I can tweet Joe McIntyre til my fingers go numb, but I get face-to-face with the man and all I can get out is a meek "I'm RocksicleLover". Ugh. So to get some closure on Tuesday night in Detroit when I said next to nothing on the bus, I want to say everything now.
Joe -
I have loved every hug, every touch, every smile, every word and every moment that you have ever shared with me. I'm incredibly thankful to have this second chance at meeting you and actually interacting with you. This past year, I have been blessed to have so many opportunities to see you and it has made me so happy! One smile or one tweet from you changes my outlook on an entire week! Just the fact that you've taken even a second's notice of this dull girl from Michigan fills my heart with delight! And its not just me! I see you share your love with so many people and see the joy you put on their faces as well. Thank you for all you do.
And I can't thank you enough for following me! It is such a simple thing for you to do, and yet it has meant the world to me. I never in a million years would have thought that Joe McIntyre would CHOOSE to get updates on my mundane life! Wow! I'm truly shocked. I hope to keep you entertained and following for as long as possible. I would hate to ever lose my favorite follower.
I love you. You are one of my favorite people in this world.
- Heather (aka @RocksicleLover)
PS - I had such a cool book for Griffin & Rhys and I FORGOT to give it to you while I was on the bus! It was a cool book about Sparty (the Michigan State University mascot) traveling around Michigan seeing all that this state has to offer. I'm so bummed I didn't give it to you! Hopefully I can give it to you next time I see you. :)
PPS - One day, I have to hear you say the words "Let's get this, Heather." Ok?
PPPS - Are the video peeps ever going to get the cast and crew photo? And is there any way for us to get a DVD copy of the video? It was such an amazing day. We want as many mementos as possible. Hope you enjoy your t-shirt from us! It was @simplyshannon's idea!
Friday, January 22, 2010
Friday, January 1, 2010
Here We Go Again... THE VIDEO!
On Saturday, October 17, 2009, at around 7:30pm, I got on Twitter to check what was going on (something I do far too often). Shortly after I logged in, Joey McIntyre started tweeting about a contest to be in his new video! He had eluded to the contest earlier in the week and had said it would be a good contest for those living near LA. But I didn't care where I lived! I wanted in this video! I watched Twitter intently to find out how we could enter to win. Joe said he would be picking the first 30 people who emailed him to be in his video! He drew out the announcement of the email address. So in that time, I drafted up an email telling him I'd LOVE to win! I also managed to work up quiet a sweat during the wait! I was so nervous! My daughter also tried getting my attention during that time, but I needed to focus! I asked my husband to take care of her since I was "busy". He wasn't too happy about that, but then again, I think he's getting used to this stuff. lol! Everything was all set in my email. All I needed now was the address. Finally, Joe announced to email the Let's Get This Foundation address! I knew it was in my contacts so I hurried up and typed "le" into the "TO" of my email and it popped up. I hit "Send" and began shaking terribly! I went back to Twitter and told everyone my email was sent. I seemed to be one of the first people to report that, so I was hopeful! We HOPED Joe would announce all of the winners right away but were unsure. He did announce that the video was going to be filmed in Burbank, California on Wednesday (in 4 days). I remember responding that that was NO PROBLEM for me! I'd go anywhere, anytime!!! Finally Joe asked if we wanted to hear the first 10 people! OF COURSE! He started posting the full names of the people who had won. I was so nervous, jealous, excited and a little concerned my husband would kill me for sitting at my computer for so long. I refreshed over and over and saw "#9 Elizabeth White". He had said he would only announce 10, so there was only one more. I refreshed and saw "#10 Heather Slawinski". WHAT??? I stood up suddenly and said "OH MY GOD! ITS ME!" My outburst scared my daughter and husband so I had to calm down a little bit. I couldn't believe it! I had to go back and check the screen several times. Did he just say I won? OMG! Really? What? OMG! Seriously? OMG OMG OMG! I was dying! Then, I started to really think about it... I have to fly to California in 4 days? Can I afford that? I realized I had to take time off of work, book a flight, book a hotel and make sure my daughter was going to be taken care of while I was gone. My husband was going to be starting a new job in a town 45 minutes away from our home so he was VERY concerned about me not being around to help drop off and pick up our kid from day care.
I was still so excited. I finally posted something on Twitter about how stunned I was and I called my NKOTBFF Renee. We freaked out together! She knew how amazing this was for me! So glad I could share that with her! She also told me that someone else she followed won and that I should hook up with the other girl.
I went back to Twitter and Joe told us that his producer would be contacting us shortly with details about the video. I decided to wait until I got the email to book anything. I finally got the email from John Davis of Base Productions which asked for our phone number and said someone would be calling us with more details about the shoot on Monday. It also said we should plan on being at the video shoot from 8-6:30pm! A full day with Joe Mac!?!?! WOW! They also told us we could bring cameras for when we weren't on set.
I booked a flight for Tuesday that wasn't cheap, but wasn't too outrageous either. I also talked to Renee's friend @swear_face (aka Lia) and we decided to room together at a hotel in Burbank. Now all we needed was details about what clothes to bring and how we should look.
Monday morning on my way to work, I was blasting "Popsicle" in the car. I ended up screaming three times at the top of my lungs and just about hyperventilated in the car! I was so excited! Later in the day, I got a call from a very nice girl named Teryn who gave me all the details about how to dress and look and what to expect. She told me to plan on being there from 8am-8pm. 12 HOURS!?!?! OMG! 12 HOURS with Joe Mac was gonna be heaven!!! She told me the video would be an underground fight club. She said I should dress "more tough than sexy". She suggested tank tops, combat boots, dog tags, skinny jeans, tight tees, leather. Simple hair and makeup. I asked if I should wear all black, she said no. She also said NO WHITE. Ok... so I have NONE of this stuff! Not only did I have to pay for the trip, but I realized I was going to have to go shopping for a whole new wardrobe! I went shopping on Monday. I was with my daughter so I couldn't try anything on, but I kept calling Renee and asking her opinion on stuff. That was the hardest shopping trip ever! I thought about telling the salesgirls what I was shopping for so they could help, but I was too embarrassed! I was a 34 year old mom shopping at Forever 21 for clothes for a music video? Seriously? I bought a ton of stuff and kept the receipts. My fave purchase was a pair of shoes that were basically high top sneakers similar to All-Stars.
Tuesday I drove to Detroit and got on my flight freaking out. Was I really doing this? I was flying to Burbank, California to be in Joey McIntyre's music video? Seriously? It seemed like a dream! And it had all happened so fast so there was no time for anything to sink in! I was wearing a NKOTB shirt at the airport and the security lady asked me about it. She asked if I went to the concert. I told her I had attended several concerts over the summer and I was now on my way to be in a video with one of them, and I pointed to Joe. She told me that was really cool and asked me how the concerts were. I told her they were great (didn't she realize I would say that since I was flying to California to be in one of their videos???? lol!) On the flight, I realized I couldn't listen to any Joe songs on my iPod! It made me WAY too nervous!
I got to Burbank finally with my huge carry on of luggage. I got my rental car and checked into the hotel which was a little shady but it was so close to the studio! I decided to get all of my last minute stuff at a nearby Target and I talked to Renee on the phone the entire time I was there! So excited! I knew I wanted to get Joe a gift and she suggested I get hair products for his ROCKSICLE (my name on Twitter is RocksicleLover). I found some stuff called "Big Sexy Hair" and Renee told me it was perfect. I bought some MORE clothes just in case and headed back to the hotel. That night, @MSUAmy1 picked me up (she lives in LA) and we went out to dinner. I was in such a daze from being so excited that I know I was kinda weird there, but I'm sure she understands. She also drove me around LA a bit so I could see some sights, but it was dark so I definitely didn't get the whole gist of everything.
I headed back to the hotel and found out a bunch of video girls were in the lobby. We all introduced ourselves and I finally met my roomie! I was so tired out that I made a quick exit and went back to the room to go to bed. We were so excited but I HAD to sleep. I had to look good for Joe! I was gonna spend ALL DAY with him tomorrow!
