62. June 11th, 2011 Picture.

How does one explain the greatest day of their life?  Like, THE GREATEST DAY EVER, mainly because it contained one of the top 3 concerts I've ever seen in my entire life.  I've been to  A LOT of concerts, like a million, the most for one act being 7 and that was *N Sync, but if Lady A would come back around Boston I would be more than willing to break that record.  Anyway!  Greatest day ever!  Jen and I saw NKOTBSB at Fenway.  FENWAY!  FENWAY PARK!

We hadn't initially gotten tickets when they first went on sale, though we'd put forth the effort before balking at the cost.  There had originally been a big group of us wanting to go, but no one wanted to put 10 $100+ tickets on their credit cards, so we just let the sale date pass, never really giving it another thought.  Full disclosure, Jen and I had already seen NKOTB, during their very first reunion tour in 2009 at the Boston Garden, so we weren't totally heartbroken.

As the concert date approached, Jen and I started itching at the idea of going.  We'd both been life long New Kids on the Block fans, hi they were my first concert at the age of FIVE, and the thought of missing out on seeing them at FENWAY PARK seemed unforgivable.  It also didn't help that they were playing at the Garden the week before, so the status updates and pictures of our friends at the concert only fueled our need to go.  Plus I pretty much listened to 'Lights Out' by NKOTBSB on REPEAT for 3 days straight, which was my real breaking point, both mentally and emotionally.  I emailed Jen on Tuesday afternoon, telling her that I needed to go to the concert or else I'd die, and she quickly concurred.  Within minutes we'd scanned various ticket sites and nabbed 2 right behind home plate for about $50 each.  FIFTY BUCKS EACH FOR THE BEST CONCERT EVER!  I would have gladly paid more, but I was secretly relieved I didn't have to.

The weather the day of the concert was a little lackluster, but that didn't stop 1 million people from lining the streets, waiting to get inside.

Yes this is a tour bus.  Yes we took a picture in front of it.  Yes we're 12.

BUT WHAT IF THEY WERE INSIDE?!

Anyone who knows anything about NKOTB knows that they were also famous for the copious amount of swag they had back in the day.  I had the group buttons, the big buttons, the individual guy buttons, the lip gloss, trading cards, jean jacket, laminated posters, yes I said LAMINATED, t-shirts, etc etc etc.  My friends next door had the sleeping bags.  I was totally jealous.  And yes, if you must know I just looked up NKOTB sleeping bags on ebay and am tempted to buy one.  I'll bring it with me when I sleep over my friends houses.  Maybe Erin can get one too and we can zip them together.

Anywho, that whole tangent about NKOTB stuff was the precursor to my brand new oversized button!

The 5 year old in me needed it. Plus I collect buttons, or rather my mom collects my buttons, so I knew I needed to commemorate this awesome concert with a $10 button.  Totally worth it!

OMG, you guyssssss, Marky Mark came out and introduced the New Kids, and let me just tell you, every single girl in that stadium lost their minds.  Straight up lost their minds.  He was looking yummyyyy.  Wait, what was I talking about?  Oh right, the concert!

All 9 of the guys, 5 from NKOTB and 4 from BSB, had custom Red Sox jerseys on and were announced as part of the 'starting line -up' by the guy who announces Red Sox games - it seriously made us all lose our minds.  Seeing the guys from NKOTB, who grew up in Dorchester, getting announced as part of the Red Sox starting line up was just ridiculous.  As someone who loves Boston and Boston sports, I could totally appreciate what an honor this was for the hometown guys.  You could tell that they were just so blown away and almost starstruck by this opportunity, it made us all giddy like school girls.  

Let's be honest, Jen and I were there for New Kids, I could have done without BSB, but they were there, they were great, but the true stars of the show were the hometown guys.  Though I will admit that Jen and I were the youngest old people at the concert.  NKOTB were at the height of their popularity when I was 5, so we are pretty much the youngest 80's fans they have, meaning that we were the youngest NKOTB fans at Fenway.  BUT on the other end of the spectrum, we were the oldest BSB fans in the joint.  The girls sitting next to me were there only to see the Backstreet Boys, claiming to not really know anything about NKOTB, and they were 22.  Meaning their weren't even ALIVE when I went to the NKOTB concert at the Worcester Centrum.  That was totally weird to me.  I'm guessing this is how people feel when I say I was born in 1983 and they're like OMG you don't even KNOW what you missed.  You're right, I don't.

After being introduced, each guy would run through the dugout, through this fog tunnel, high five the other guys who'd already lined up, and take their place at the end of the line.  Once everyone was announced, they ran AROUND the warning track and up onto the stage.  Seriously, it was so amazing.  You can tell that they went above and beyond with this concert. Though I've never seen anyone else perform at Fenway, I can't imagine that everyone get's this kind of access.  Only guys who grew up here would be able to pull it off - IT WAS AWESOME.  Have I said that already?  I can't remember.  Anyway, it rocked.

NKOTBSB banner [written in official Red Sox font] hanging over the Green Monster.

Our attempt of getting a shot with the stage.  Not the best.

So many people!  Obviously, all screaming at the highest pitch deafening tones that girls are famous for.

Even though we were pretty far away from the stage, the seats were still great.  We could see everything happening on stage, plus they had two giant screens on either side of the stage.  It was a total bonus that our seats faced out into center field - not that we were seated for very long.  Or at all really.  So good!

Jen is clearly excited.  I think I can hear her heart going pitter patter from here.

Then it started to rain,  Like RAIN RAIN.  Hardcore rain that probably bordered on monsoon conditions.  That didn't stop any of us.  The guys danced harder, pretending the cat walk in the middle of the stage was a slip and slide, running around the field to home plate, kicking up water and sliding into home.  They were so grateful that 30,000 people were sticking out the weather that they put on the most incredible show I've ever seen.  I get chills just thinking about it.  Their energy and excitement was papable.  I had the biggest, stupidest grin across my face for 3 hours and I was soaked to the bone.  Like, there was not one dry spot on my jeans type soaked, but I didn't care.  They were singing 'Step By Step' and 'Tonight Tonight' without fear of being electrocuted or falling off stage and breaking their neck, so the LEAST I could do was enjoy this insanely awesome show.  INSANELY AWESOME SHOW.

This is Joey running around the bases, jumping in puddles and thanking the crowd for standing out in the pouring rain.

I mean, I'd gladly stand in the rain to watch this concert a million times over.

PHEW!  I seriously could go on forever about how great this concert was, but I am pretty sure you get my drift.  I've also run out of positive adjectives.  It was perfect, amazing and easily one of the Top 3 concerts I've ever seen in my entire life.  Not 100% sure what the other two concerts would be, this is something I should probably think about before I throw around terms like that, but whatever.  I'm thinking that one of my *N Sync concerts is in there, maybe the one that I saw at OLD Foxboro stadium the day before my high school graduation that was filmed and aired as a Pay-Per-View special, yes I'm sure that's in there somewhere.