It happened again.

A week and a half ago, I saw New Kids on the Block again in concert. I’m not ashamed to say that this will be my fifth time seeing them. This time, The Main Event Tour included Nelly and TLC.

And it didn’t disappoint.

It was at the Air Canada Centre, with a great centre stage. Those kids sure do know how to play to the crowd! Of course, the day of the concert was the same day as a Toronto Blue Jay game, the Pride Parade and I’m sure a myriad of other festivals in downtown, plus it was raining, so getting there was, as expected; very challenging.

And it started early!

Nelly was set to come on stage at 7:00, and was only fashionably late. I was initially excited to see him, I mean I liked Just a Dream, Country Grammar, Ride Wit Me and of course, Hot in Herre. The crowd went crazy when he sang Dilemma, where Nelly sang his parts, and we sang Kelly Rowland’s. However, I will fully admit that there were more than a few other songs when I had no idea what he was singing.

Even though I wasn’t fully engaged, the girls in front of me were going crazy. And he looks good for a 40 year old!

The stadium was full by the time TLC hit the stage. And we were ready for this reunion.

I was curious to see how they would handle the absence of Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, who passed away in 2002 in a car accident in Honduras. And was satisfied that they didn’t do anything gimmicky, but instead just played a track with her rapping.

It didn’t leave me feeling like something was missing, and that’s what I was afraid of.

T-Boz and Chilli rocked it. And we showed them the love. Lots of it.

They gave us everything we wanted to hear, including No Scrubs, UnPretty, Creep, What about your Friends, Ain’t 2 Proud 2 Beg and of course Waterfalls. It was amazing.

I think the two of them found it hard to cover the vast stage, as T-Boz rarely made it over to my side of the stadium, however, they looked great, sounded great and have me counting down to the release of a new album that they say is in the works.

It was about 9:30 when New Kids on the Block hit the stage, and it was everything we paid the price of admission for. They pumped, grinded, flexed, smiled, pointed and danced for the crowd, to the crowd and at times, even in the crowd.

These guys look good.

There’s always a moment when I’m sure all the females in attendance, feel 16 again, whether it was during Dirty Dancing, Remix, Games, Step by Step, or for me this time, it was during I’ll be Loving You (Forever). For some reason, it brought me right back to high school.

The usual hits were belted out, and the guys gave equal time to all 12 corners of that stage. And we got to hear all the beloved and newer hits, including Block Party, My Favourite Girl, You Got It (The Right Stuff), Cover Girl, as well as some solo time for Jordan, Donnie and Joey. It was during his solo, where Joey asked the crowd if he could continue singing Please Don’t Go Girl for another 27 years!

Of course we agreed he should.

But my favourite part of the night was the time when they did a few covers, including Biz Markie’s Just a Friend, and Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch’s Good Vibrations. Donnie did what he does best, by playing the crowd and asked us to help them sing it. So we sang. Then he asked if somebody knew the words and handed the mic to a girl in the front row. The ACC when bananas, after she nailed the rap of the entire first verse. You could see Donnie was impressed too!

Canadian flags were worn and waved around, girls were kissed, abs were shown, wind machines added effect, pyro technics blasted and the confetti fell (lots of it). And don’t forget, the arms definitely waved back and forth for the Hangin’ Tough finale.

This concert was worth the price of admission. It always is.

But to me the true test of a concert is if it drives me to listen to the music after it’s over. Or even the next day? I will be honest; I wanted to listen to TLC.

In fact I still do.

So in a few years, when they announce they’re coming back in concert, will I go? Time will tell, I guess.

It’s always a good time to hang out with 20,000 other 40-year old women, screaming and remembering the good ole’ days and admiring our childhood boy band crushes. I mean they’ve all aged very well, so while they can keep going, I probably will to.