I woke up at 4am on Wednesday morning. I went to the bathroom and when I came back, Lia surprised me by starting to talk to me. Apparently she couldn't sleep either! LOL! We decided to start getting ready so we could meet our video mates in the lobby at 7am. I laid out all of my clothes and still didn't know what to wear. I decided on a hoodie and black jeans with high tops. I packed the rest of my things in a bag. We were supposed to have a total of 3 outfits and I had plenty to choose from. Lia selected her clothes as well and packed extras. Then we headed downstairs.
We rode to the studio with @cdnfan75 (Michele) and @marliimarl (Marlene) and we
were all so excited! The girls were impressed to see the mountains in the background of Burbank! Everyone had arrived so late they hadn't even seen them the night before! We arrived at the studio, pulling in right behind @wizbiff (Elizabeth), @guingirly (Jenn), @nkotbwxgrl (Tania)............. We took some pics near the cars then headed to the building. When we finally found the entrance at the side of the building, the guys were still setting up the check-in tables. They told us we would be able to come in at 8am. We stood around and tweeted/chatted. Soon, 4 of the 5 members of Varsity Fan Club arrived too. They let us in after signing release forms and getting our pics taken with the forms and #s (I was 007! lol!). We got in and were told to head to the wardrobe room. Lia, Marlene and I were the first. We had to go in and pull out all of the clothes we brought and lay them out. The wardrobe girl (who was only 20 years old!) would review our clothes and suggest what we should try. Then we'd try on the clothes and see if they liked the look. I pulled out my clothes and she pointed at the plaid shirt and asked me to try wearing that. It worked. She didn't want me to wear my leggings that I brought because they didn't want anything too tight. Lia was told to change her shirt too. Marlene had super sexy shirt on. they told her she needed to change but had trouble with her clothes because they were 'too chic'! The girl even said "those are cool, did you get them at Urban Outfitters?" Little did she know Marlene was from the UK! Marlene ended up in all black and was also given Lia's vest to wear. There was a LOT of sharing in the wardrobe department!
We went out to the main waiting area and were offered kraft services which included Starbucks coffee. YUM! There were also bagels, cereal bars, trail mix, crackers, water, pop.... lots of snacks. I was so nervous I couldn't sit down or eat. I just stood around trying to scope out Joe! We didn't know if he was there or not. Drew Ryan Scott of Varsity Fan club was there though. I asked him if he was upset that he was there and Joe was not. He laughed and said "Yeah! Yeah I am!" I introduced myself to him and the rest of the guys. Bobby was missing (he came later). We continued to stand around a while. More extras arrived including winners, actresses and actors. The actors were great looking guys! And you could tell they were dressed like boxers/fighters. NICE arms too! :) There were a few extra girls too who were actresses. We also met the lead actress, named October. She asked us where we were from and was very excited about how we had all gotten there. She said she had
managed a few bands and traveled with them and though our passion was so cool. She was very nice, especially considering she looked so tough! As people continued to arrive, they were taken back to wardrobe. While we waited we chatted and took pictures. Lia and I got a picture with Varsity Fan Club. While we were sitting around, Marlene said she could hear Joe's song. I didn't know how she knew, but then she said that the release forms we signed had the song title "Here We Go Again". She could hear that line being played and I agreed it sounded kinda like Joe's voice. But it was so different! Such an upbeat dance type of song! I was so impressed! I loved what we could hear!
More waiting. Eventually, while we were standing there, Joe made a mini-appearance in the distance by the bathrooms. I as so excited I reached down to grab Lia and ended up grabbing her chest. She said "Why are you grabbing my boob?" Then she saw him. I think he was in a tank top at that point. But he might have had a leather jacket over it too. I was so excited I barely remember!
Soon after that, a guy named Ferris started yelling at us to listen up. The producer, John Davis, started giving a quick run down of logistics and safety. Joe came out during the speech and stood off to the side in the leather jacket. We all started taking pictures, of course. After Ferris and John were done talking, Joe spoke up and thanked everyone for being there. He specifically thanked the "Twitter Girls". He explained there had been a contest and there were 30 or so girls who were there who had won. He made a joke that was something like "I can't believe they are here" from so many places and how he could just hear our hubby's responses to the win in our homes "Sure honey, we need the miles on our card!" But he was still thankful we came. He also said that we may leave the set and say "Oh my God, I am never doing that again. I'm going back to my real job." LOL!
On to the nitty gritty. John explained that we were doing a video set in a fight club. He explained there would be three fights, one with Joe. We were going to be the people in the crowd and would be cheering on the fights. He explained EVERYONE would be in the video at some point. He also said there was gonna be a big fun melee where everyone would fight each other. Joe interrupted and said "Well, not EVERYONE is gonna be int he melee." We figured he meant us.
After the meeting, Joe disappeared and they asked all of the guys to go over to the set. The girls anxiously waited. Ferris started coming over and grabbing girls and taking them to the set (which we couldn't' see at all from where we were). Lia and I were included in the last group that went over to the set. We were told that we would be people walking around the fight club who were done with their betting for the day and weren't watching the fight. We were just doing our own thing. There were couches and chairs that we could sit in or we could walk.
The first scene we filmed was a fight between two big guys. One shirtless with tattoos, the other had a shirt on. Both very intimidating. There was also a referee who was in the ring with them (later found out his name was John Heckleman), and October was up there too. The extras who had been called in earlier were in a circle around the area where the guys were fighting. The VFC boys were in the circle too. The crowd needed to cheer on the fight as if they were invested in the fight and had money on it. Super excited. Since I was in the background, I started by just sitting in a chair chatting with Michele and looking over at the fight once in a while. We did several takes. Ferris would yell "Action" and everyone would start cheering and the fighters would fight. There was no music on or anything. It was just the fight at this point. Not sure what brought my attention to him, bit I looked over and saw that Joe was over to my right side. He was reviewing the file to make sure they had the takes they needed. He was wearing jeans, a tank top and the leather jacket/shirt thing. He also had faded blue boots on.
We did a few takes of the cheering and me just sitting in the back. I also got up and walked back and forth a couple of times. At one point, filming stopped and we were just standing around. I looked to my right and up walks Joe McIntyre! I looked at him and smiled and said hi. He smiled back, said hi and then stopped just past me on my left. Then I noticed he had a guy with a camera and a girl with a note pad with him. They were interviewing him! I heard later it
was E! News. There was also another hand held camera behind me filming more stuff (maybe behind the scenes footage?). Almost as soon as they stopped walking, the interview started. I couldn't really hear the woman, but I could hear Joe. He went through the typical chatter explaining the video and that it was a fight club scene. They talked about how he had gotten in the 'best shape of his life' to do this video and he joked that he was no where near looking as buff as the other guys in the video. I think the girl asked Joe about the state of the union of the New Kids. He said "The state of the union of New Kids on the Block is strong!" He said more was to come and it would be exciting. He made it sound like NKOTB might have something coming out in a year or so. The girl asked about his CD. He said "I don't think this will be my last CD, but it feels like this is THE ONE." He said he "just rocked out" for this CD. I took some pics during the interview on my cell phone. When he finished with the video, he walked over to Elizabeth (wizbiff) and talked to her for a little bit. The handheld camera went with him and videoed him talking to her. When he was done, he went over to Marlene (marliimarl) and chatted with her about her comfy shoes. Also talking about how she came from the UK, I'm sure!
Once he was
done with the interview, I think that was when he came over and had some still shots taken by the professional photographer against the wall nearest me on the right. The shots looked great from what I could tell! The photographer showed Joe one of the photos on his camera and told him it was very "James Dean". The pictures are now out and are of him standing in front of the window w/o the 'cut' on his cheek. I'm standing right next to them in that pic!!!! Standing in the back of the first scene was obviously extremely beneficial at times! LOL!!! That photographer was also there ALL DAY LONG so I would think he's gonna have many more amazing shots later.
