My So-Called Fangirl Life

Full Service Tour

6/27/09 Cincinnati, Ohio

There was hardly a break between the initial reunion shows and the Full Service tour. Ten days, I believe. I've read that it was really all the same tour, broken into different legs? But the shows were totally different, so I don't know. All I know is those fools (or smartest guys ever) toured for like ten months straight after reuniting. My guess is that they were afraid that people would flock to see them in the beginning, then lose interest, so they fit in as many shows as possible while it lasted. If so, boy, were they wrong. As I write this, it's been 9 years, and they're still kicking ass (excuse the Games reference).

I don't remember why I didn't buy tickets for this show when they went on sale, but this ended up being the first time I had bought aftermarket tickets, on eBay. I believe I paid like $250 for 5th row seats. And, again, my ex demanded he go with me. Boo.

Prior to the concert, a lady I recognized as Joey's wife sat down beside me, two seats separating us. And she had their son, Griffin, with her. He was only like 19 months old and such a cutie, running around with his little earmuffs on. I just smiled at her and watched the little guy. He was awfully antsy, as little boys are. But after a couple of minutes some of the other fans approached her for pictures. After politely turning down a few people, I guess she got fed up with it and left.

Jesse McCartney and JabbaWockeeZ opened the show. I remember prior to JabbaWockeeZ taking the stage, someone in one of their masks came out to introduce them, and he was carrying Griffin. It was Donnie, but I think not many people realized that somehow, because they didn't scream and carry on as they normally do when a New Kid is in the vacinty.

For lack of a better way to describe it, this show was more structured and formal than the last one I saw. It just seemed like they put more planning into it, and it even seemed more mature. Like they weren't just trying to make it mirror their old shows from back in the day as they had during their previous reunion shows. One thing I didn't care for was that they had female dancers. They had been with them at the previous show I'd seen, but I don't remember paying as much attention to them that time. They were more front and center this time, and I honestly could have done without them. They were good, but I just felt that they didn't add anything to the show. I think this was the general feeling from the fans, and many weren't shy about voicing their opinion. The guys must have taken the hint, because they ditched the dancers on the next tour.

This is random, but at one point, someone threw a pair of socks onto the stage. I have no idea why. But I captured a picture of Donnie holding them up and saying something about it. A couple days after the show, I was on the NKOTB fan forums, and someone asked if anyone got a picture of the guys with her socks. I still don't know the significance of these socks, but I sent her the picture. Very weird.

Nothing else sticks out that I remember. I just really enjoyed the show and let loose a little more this time. Joey singing Popscicle was one of the highlights. I do remember how heartbreaking it was to watch videos of the last show of that tour. I bawled like a baby, no lie. The video that broke my heart was of Donnie passing tissues out to the other guys because they were crying. Jon looked like he was full on sobbing. I felt his pain. And I was so damn proud of them I can't even describe. To come back after all those years and be so successful was unheard of. And this time they were grown up and could appreciate what was happening. And they did. They still seem to appreciate everything that has happened, and even after nine years, they make it a point to let us know so.

At this point, we didn't know what the group had planned for the future. A lot of us fans were convinced it was the end of the road for New Kids. Not because we were losing interest. But we just figured they hadn't planned to take the journey any further. As far as I know, they didn't have further plans as a group. At least, none that they spoke of. So we assumed that once again we'd be left heartbroken with only our memories of the past year. Thank God we were wrong.