboyant gestures :-D
The boys were humbled and couldn’t believe their eyes of the turn out of people and genuinely felt the love and warmth from their fans as every song they sang, they gave it their all.
The tour kicked off Summer 2011 on North America shores and as the boys were about to extend their Thank you’s, I think I remember one of the guys mentioned that Manila was the last leg of the tour and all the more the reason for the guys stating that this was their special performance. Bittersweet!
The evening in totality, was all worth it. NKOTB and BSB on one stage is a once in a lifetime gig. Two of the best boy bands in one stage and bringing up memories of time’s past when songs from these bands became at one point, the soundtrack of our lives (this is addressed to the individuals belonging to the 80’s and 90’s pop generation) - listening the song from a friend’s party to dealing with a heart break. The show ended close to midnight and this indeed is one for the books!
With these, Thank you NKOTBSB!
Oh and before I end this post, Here’s a side view pic of James Younghusband. Sorry for the blurry shot Kat, I was looking at another local artist of which some people were taking pics with..was too late to notice when you called my attention. When I saw him,people were already scurrying to his direction…hahahahah! Here’s for your viewing pleasure Kat :-D
Apparently, one of our companions, Kat and her boyfriend were seated in another section as our area was already filled to the rafters. We also had an ‘extra’ companion of which me and a colleague had dared Lala to bring it with her and indeed, she brought it and had shown it with full glory everytime they perform - a vintage NKOTB poster :-D
The concert started 8 pm and 2 local front acts performed and around past 9 pm, with all the theatrical introduction came out 9 gentlemen singing their latest single entitled ‘Single’ (with a collaboration with Ne-yo). The energy and the vibe of the arena was at its natural high as screams and chants were at its full throttle.I don’t have the best and personal close up view of the boys from where I was seated (well, that’s a given) but it does help that there were massive screens set up on both sides.Jordan Knight is well, still handsome as ever and Joey McIntyre looked thin. Donnie Wahlberg was indeed a standout as well — handsome and rockin’ those abs, of which, he was not ashamed to flaunt it (Because he truly have the ABS to show it :-D) which made the ladies swoon ;-D. ‘Twas great to see the BSB gents most especially Nick Carter of which, he still is boyishly handsome.First to perform was NKOTB. I was not familiar with some of their songs but the stand outs of which I was familiar with were ‘You got it (the right stuff)’, ‘Step by Step’, ‘Please don’t go girl’, ‘I’ll be loving you forever’ of which, I didn’t mind singing it along with the group and danced to some of their tunes. Memories conjured of which I remembered tuning in to MTV and whenever I would see or hear an NKOTB ballad or pop song, I would be glued to the tube for a few minutes and hence, I came to know of some of their songs :-D I’m still at awe with Jordan: he can still hit the high notes and when they sang the ballads, their harmonious voices were just effortless and their serenades would just melt your heart out :-D It was also great to see these guys that went the extra mile to reach out to the audience as they descended from the stage and embraced and sang to them. Ladies kissed and hugged them..tsk tsk tsk! Boo! :-D
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