To ring in 2019, we hosted a big family New Year’s slumber party weekend. My cousin Lauren and her daughters came down from Maine, so it was the perfect opportunity to get the family together. I think it was the first time we all celebrated New Years together, at least as far as I can remember. So I was ridiculously excited to host my whole family for an epic 2-day family reunion.
It was an amazing weekend. I loved welcoming in the new year with my family. But there was one little misstep that almost ruined my mojo (not to mention my bank account).
During the course of the evening, we were talking about concerts and I mentioned that I had tickets to see New Kids on the Block when they come to Boston at the end of June. The mere mention of the band almost sent my cousin Lauren into actual shock. Her eyes got wide and she shrieked about how much she loved New Kids. Wait. YOU DO?? I asked. How did I not know that? I realize we had a gap in our communication in the early 2000s, but seriously, how did I not know that she loves New Kids? I love New Kids! I have since I was in high school. When they were hot (the first time) in the late 80s and 90s, I had been desperate to see them in concert, but I had a tough time getting tickets. Finally, I managed to score tickets for one of their last shows before they disbanded. On the way to the concert, my engine blew and I never made it to the show. Talk about heartbreak!
Fast forward to 2008. The boys reunited and were going back on tour! You have no idea what joy that brought me. Their reunion announcement on the Today show is something I will never forget. And I decided at that moment that whether it was one show or 100, whenever they were playing in relatively close proximity to me I was determined to be there. Since they’ve been back together and been out on the road, I have managed to see them seven times in three different states. The only show I missed was their last one in Boston because I was in Los Angeles for work.
So, when the boys announced that they’d be touring this summer I was at my computer, credit card at the ready for the pre-sale (thank you, American Express!). The moment we were allowed to log on, I was on it! I was looking for two tickets. One for me, one for my friend Cheryl. I was so on it that I had the opportunity to snag some amazing floor seats. The fantastic news: they were package tickets, which meant they came with swag! I love swag. Things like a VIP laminate, a gift bag with various items, a commemorative ticket, and most important: two tickets in the fourth row. The less-than-fantastic news: as much as I wanted to push “purchase,” I knew I couldn’t do it.
It wasn’t the money. Yes, they were obviously a bit more expensive than a standard admission ticket, but I could totally justify the cost because…well, because it’s NKOTB! I couldn’t buy the amazing fourth-row swag–included tickets precisely because they were floor seats, and if I know one thing about concert-goers, especially NKOTB concert-goers, it is that anyone with floor seats does not spend much, if any time, in their actual seats. They are on their feet, dancing, clapping, and generally whooping it up. Now, I am all for whooping it up and getting caught up in the moment and spending hours on my feet swooning over my favorite boys from Boston. However, my body is not exactly up for those type of shenanigans any more. I have ALS (the title of this blog is kind of a dead giveaway, I know). What that means for me at the moment is that I cannot spend much time on my feet without falling down. Sure, I could sit the whole time, but what fun would that be? I’d be staring at people’s asses all night, and really? Unless it’s the ass of Donnie, Danny, Joey, Jon, or Jordan? Um, no thank you. I wouldn’t be able to see the action on the stage and that would totally bum me out.
So, with a heavy heart, I passed on the amazing tickets and continued to search. Happily, I did end up with two really good tickets. So, if you’re looking for me on Friday, June 28, I will be in the first row of loge 11 at the Bahston Gahden. Well, at least that was the plan…
When Lauren mentioned squealed that she loved NKOTB, a light bulb went off. My little cousin Kerri–who mind you, has mocked my obsession with the boys from Boston for years (she is 17 years my junior, but one of my most favorite people!)–was listening to our conversation and exclaimed how fun it would have been to go to the show as a group. That was all I needed to hear. I went upstairs to my computer and began to search for tickets. I prayed to the Ticketmaster gods that there would be tickets at least close to where we were sitting. I clicked on our section and it was then that I experienced a true miracle: there were two seats available in loge 11, row 2, and one seat over from us. Oh. My. God. A single row behind and only a seat over! We would have the best time ever! I clicked “purchase” and did a happy dance in my office chair.
Elated, I returned to the New Year’s festivities and announced that we were all going to New Kids in June! We would make it a cousins’ weekend and ohmygod we were going to own that concert! We hugged and shouted with joy and we may have started singing “The Right Stuff.”
The next morning, I awoke deliriously happy from the previous night’s luck. I grabbed my phone and clicked on my Ticketmaster app and looked lovingly at the details of my purchase. New Kids on the Block. There were two entries. That’s weird, I thought. I wondered why there were two separate entries. Maybe because I bought the tickets weeks apart? It was then that I noticed the small detail that had eluded me the night before. The tickets I purchased for my cousins? The wonderful second row tickets? Yeah, they were for Saturday night’s concert, not Friday’s…the night my original tickets were for.
When the hell did they add a second show? Was there always a second show? Oh balls! What did I do?! OK, back to the computer, this time in absolute panic, praying harder to the Ticketmaster gods than I had the night before. Please let this work. Please let this work. I clicked on Friday night and searched feverishly for anything in loge 11. Nothing. Not a ticket to be had, at least not remotely close to us. I backed out of that search and looked for anything that might be available for Saturday. I already had tickets for my cousins, so maybe I could find two for me and Cheryl. Searching…searching. Boom! Loge 11, nothing in row 2…but miraculously (again) there were two tickets in row 1, just one seat off from my cousins. Same scenario as we (thought) we had last night, but this time we’d all be there on the same night! And being able to secure first row again was a double blessing for me because there’s generally a little more leg room and with my leg braces and cane it’s a bit more comfortable and I don’t have to worry about tripping people up. Thank you, Ticketmaster gods!
I went downstairs to join everyone for breakfast and was able to laugh as I told the story of my misadventure from the night before. Their looks of horror turned back to joy as I announced that I was in fact able to save our cousins’ weekend with the boys from Boston. To top it off, I’m thinking I should rent a limo to get us into the city and we should go to dinner before the show. Where? Wahlburgers, of course! Where, with any luck, we’ll run into Chef Paul, or perhaps Donnie pregaming before the show! Swoon.
So, I’m about $1600 deep in NKOTB tickets, two of which I can’t use (unless I go two nights in a row…hmmm), and I won’t get any swag for my trouble. But I’m totally cool with it for two reasons: first, I get to see my favorite guys in concert again, and second, I get to make more amazing memories with my friend and with my cousins, and for that I am truly blessed and grateful.
See you in June, boys!
Rise Against ALS! 