Once Joe was done with all of that, we did a scene in which Joe walked through the crowd watching the fight and singing his song. This was going to be our first time officially hearing the song!!!! I was still wandering around in the back, so I wasn't really near the action. From what I hear, that might have been better! The people in the crowd had to IGNORE him! ACK! At least I got to get a glimpse while walking by! The music started playing and it sounded great! Here We Go Again is gonna be a great song and hopefully will be well received by EVERYONE! Its upbeat and catchy! The male extras were whistling the song all night long! We ALL loved it! This song is so much different than anything else Joe has ever done! And its a very successful change! REALLY! While Joe walked through the crowd, he was signing one of the lines. From what I could hear, he wasn't really singing, he was just lipsynching. He would look intensely at the fight and would react to 'big hits' while the people around him just continued to cheer.
With all of my walking around, I ended up on the opposite side a few times where Drew Ryan Scott and David from VFC were. At one point the director yelled CUT, the scene stopped, and David was still yelling "He looks pregnant!" It was VERY funny! Drew explained to me that they were trying to come up with the most off-the-wall comments to yell during the scene. Another time I was sitting down resting between takes and Drew turned around, made a face at me, and asked "Are you comfy?" I said "Yeah" then asked him if he actually did any singing on this track. He turned to the guy next to him and said "Hmm, I don't know... did I?". The guy said "I don't think so" and Drew said he hadn't, but he had helped to write it. He also said the guy next to him had written and produced it. The guy next to him then introduced himself as Brent (@prentpaschke). I complimented them on what a great song it seemed to be and told them I couldn't wait to hear the rest. Brent said the whole album was great and Drew agreed. I told Brent I thought this songcould be really mainstream, especially if they could play the song THEN tell people who it was. Brent said he had given teh song to a guy at a radio station. The guy heard the song, turned to him and said "WHO is this?" Brent answered "Joey" and the guy was surprised but said how great the song was. Again, see how cool everyone on set was???? :)
I went to the other side later and someone announced they were going to be doing a different scene. There was this funny, talkative guy next to Elizabeth who turned around and told me to squeeze into the circle so I didn't have to keep walking around. I did and they then explained the scene they were going to do was when Joe stopped walking when the first fight ended. The referee then asks who is next to fight and Joe nods his head and enters the ring. I was standing next to this talkative guy who was right behind the ref. In the video, you see Elizabeth and him but not me. It was a great spot though! We had to continue cheering the previous fighter, but when the ref sees Joe and says he's next, we get to look RIGHT AT JOE and cheer! How easy is that? YAY! Joe looked so tough. He gets in the ring then takes off his leather jacket and hands it to October. HOT! Then the scene ended. We did a few takes of the scene. Then they called for lunch. Before I went to lunch, I saw Dave Harris (@retrorewind) and Larry (@retrolarry). I said hi and introduced myself and asked if they were going to be coming back from lunch and sticking around for a while. Dave said yes, they were going to be here the rest of the day, so I said I'd talke to them later.
At lunch, I was standing line and this big black guy walks up and smiles and asks me if I'm a boxer. I laughed and said "Heck no, I'm just an extra." Then I asked him if he was a boxer. He said yes. I asked him waht he was going to be doing and he said he didn't know but was just told to be there for shooting. While in line for food, I ended up calling Renee. I told her how crazy this all was and while we were talking, Joe came up and cut in front of Elizabeth (who was on the phone with ktsummer), took some salad, and walked away again. SO CUTE! The big guy next to me just slaughed at me as I got all giddy.
Lunch was ceasar salad, homemade mac & cheese, BBQ chicken, rolls and brownies for dessert. Unfortunately I'm an idiot and when I was by the chicken, I coughed. How embarrassing. I announced I wasn't sick, bu tthat's still gross. UGH. Thank god Joe wasn't there! I liked eating the ceasar asald and at some mac & cheese and the roll, but I just couldn't eat the chicken (and not cuz I coughed on it). I think it was all of the nerves.
Sometime after lunch, I had to run to the bathroom to wash my hands. The black pants that I was wearing were new and had never been washed. The black dye was getting all over my hands and turning them black! When I came back out of the bathroom, Joe was standing just outside the hallway in his tank top finishing up a convo with someone else. The other person walked away and Joe looked over as I stared at him. I sheepishly said "Hi" and he said "Hi" and walked over. He said "What's your name?" and I said "Heather". We might have shook hands at that pointlll then I said "I'm RocksicleLover on Twitter." He looked at me and said "AWWWWWWW!" and held out his arms and gave me a big hug! My mind then went haywire and I said stupid things like "I have a pic that you tweeted me that I want you to sign later." He said "Oh yeah, I'll do that later." There seemed to be some other mumbling and I said thanks and went on my way.
When we returned after lunch, we were told to go to the same spots we were in previously. I was bummed because they HAD said they were going to move us around, but I was hopeful. While I was standing in the back, Dave Harris and Retro Larry were behind us getting ready to take pics and film some of the video shoot. I went over and we had a chat with them for a little bit. Dave ran away and said he'd be back. While he was gone, John/Ferris come over and moved me to the other side of the circle in the second row of the circle. I'm sure I was stuck in the back because of my height, but at least I was officially in the circle now! Excited!
When the scene started, I realized I was right behind Joe so the camera was pointed right in my direction. Also, I WAS CLOSE TO JOE! :) The next scen was HIS fight scene. They didn't start filming right away. They decided to rn through the scene as a practice. Another guy, named Salar, camer through the crowd to fight Joe. Joe again takes off his jacket and his wearing a wife beater, jeans and boots. They start fighting. In the beginning, the fight seems to be fairly even, but then Salar starts winning. He throws Joe to the floor and is holding the tank top as he falls so that it comes off! SHIRTLESS JOE!!! Can anyone say 6-PACK??? But I must admit, he is still pretty skinny! When the shirt came off, the tone of our cheering changed! I think it w
ent from a tough "YEAH, GET HIM!" to a "OH YEAH! LET'S GET THIS!" lol! At least the cheering was encouraged so we could kinda blend in! So, Joe gets up and as he gets up he rubs his hands over his body and smirks. WHAT? EVIL!!! Sexiest thing ever! He continues fighting with Salar, still seeming to be losing. Then I think the director came in and stopped the fight and they decided to go through the fight more closely and focus on details. It took a while. Many of us ended up sitting down and watching. I actually took out my camera and started taking some pictures w/o my flash. They eventually told me to stop, but I got some good photos.
As they continued practicing the scene, Joe would get his shirt pulled off and then would have to put it back on. He started noticing that there was a bubble-type area on his shirt where Salar had pulled on his shirt. And he only had 3 tank tops! He tried all three on at one point trying to determine which one looked best. He turned around and said something like, "This doesn't look sexy, does it?" Umm... Joe? EVERYTHING looks sexy on you! LOL! They basically just pushed the shirt around and it looked ok.
Another fun thing about the fight scenes? Let's just say, when a guy is skinny and has his shirt off and moves around a lot, you tend to see his underwear. :D (and yes, he was wearing underwear. Guess he thought commando wasn't a good idea for the video.) AND, it was AWESOME when we'd be standing around waiting for our next instructions and we'd hear the director say "Joe! Take off your shirt!" I'd then grip on to the guy standing next to me so that I didn't faint. ;)
I was kind of the idiot on the set. There really weren't many Joe girls there, and the ones that were Joe girls weren't standing anywhere near me. So all day, I was making 'inappropriate' comments all over the place about licking him, massaging him, rubbing him, etc and everyone around me thought I was crazy! LOL! The male extras around me were getting a kick out of my reactions. They'd give me a sideways glance whenever I would moan or say "Good Lord" after a particularly nice moment. It didn't help that the guy I stood next to the majority of the time was Joe's personal trainer! He laughed a LOT! I probably should have thanked him more than I did for Joe's GREAT BODY!
