The Bee Gees and Santana, Tina Turner and Michael Jackson, they are among music’s most remarkable second acts. But New Kids on the Block may have experienced the most surprising second act.
Why? Because it involves almost exclusively Day 1 fans who go back to 1988 or so.
Since the NKOTB reunited in 2008, the enduring Boston-launched boy band has steadily played full-house concerts while releasing the occasional new album. On Sunday night, Mystic Lake Casino Amphitheater in Prior Lake was packed, marking the group’s eighth Twin Cities show in 16 years. And as they’ve done every other year, they put on a smartly packaged show that was colorful, high energy, fast paced and nostalgic yet refreshing.
The Magic Summer Tour featured all the right stuff — a blizzard of colors in lights, confetti, streamers and outfits, lots of movement more so than dynamic dancing, polished vocal harmonies, sterling lead vocals from Joey McIntyre and Jordan Knight, plenty of abs-showcasing shenanigans from Donnie Wahlberg, and a consistent fan friendliness.
NKOTB know how to connect with Blockheads — mostly women between ages 40 and 55 — whether it was having a couple dozen women stand in the stage wings, inviting a handful of women to slow dance with them onstage, or running out into the crowd to perform on five separate small platforms. It’s the same kind of accessibility that NKOTB offer on their annual cruises.
Wahlberg, 54 — whose popularity as a star of CBS’ “Blue Bloods” since 2010 has been a factor in NKOTB continued popularity — served as the principal spokesman in concert. He explained that the quintet called its new album “Still Kids,” their first in 11 years, because “That’s what we all are inside.”
The fivesome, ages 51 to 55, certainly carried on with a kid-like joyfulness and palpable camaraderie, which isn’t always the case with a group that been around for nearly 40 years with the same members. And their fans relived their childhoods, dressing up in neon colors (per NKOTB’s requests), holding handmade signs and wearing T-shirts professing love for individual New Kids. And, of course, the Blockheads danced, sang along and partied like it was 1989.
Although the 1¾-hour performance without a live band showcased material from “Still Kids” including the Bee Gees-evoking “Summer Love,” heyday tunes dominated the set. “My Favorite Girl” and “Cover Girl,” arrived early, accompanied by confetti and streamers. The galvanizing “You Got It (The Right Stuff),” provided an early peak, as it echoed the Jackson 5 and the Time.
