CityLife

New Kids On The Block

WE all love a good comeback - Take That have made sure of that.

But how would the original boyband, the All-American fivesome New Kids on The Block, fare some 15 years since throwing in the sweat-sodden towel?

Would they have the Right Stuff to bring back the good times for all those girly devotees from the 1990s?

Well, passion certainly wasn't lacking from either side at the M.E.N. Arena.

Never have I seen such a starkly unified demographic for a gig - it was eerily like walking into a girls school reunion, and everywhere I looked I thought I recognised someone from my own class of 1990. 

The audience was packed with swishly-dressed professional-looking women almost exclusively aged between 25-35, who of course turned into crazed, lust-filled loons when the New Kids bounded out.

The relentless two-hour show starts with dramatic video screens filtering out the words 15 years ago they walked away... but now they're back.

Swagger

And when they swagger onto the stage for slick show opener Single it's like they've never been away.

Perhaps, rather sensibly, they like to be known as The Block these days.

But in fairness, those New Kids haven't changed all that much some 15 years on.

Donnie is still the swaggering, crotch-grabbing hip-hop bad boy, Jordan still the chiselled hunk with the mean falsetto, Joey the bounding "kid" of the gang, Danny still doing a mean breakdance and Jon is still... erm, the quiet and thoughtful one.

In making the comeback, the lads have been quite clear that this isn't just about nostalgia - it's about their new sound too.

But it's quite clearly the memories that bring out the ladies to roll back the years.

Dirty Dancing

That's not to say the "new stuff" from album The Block isn't good, in fact some of it is pretty damn cool. Dirty Dancing works really well when the band emerge in a round stage at the centre of the arena, grooving away with a babeilicious dancer on a piano.

Grown Man, with vocals on a video screen from Pussycat Doll Nicole Sherzinger, is funky and slick.

But it's the old favourites that have the crowds squealing with delight and bouncing around in ecstasy.

My Favorite Girl

And while the New Kids hits may not have made it to pop classic status over the years, the likes of My Favorite Girl, Please Don't Go Girl, You Got It (The Right Stuff) are delivered with gusto to an audience who sang back every word.

Highlights include an arm waving Tonight, a rip-roaring No More Games, and Donnie doing a tongue-in-cheek solo rocking version of Cover Girl.

And who could fail to enjoy an encore of Step By Step and Hangin' Tough - with the lads marching out in their salute to the home crowd in Manchester United shirts.

The band insisted ahead of this comeback that they weren't in it for the money - which is probably just as well seeing as they far from sold out this big comeback night at the M.E.N. Arena, the first night of their European tour.

But those who did make the effort to come to this joyous reunion most certainly got their money's worth from their teen idols.

Do you agree with Dianne? Have your say.
 

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