So, the day went on. We cheered and Joe and Salar would fight. It was harder work than you'd ever imagine. Yes, Joe was in the room. YES, he was shirtless a LOT. But we had a job. We had to cheer and cheer and cheer. We had to react to hits/kicks as they occurred. If we didn't, we had to do the scene again. It was exhausting. On top of all of the physcial work, it was about 80 degrees outside. INSIDE, it was about 300 degrees. The movement plus the lights plus the fact that they had no ventilation due to the smoke machine equalled an incredibly hot room. I was sweating a lot. I was lucky in comparison to others though. I only had jeans and a tank top with a button up shirt over it. Other people had sweatshirts and hats on! Every now and then, if I could tell there was going to be a break between takes, I would RUN to go get a bottle of water and would bring it in the room and hide it behind one of the couches. Amazingly, there were fleeting moments that I actually wished we'd just finish up the day already. Then I'd see Joe and quickly change my mind. I was fine right where I was! :)
There were times we'd take a break, or Joe would have to review some footage in a different area, and he would walk past me. Whenever he walked by, he would look right at you and smile a HUGE sexy grin and say "hi" in his awesome raspy voice. And sometimes he would wink! AHHH!
At one point, there was a scene that was supposed to be a huge melee. After Joe's fight, he was going to jump up on Ferris in excitement. Ferris would throw him off into someone else and a group brawl would ensue with everyone in the room involved. The trainer went around the room and coached us on how we should fight with each other. I joined up with Regina and Elizabeth for a three-way fight. The first take was crazy and was very funny. After they said cut, the director said "That was pretty good, but there was a LOT of laughing. No laughing!" This was harder than he thought! LOL! We eventually got it down to minimal laughing. Then they told October to stand on a table and yell STOP. At that point, we were supposed to all stop fighting. On the first take, she got up, yelled "STOP" and we all froze and were silent. Joe said "She said STOP not FREEZE!" and the entire room broke into laughter.
Another time all of the extras were put into a semi-circle. Joe explained we were going to sing his lyrics. In the song he said "La La La Love Hey Hey Hey Hate" We were to sing along. He told us to just look at him. Uh..... no problem. As we did it, we all started pumping our fists. He commented that that seemed to work so to just go with it. There was another part where the song says "Hey Hey Hey Yeah Yeah Yeah" and we were to do the same thing. It was fun singing to Joe! :)
As the hours went on, we were all tired. Including Joe. Sometimes to wake himself back up, Joe would make noises, or better yet, moan. During more difficult scenes, he would say "Let's Get This!" in this deep and kinda silly voice. It was HOT! At the very end, Joe was so tired he was yawning on set. But he was a trooper and kept up the energy during filming.
Finally, they called it a day. They thanked the extras and we took a huge cast and crew photo with Joe. Joe told us that he needed to finish up some last scenes and would be over to talk to us soon.
We headed out to the waiting area and started getting ready to see Joe. I ran to the bathroom and changed my stinky shirt and tried to freshen up. Yeah... kinda hard. But I did my best. I went out and put on some makeup and was ready to go. I had my Twitpic for him to sign and my camera was ready. While I was waiting, I also got my pic with Dave Harris who seemed to be waiting around to see Joe like we were! We were talking to some of the extras and all of a sudden heard Joe say "HEY" from behind us! We all turned around and saw him standing there with a piece of pizza in his hand. He hand changed into a black t-shirt and he had a cut on his cheek. I couldn't help but yell "What happened to your cheek?" He responded that it was just make-up and asked the make-up lady to take it off. He then said that we should all stay where we were and he would come around and say hi and take pics with all of us. I had two thank you cards that I had bought - one for Joe and one for Barrett/Griffin. In the one for Griffin, I included some Halloween stickers for him since seriously, what is a 2 year old going to do with a card? I wanted to make sure to give those to him while everyone could see his reaction, so I ran up and gave it to him just after he said he was coming around to each of us. He made a smart ass comment "Except for you" and I handed over the cards and breifly told him what they were. He smelled like pizza! He smiled big at the one for Barrett and Griffin and I ran off.
He made his rounds and FINALLY made it over to me. Honestly, I have forgotten some of this interaction because I was so tired and so excited. I gave him a hug and for some reason FORGOT that I was gonna get a pic with him. He said "Who's gonna take this?" I said "Oh, yeah" and he said "You're killing me here" as I grabbed my camera and handed it off to the first hand offering which was Jen. Joe put his arm around me and we posed and Jen said "Its all zoomed in." Oh crap. I apologized again and told him to sign my pic in the meantime. He signed my pic AND Jen's while I fixed the camera and handed it back to Jen. Luckily, he still smiled when the real pic was taken. He continued on his way saying hi to everyone.
Then someone asked about us hearing the entire song. Throughout all of the shooting, we never heard the song the entire way through and Joe had promised. He said "Hold on" and he ran off. At that moment, I realized I had totally forgotten to give him the BIG SEXY HAIR gift! I grabbed it and went towards where he was. He came back and told us to come with him. I was right there ready! I walked back to the screening room with him and girls were telling me to ask about a group picture. I said "Joe, they want me to ask you for a group picture." He said "But we just took a huge cast and crew photo! You'll get that one." I said "Yeah, but we want one with just us and you." He said "Nah, cuz then people will be upset if they aren't in it" I just said "Ok, ok". We got into the screening room and I went to him and said "I forgot to give this to you earlier. Its a silly gift. 'For the Rocksicle, From RocksicleLover" He kinda laughed and said "Aww, thank you!" and I ran off and found a seat up high.
Joe and John explained they were going to show us the partial video for Here We Go Again, but the whole song would be played. We waited and watched. INCREDIBLY AWESOME shots started showing up on the screen! I was jumping up and down in my seat!
HE WAS SO HOT! The crazy thing was, the MAN WAS IN THE ROOM and I was STILL screaming at the screen! The song was amazing! We were cheering so loudly! Hootin'! Hollerin'! We loved it! And Joe loved our reaction. He stood back and watched and smiled as he tapped the BIG SEXY HAIR nervously against his leg and hand. After it was done, we cheered and asked to see it again. They played it again! It was great! Then someone asked Joe for a group photo again. He eventually caved and we all jumped all over the chairs to get in the photo as John and Joe cringed as we almost ruined the chairs! After the photo was taken, we all started leaving a
nd Joe stood around and gave another round of hugs. He told us the video would be out within 30 days. We told him how much we loved the entire day and the song and we were on our way. As we were leaving, Joe was taping a bit with Dave Harris for RetroRewind.
My only bad experience of this trip happened next. We were starving. It was 10:30 PST (1:30am EST). We headed to Panda Express to get some chinese food. We ate and went back to the hotel. I wanted to charge my phone but I couldn't find my charger anywhere. I went to bed. In the morning as I was laying in bed, I suddenly shot up. SHIT! I left my purse at Panda Express! FUCK! Lia helped me figure out their phone number so I could call when they opened. We both had early flights so we really just had time to pack and head to the airport. I drove us to the airport and when we pulled in, I had another HORRIBLE realization. My engagement/wedding rings were in my purse. I had taken my rings off for a million reasons. We were asked to not wear shiny items; my pants were bleeding black onto everything they touched; I was scared I'd hurt someone with the rings during our fights; our purses were being guraded at the video shoot. All I could do was cry. Lia swore to help me get a hold of Marlene who was staying in LA for a little while so she could go back to Panda Express and get the purse if they had it. I called my hubby and he was not happy. I didn't blame him. In the end, Panda Express never found the purse. I never got my rings back. We will be filing an insurance claim for the $ and have discussed maybe getting me a cheap ring and sending my hubby to Vegas. For all he's put up with, he deserves it!
The video has now come out and I am definitely not a star. But with the help of my Video Mates, I can see myself in a few scenes! Retro Larry is about to release a behind the scenes video of the day and I've already seen clips that I am in! YAY!
Since the video, Joe has started following me and a few other video girls on Twitter. The goal is that he follows all of us! :) He also thanked us a week after the shoot, for the cards and he specifically mentioned the Halloween stickers. Made me happy. Just this past week, Joe had some solo shows in the Midwest. For the Chicago show, there were 4 video mates there together - Shannon, Regina, Jen and me. We had matching shirts and Shannon made Joe one too. She was able to give it to him during the show. It was awesome!
The video was one of the coolest things I have ever done in my life. I cannot thank Joe enough for allowing fans to be a part of that day! And meeting those other girls was amazing! We shared an amazing experience and I'm so glad THOSE were the girls I got to share it with! They were so awesome! The experience is one that can never be matched! I don't even have the words to describe how amazing it all was. Thank you Joe. Thank you.
I went back to Twitter and Joe told us that his producer would be contacting us shortly with details about the video. I decided to wait until I got the email to book anything. I finally got the email from John Davis of Base Productions which asked for our phone number and said someone would be calling us with more details about the shoot on Monday. It also said we should plan on being at the video shoot from 8-6:30pm! A full day with Joe Mac!?!?! WOW! They also told us we could bring cameras for when we weren't on set.
I booked a flight for Tuesday that wasn't cheap, but wasn't too outrageous either. I also talked to Renee's friend @swear_face (aka Lia) and we decided to room together at a hotel in Burbank. Now all we needed was details about what clothes to bring and how we should look.
Monday morning on my way to work, I was blasting "Popsicle" in the car. I ended up screaming three times at the top of my lungs and just about hyperventilated in the car! I was so excited! Later in the day, I got a call from a very nice girl named Teryn who gave me all the details about how to dress and look and what to expect. She told me to plan on being there from 8am-8pm. 12 HOURS!?!?! OMG! 12 HOURS with Joe Mac was gonna be heaven!!! She told me the video would be an underground fight club. She said I should dress "more tough than sexy". She suggested tank tops, combat boots, dog tags, skinny jeans, tight tees, leather. Simple hair and makeup. I asked if I should wear all black, she said no. She also said NO WHITE. Ok... so I have NONE of this stuff! Not only did I have to pay for the trip, but I realized I was going to have to go shopping for a whole new wardrobe! I went shopping on Monday. I was with my daughter so I couldn't try anything on, but I kept calling Renee and asking her opinion on stuff. That was the hardest shopping trip ever! I thought about telling the salesgirls what I was shopping for so they could help, but I was too embarrassed! I was a 34 year old mom shopping at Forever 21 for clothes for a music video? Seriously? I bought a ton of stuff and kept the receipts. My fave purchase was a pair of shoes that were basically high top sneakers similar to All-Stars.
Tuesday I drove to Detroit and got on my flight freaking out. Was I really doing this? I was flying to Burbank, California to be in Joey McIntyre's music video? Seriously? It seemed like a dream! And it had all happened so fast so there was no time for anything to sink in! I was wearing a NKOTB shirt at the airport and the security lady asked me about it. She asked if I went to the concert. I told her I had attended several concerts over the summer and I was now on my way to be in a video with one of them, and I pointed to Joe. She told me that was really cool and asked me how the concerts were. I told her they were great (didn't she realize I would say that since I was flying to California to be in one of their videos???? lol!) On the flight, I realized I couldn't listen to any Joe songs on my iPod! It made me WAY too nervous!
I got to Burbank finally with my huge carry on of luggage. I got my rental car and checked into the hotel which was a little shady but it was so close to the studio! I decided to get all of my last minute stuff at a nearby Target and I talked to Renee on the phone the entire time I was there! So excited! I knew I wanted to get Joe a gift and she suggested I get hair products for his ROCKSICLE (my name on Twitter is RocksicleLover). I found some stuff called "Big Sexy Hair" and Renee told me it was perfect. I bought some MORE clothes just in case and headed back to the hotel. That night, @MSUAmy1 picked me up (she lives in LA) and we went out to dinner. I was in such a daze from being so excited that I know I was kinda weird there, but I'm sure she understands. She also drove me around LA a bit so I could see some sights, but it was dark so I definitely didn't get the whole gist of everything.
I headed back to the hotel and found out a bunch of video girls were in the lobby. We all introduced ourselves and I finally met my roomie! I was so tired out that I made a quick exit and went back to the room to go to bed. We were so excited but I HAD to sleep. I had to look good for Joe! I was gonna spend ALL DAY with him tomorrow!
I woke up at 4am on Wednesday morning. I went to the bathroom and when I came back, Lia surprised me by starting to talk to me. Apparently she couldn't sleep either! LOL! We decided to start getting ready so we could meet our video mates in the lobby at 7am. I laid out all of my clothes and still didn't know what to wear. I decided on a hoodie and black jeans with high tops. I packed the rest of my things in a bag. We were supposed to have a total of 3 outfits and I had plenty to choose from. Lia selected her clothes as well and packed extras. Then we headed downstairs.
We rode to the studio with @cdnfan75 (Michele) and @marliimarl (Marlene) and we
were all so excited! The girls were impressed to see the mountains in the background of Burbank! Everyone had arrived so late they hadn't even seen them the night before! We arrived at the studio, pulling in right behind @wizbiff (Elizabeth), @guingirly (Jenn), @nkotbwxgrl (Tania)............. We took some pics near the cars then headed to the building. When we finally found the entrance at the side of the building, the guys were still setting up the check-in tables. They told us we would be able to come in at 8am. We stood around and tweeted/chatted. Soon, 4 of the 5 members of Varsity Fan Club arrived too. They let us in after signing release forms and getting our pics taken with the forms and #s (I was 007! lol!). We got in and were told to head to the wardrobe room. Lia, Marlene and I were the first. We had to go in and pull out all of the clothes we brought and lay them out. The wardrobe girl (who was only 20 years old!) would review our clothes and suggest what we should try. Then we'd try on the clothes and see if they liked the look. I pulled out my clothes and she pointed at the plaid shirt and asked me to try wearing that. It worked. She didn't want me to wear my leggings that I brought because they didn't want anything too tight. Lia was told to change her shirt too. Marlene had super sexy shirt on. they told her she needed to change but had trouble with her clothes because they were 'too chic'! The girl even said "those are cool, did you get them at Urban Outfitters?" Little did she know Marlene was from the UK! Marlene ended up in all black and was also given Lia's vest to wear. There was a LOT of sharing in the wardrobe department!We went out to the main waiting area and were offered kraft services which included Starbucks coffee. YUM! There were also bagels, cereal bars, trail mix, crackers, water, pop.... lots of snacks. I was so nervous I couldn't sit down or eat. I just stood around trying to scope out Joe! We didn't know if he was there or not. Drew Ryan Scott of Varsity Fan club was there though. I asked him if he was upset that he was there and Joe was not. He laughed and said "Yeah! Yeah I am!" I introduced myself to him and the rest of the guys. Bobby was missing (he came later). We continued to stand around a while. More extras arrived including winners, actresses and actors. The actors were great looking guys! And you could tell they were dressed like boxers/fighters. NICE arms too! :) There were a few extra girls too who were actresses. We also met the lead actress, named October. She asked us where we were from and was very excited about how we had all gotten there. She said she had
managed a few bands and traveled with them and though our passion was so cool. She was very nice, especially considering she looked so tough! As people continued to arrive, they were taken back to wardrobe. While we waited we chatted and took pictures. Lia and I got a picture with Varsity Fan Club. While we were sitting around, Marlene said she could hear Joe's song. I didn't know how she knew, but then she said that the release forms we signed had the song title "Here We Go Again". She could hear that line being played and I agreed it sounded kinda like Joe's voice. But it was so different! Such an upbeat dance type of song! I was so impressed! I loved what we could hear!More waiting. Eventually, while we were standing there, Joe made a mini-appearance in the distance by the bathrooms. I as so excited I reached down to grab Lia and ended up grabbing her chest. She said "Why are you grabbing my boob?" Then she saw him. I think he was in a tank top at that point. But he might have had a leather jacket over it too. I was so excited I barely remember!
Soon after that, a guy named Ferris started yelling at us to listen up. The producer, John Davis, started giving a quick run down of logistics and safety. Joe came out during the speech and stood off to the side in the leather jacket. We all started taking pictures, of course. After Ferris and John were done talking, Joe spoke up and thanked everyone for being there. He specifically thanked the "Twitter Girls". He explained there had been a contest and there were 30 or so girls who were there who had won. He made a joke that was something like "I can't believe they are here" from so many places and how he could just hear our hubby's responses to the win in our homes "Sure honey, we need the miles on our card!" But he was still thankful we came. He also said that we may leave the set and say "Oh my God, I am never doing that again. I'm going back to my real job." LOL!
On to the nitty gritty. John explained that we were doing a video set in a fight club. He explained there would be three fights, one with Joe. We were going to be the people in the crowd and would be cheering on the fights. He explained EVERYONE would be in the video at some point. He also said there was gonna be a big fun melee where everyone would fight each other. Joe interrupted and said "Well, not EVERYONE is gonna be int he melee." We figured he meant us.
After the meeting, Joe disappeared and they asked all of the guys to go over to the set. The girls anxiously waited. Ferris started coming over and grabbing girls and taking them to the set (which we couldn't' see at all from where we were). Lia and I were included in the last group that went over to the set. We were told that we would be people walking around the fight club who were done with their betting for the day and weren't watching the fight. We were just doing our own thing. There were couches and chairs that we could sit in or we could walk.
The first scene we filmed was a fight between two big guys. One shirtless with tattoos, the other had a shirt on. Both very intimidating. There was also a referee who was in the ring with them (later found out his name was John Heckleman), and October was up there too. The extras who had been called in earlier were in a circle around the area where the guys were fighting. The VFC boys were in the circle too. The crowd needed to cheer on the fight as if they were invested in the fight and had money on it. Super excited. Since I was in the background, I started by just sitting in a chair chatting with Michele and looking over at the fight once in a while. We did several takes. Ferris would yell "Action" and everyone would start cheering and the fighters would fight. There was no music on or anything. It was just the fight at this point. Not sure what brought my attention to him, bit I looked over and saw that Joe was over to my right side. He was reviewing the file to make sure they had the takes they needed. He was wearing jeans, a tank top and the leather jacket/shirt thing. He also had faded blue boots on.
We did a few takes of the cheering and me just sitting in the back. I also got up and walked back and forth a couple of times. At one point, filming stopped and we were just standing around. I looked to my right and up walks Joe McIntyre! I looked at him and smiled and said hi. He smiled back, said hi and then stopped just past me on my left. Then I noticed he had a guy with a camera and a girl with a note pad with him. They were interviewing him! I heard later it
was E! News. There was also another hand held camera behind me filming more stuff (maybe behind the scenes footage?). Almost as soon as they stopped walking, the interview started. I couldn't really hear the woman, but I could hear Joe. He went through the typical chatter explaining the video and that it was a fight club scene. They talked about how he had gotten in the 'best shape of his life' to do this video and he joked that he was no where near looking as buff as the other guys in the video. I think the girl asked Joe about the state of the union of the New Kids. He said "The state of the union of New Kids on the Block is strong!" He said more was to come and it would be exciting. He made it sound like NKOTB might have something coming out in a year or so. The girl asked about his CD. He said "I don't think this will be my last CD, but it feels like this is THE ONE." He said he "just rocked out" for this CD. I took some pics during the interview on my cell phone. When he finished with the video, he walked over to Elizabeth (wizbiff) and talked to her for a little bit. The handheld camera went with him and videoed him talking to her. When he was done, he went over to Marlene (marliimarl) and chatted with her about her comfy shoes. Also talking about how she came from the UK, I'm sure!Once he was
done with the interview, I think that was when he came over and had some still shots taken by the professional photographer against the wall nearest me on the right. The shots looked great from what I could tell! The photographer showed Joe one of the photos on his camera and told him it was very "James Dean". The pictures are now out and are of him standing in front of the window w/o the 'cut' on his cheek. I'm standing right next to them in that pic!!!! Standing in the back of the first scene was obviously extremely beneficial at times! LOL!!! That photographer was also there ALL DAY LONG so I would think he's gonna have many more amazing shots later.Once Joe was done with all of that, we did a scene in which Joe walked through the crowd watching the fight and singing his song. This was going to be our first time officially hearing the song!!!! I was still wandering around in the back, so I wasn't really near the action. From what I hear, that might have been better! The people in the crowd had to IGNORE him! ACK! At least I got to get a glimpse while walking by! The music started playing and it sounded great! Here We Go Again is gonna be a great song and hopefully will be well received by EVERYONE! Its upbeat and catchy! The male extras were whistling the song all night long! We ALL loved it! This song is so much different than anything else Joe has ever done! And its a very successful change! REALLY! While Joe walked through the crowd, he was signing one of the lines. From what I could hear, he wasn't really singing, he was just lipsynching. He would look intensely at the fight and would react to 'big hits' while the people around him just continued to cheer.
With all of my walking around, I ended up on the opposite side a few times where Drew Ryan Scott and David from VFC were. At one point the director yelled CUT, the scene stopped, and David was still yelling "He looks pregnant!" It was VERY funny! Drew explained to me that they were trying to come up with the most off-the-wall comments to yell during the scene. Another time I was sitting down resting between takes and Drew turned around, made a face at me, and asked "Are you comfy?" I said "Yeah" then asked him if he actually did any singing on this track. He turned to the guy next to him and said "Hmm, I don't know... did I?". The guy said "I don't think so" and Drew said he hadn't, but he had helped to write it. He also said the guy next to him had written and produced it. The guy next to him then introduced himself as Brent (@prentpaschke). I complimented them on what a great song it seemed to be and told them I couldn't wait to hear the rest. Brent said the whole album was great and Drew agreed. I told Brent I thought this songcould be really mainstream, especially if they could play the song THEN tell people who it was. Brent said he had given teh song to a guy at a radio station. The guy heard the song, turned to him and said "WHO is this?" Brent answered "Joey" and the guy was surprised but said how great the song was. Again, see how cool everyone on set was???? :)
I went to the other side later and someone announced they were going to be doing a different scene. There was this funny, talkative guy next to Elizabeth who turned around and told me to squeeze into the circle so I didn't have to keep walking around. I did and they then explained the scene they were going to do was when Joe stopped walking when the first fight ended. The referee then asks who is next to fight and Joe nods his head and enters the ring. I was standing next to this talkative guy who was right behind the ref. In the video, you see Elizabeth and him but not me. It was a great spot though! We had to continue cheering the previous fighter, but when the ref sees Joe and says he's next, we get to look RIGHT AT JOE and cheer! How easy is that? YAY! Joe looked so tough. He gets in the ring then takes off his leather jacket and hands it to October. HOT! Then the scene ended. We did a few takes of the scene. Then they called for lunch. Before I went to lunch, I saw Dave Harris (@retrorewind) and Larry (@retrolarry). I said hi and introduced myself and asked if they were going to be coming back from lunch and sticking around for a while. Dave said yes, they were going to be here the rest of the day, so I said I'd talke to them later.
At lunch, I was standing line and this big black guy walks up and smiles and asks me if I'm a boxer. I laughed and said "Heck no, I'm just an extra." Then I asked him if he was a boxer. He said yes. I asked him waht he was going to be doing and he said he didn't know but was just told to be there for shooting. While in line for food, I ended up calling Renee. I told her how crazy this all was and while we were talking, Joe came up and cut in front of Elizabeth (who was on the phone with ktsummer), took some salad, and walked away again. SO CUTE! The big guy next to me just slaughed at me as I got all giddy.
Lunch was ceasar salad, homemade mac & cheese, BBQ chicken, rolls and brownies for dessert. Unfortunately I'm an idiot and when I was by the chicken, I coughed. How embarrassing. I announced I wasn't sick, bu tthat's still gross. UGH. Thank god Joe wasn't there! I liked eating the ceasar asald and at some mac & cheese and the roll, but I just couldn't eat the chicken (and not cuz I coughed on it). I think it was all of the nerves.
Sometime after lunch, I had to run to the bathroom to wash my hands. The black pants that I was wearing were new and had never been washed. The black dye was getting all over my hands and turning them black! When I came back out of the bathroom, Joe was standing just outside the hallway in his tank top finishing up a convo with someone else. The other person walked away and Joe looked over as I stared at him. I sheepishly said "Hi" and he said "Hi" and walked over. He said "What's your name?" and I said "Heather". We might have shook hands at that pointlll then I said "I'm RocksicleLover on Twitter." He looked at me and said "AWWWWWWW!" and held out his arms and gave me a big hug! My mind then went haywire and I said stupid things like "I have a pic that you tweeted me that I want you to sign later." He said "Oh yeah, I'll do that later." There seemed to be some other mumbling and I said thanks and went on my way.
When we returned after lunch, we were told to go to the same spots we were in previously. I was bummed because they HAD said they were going to move us around, but I was hopeful. While I was standing in the back, Dave Harris and Retro Larry were behind us getting ready to take pics and film some of the video shoot. I went over and we had a chat with them for a little bit. Dave ran away and said he'd be back. While he was gone, John/Ferris come over and moved me to the other side of the circle in the second row of the circle. I'm sure I was stuck in the back because of my height, but at least I was officially in the circle now! Excited!
When the scene started, I realized I was right behind Joe so the camera was pointed right in my direction. Also, I WAS CLOSE TO JOE! :) The next scen was HIS fight scene. They didn't start filming right away. They decided to rn through the scene as a practice. Another guy, named Salar, camer through the crowd to fight Joe. Joe again takes off his jacket and his wearing a wife beater, jeans and boots. They start fighting. In the beginning, the fight seems to be fairly even, but then Salar starts winning. He throws Joe to the floor and is holding the tank top as he falls so that it comes off! SHIRTLESS JOE!!! Can anyone say 6-PACK??? But I must admit, he is still pretty skinny! When the shirt came off, the tone of our cheering changed! I think it w
ent from a tough "YEAH, GET HIM!" to a "OH YEAH! LET'S GET THIS!" lol! At least the cheering was encouraged so we could kinda blend in! So, Joe gets up and as he gets up he rubs his hands over his body and smirks. WHAT? EVIL!!! Sexiest thing ever! He continues fighting with Salar, still seeming to be losing. Then I think the director came in and stopped the fight and they decided to go through the fight more closely and focus on details. It took a while. Many of us ended up sitting down and watching. I actually took out my camera and started taking some pictures w/o my flash. They eventually told me to stop, but I got some good photos.As they continued practicing the scene, Joe would get his shirt pulled off and then would have to put it back on. He started noticing that there was a bubble-type area on his shirt where Salar had pulled on his shirt. And he only had 3 tank tops! He tried all three on at one point trying to determine which one looked best. He turned around and said something like, "This doesn't look sexy, does it?" Umm... Joe? EVERYTHING looks sexy on you! LOL! They basically just pushed the shirt around and it looked ok.
Another fun thing about the fight scenes? Let's just say, when a guy is skinny and has his shirt off and moves around a lot, you tend to see his underwear. :D (and yes, he was wearing underwear. Guess he thought commando wasn't a good idea for the video.) AND, it was AWESOME when we'd be standing around waiting for our next instructions and we'd hear the director say "Joe! Take off your shirt!" I'd then grip on to the guy standing next to me so that I didn't faint. ;)
I was kind of the idiot on the set. There really weren't many Joe girls there, and the ones that were Joe girls weren't standing anywhere near me. So all day, I was making 'inappropriate' comments all over the place about licking him, massaging him, rubbing him, etc and everyone around me thought I was crazy! LOL! The male extras around me were getting a kick out of my reactions. They'd give me a sideways glance whenever I would moan or say "Good Lord" after a particularly nice moment. It didn't help that the guy I stood next to the majority of the time was Joe's personal trainer! He laughed a LOT! I probably should have thanked him more than I did for Joe's GREAT BODY!
So, the day went on. We cheered and Joe and Salar would fight. It was harder work than you'd ever imagine. Yes, Joe was in the room. YES, he was shirtless a LOT. But we had a job. We had to cheer and cheer and cheer. We had to react to hits/kicks as they occurred. If we didn't, we had to do the scene again. It was exhausting. On top of all of the physcial work, it was about 80 degrees outside. INSIDE, it was about 300 degrees. The movement plus the lights plus the fact that they had no ventilation due to the smoke machine equalled an incredibly hot room. I was sweating a lot. I was lucky in comparison to others though. I only had jeans and a tank top with a button up shirt over it. Other people had sweatshirts and hats on! Every now and then, if I could tell there was going to be a break between takes, I would RUN to go get a bottle of water and would bring it in the room and hide it behind one of the couches. Amazingly, there were fleeting moments that I actually wished we'd just finish up the day already. Then I'd see Joe and quickly change my mind. I was fine right where I was! :)
There were times we'd take a break, or Joe would have to review some footage in a different area, and he would walk past me. Whenever he walked by, he would look right at you and smile a HUGE sexy grin and say "hi" in his awesome raspy voice. And sometimes he would wink! AHHH!
At one point, there was a scene that was supposed to be a huge melee. After Joe's fight, he was going to jump up on Ferris in excitement. Ferris would throw him off into someone else and a group brawl would ensue with everyone in the room involved. The trainer went around the room and coached us on how we should fight with each other. I joined up with Regina and Elizabeth for a three-way fight. The first take was crazy and was very funny. After they said cut, the director said "That was pretty good, but there was a LOT of laughing. No laughing!" This was harder than he thought! LOL! We eventually got it down to minimal laughing. Then they told October to stand on a table and yell STOP. At that point, we were supposed to all stop fighting. On the first take, she got up, yelled "STOP" and we all froze and were silent. Joe said "She said STOP not FREEZE!" and the entire room broke into laughter.
Another time all of the extras were put into a semi-circle. Joe explained we were going to sing his lyrics. In the song he said "La La La Love Hey Hey Hey Hate" We were to sing along. He told us to just look at him. Uh..... no problem. As we did it, we all started pumping our fists. He commented that that seemed to work so to just go with it. There was another part where the song says "Hey Hey Hey Yeah Yeah Yeah" and we were to do the same thing. It was fun singing to Joe! :)
As the hours went on, we were all tired. Including Joe. Sometimes to wake himself back up, Joe would make noises, or better yet, moan. During more difficult scenes, he would say "Let's Get This!" in this deep and kinda silly voice. It was HOT! At the very end, Joe was so tired he was yawning on set. But he was a trooper and kept up the energy during filming.
Finally, they called it a day. They thanked the extras and we took a huge cast and crew photo with Joe. Joe told us that he needed to finish up some last scenes and would be over to talk to us soon.
We headed out to the waiting area and started getting ready to see Joe. I ran to the bathroom and changed my stinky shirt and tried to freshen up. Yeah... kinda hard. But I did my best. I went out and put on some makeup and was ready to go. I had my Twitpic for him to sign and my camera was ready. While I was waiting, I also got my pic with Dave Harris who seemed to be waiting around to see Joe like we were! We were talking to some of the extras and all of a sudden heard Joe say "HEY" from behind us! We all turned around and saw him standing there with a piece of pizza in his hand. He hand changed into a black t-shirt and he had a cut on his cheek. I couldn't help but yell "What happened to your cheek?" He responded that it was just make-up and asked the make-up lady to take it off. He then said that we should all stay where we were and he would come around and say hi and take pics with all of us. I had two thank you cards that I had bought - one for Joe and one for Barrett/Griffin. In the one for Griffin, I included some Halloween stickers for him since seriously, what is a 2 year old going to do with a card? I wanted to make sure to give those to him while everyone could see his reaction, so I ran up and gave it to him just after he said he was coming around to each of us. He made a smart ass comment "Except for you" and I handed over the cards and breifly told him what they were. He smelled like pizza! He smiled big at the one for Barrett and Griffin and I ran off.
He made his rounds and FINALLY made it over to me. Honestly, I have forgotten some of this interaction because I was so tired and so excited. I gave him a hug and for some reason FORGOT that I was gonna get a pic with him. He said "Who's gonna take this?" I said "Oh, yeah" and he said "You're killing me here" as I grabbed my camera and handed it off to the first hand offering which was Jen. Joe put his arm around me and we posed and Jen said "Its all zoomed in." Oh crap. I apologized again and told him to sign my pic in the meantime. He signed my pic AND Jen's while I fixed the camera and handed it back to Jen. Luckily, he still smiled when the real pic was taken. He continued on his way saying hi to everyone.
Then someone asked about us hearing the entire song. Throughout all of the shooting, we never heard the song the entire way through and Joe had promised. He said "Hold on" and he ran off. At that moment, I realized I had totally forgotten to give him the BIG SEXY HAIR gift! I grabbed it and went towards where he was. He came back and told us to come with him. I was right there ready! I walked back to the screening room with him and girls were telling me to ask about a group picture. I said "Joe, they want me to ask you for a group picture." He said "But we just took a huge cast and crew photo! You'll get that one." I said "Yeah, but we want one with just us and you." He said "Nah, cuz then people will be upset if they aren't in it" I just said "Ok, ok". We got into the screening room and I went to him and said "I forgot to give this to you earlier. Its a silly gift. 'For the Rocksicle, From RocksicleLover" He kinda laughed and said "Aww, thank you!" and I ran off and found a seat up high.
Joe and John explained they were going to show us the partial video for Here We Go Again, but the whole song would be played. We waited and watched. INCREDIBLY AWESOME shots started showing up on the screen! I was jumping up and down in my seat!
HE WAS SO HOT! The crazy thing was, the MAN WAS IN THE ROOM and I was STILL screaming at the screen! The song was amazing! We were cheering so loudly! Hootin'! Hollerin'! We loved it! And Joe loved our reaction. He stood back and watched and smiled as he tapped the BIG SEXY HAIR nervously against his leg and hand. After it was done, we cheered and asked to see it again. They played it again! It was great! Then someone asked Joe for a group photo again. He eventually caved and we all jumped all over the chairs to get in the photo as John and Joe cringed as we almost ruined the chairs! After the photo was taken, we all started leaving a
nd Joe stood around and gave another round of hugs. He told us the video would be out within 30 days. We told him how much we loved the entire day and the song and we were on our way. As we were leaving, Joe was taping a bit with Dave Harris for RetroRewind.My only bad experience of this trip happened next. We were starving. It was 10:30 PST (1:30am EST). We headed to Panda Express to get some chinese food. We ate and went back to the hotel. I wanted to charge my phone but I couldn't find my charger anywhere. I went to bed. In the morning as I was laying in bed, I suddenly shot up. SHIT! I left my purse at Panda Express! FUCK! Lia helped me figure out their phone number so I could call when they opened. We both had early flights so we really just had time to pack and head to the airport. I drove us to the airport and when we pulled in, I had another HORRIBLE realization. My engagement/wedding rings were in my purse. I had taken my rings off for a million reasons. We were asked to not wear shiny items; my pants were bleeding black onto everything they touched; I was scared I'd hurt someone with the rings during our fights; our purses were being guraded at the video shoot. All I could do was cry. Lia swore to help me get a hold of Marlene who was staying in LA for a little while so she could go back to Panda Express and get the purse if they had it. I called my hubby and he was not happy. I didn't blame him. In the end, Panda Express never found the purse. I never got my rings back. We will be filing an insurance claim for the $ and have discussed maybe getting me a cheap ring and sending my hubby to Vegas. For all he's put up with, he deserves it!
The video has now come out and I am definitely not a star. But with the help of my Video Mates, I can see myself in a few scenes! Retro Larry is about to release a behind the scenes video of the day and I've already seen clips that I am in! YAY!
Since the video, Joe has started following me and a few other video girls on Twitter. The goal is that he follows all of us! :) He also thanked us a week after the shoot, for the cards and he specifically mentioned the Halloween stickers. Made me happy. Just this past week, Joe had some solo shows in the Midwest. For the Chicago show, there were 4 video mates there together - Shannon, Regina, Jen and me. We had matching shirts and Shannon made Joe one too. She was able to give it to him during the show. It was awesome!
The video was one of the coolest things I have ever done in my life. I cannot thank Joe enough for allowing fans to be a part of that day! And meeting those other girls was amazing! We shared an amazing experience and I'm so glad THOSE were the girls I got to share it with! They were so awesome! The experience is one that can never be matched! I don't even have the words to describe how amazing it all was. Thank you Joe. Thank you.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
My FIRST Joe Tweet!
August 15, 2009 at 7:28pm EST was my very first Joe McIntyre tweet. He had just finished his work on the summer tour and some of his work on his solo stuff. He was starting a vacation and let us know he was relaxing by tweeting a pic of his legs at the pool. I sent a tweet asking for a pic of his upper body in relax mode. Here is the next tweet he sent:
joeymcintyre: RT @RocksicleLover: @joeymcintyre How about a pic of the upper body in relax mode? ;) JM: ok http://twitpic.com/e1u6o
See pic below! :)
Midwest Facetime Hunting Trip - June 23 - June 28, 2009
My friends Stephanie, Angie, Nicole and I planned out a Midwest Facetime Hunting Trip for the Full Service tour. We called it that because when we were planning it and talking about asking hubbys if we could go, Nicole said "My husband goes hunting all of the time, why cant I?" The plan was:
Wednesday, June 23 - Stay the night in Detroit.
Wednesday, June 23 - Stay the night in Detroit.
Thurdsay, June 24 - Concert in Clarkston, MI - I had 5* tickets.
Friday, June 25 - Concert in Tinley Park, IL.
Saturday, June 26 - Concert in Cincinnati, OH - I was a Let's Get This book drive volunteer
Sunday, June 27 - Concert in Indianapolis, IN - I upgraded to 5*
WEDNESDAY - HOTEL IN DEARBORN, MI - We had reservations at two different hotels in hopes of staying at the same one as the guys. We found out they were staying at the Ritz-Carlton Dearborn thanks to a girl on Twitter who decided to be nice to me and tell me. Luckily, we already had reservations there! Our friend Dawn went there to confirm and saw buses. She asked a security guy if it was NKOTB and he said yes. Then she saw Joe walking Duncan! We left my house and drove to the hotel.
We arrived in my car that had window marker all over it stating we were NKOTB fans. It was a little emabarassing to drive up to a fancy hotel like that. THEN, as we were getting our stuff out of the car onto vallet, Joe, Barrett, Griffin and Duncan were coming back from a walk to the mall. Joe looked over and we waved. He smiled back and waved or indicated he was saying hi. We got our stuff together then headed inside to check in. They came in after us as we were checking in and walked right behind us. I was literally shaking as I handed over my credit card! They stayed in the lobby area for a little bit. The hotel staff person asked me the purpose of our visit. I said a concert. They asked "Who?" I pointed at Joe (still shaking) and said "His". Joe had taken Griffin over to the elevator area and was standing there talking to Fish. We walked past again, got in and went up to our room. Once inside we freaked the eff out!!!!! Lots of jumping, squeeling and running around crazy.
We then heard from Dawn that Jon was downstairs outside so we went down and acted like we had to go to the car to get something. We walked by and he was sitting on a loveseat smoking and texting. Looked like he wanted to be left alone. We went to the mall to get lunch. On the way to the car, we saw the McIntyre family walking around again with Duncan. I swear, that dog has the SMALLEST bladder! Griffin was toddling around all by himself! So cute! After lunch we went to the indoor pool and listened to The Block while we swam and tried to tweet the band to get them to come to the pool. While at the pool, we saw Fish and also saw Jon walking back from somewhere outside. He stopped to talk to Jason (we didn't know who he was at this point) then disappeared.
After swimming, we decided to get dressed up and get some drinks in the lobby. I went outside to call my husband and my daughter and say goodnight. When I do that, I tend to talk like a baby and may even sing. I sat down where Jon had been earlier. Jason then came over and sat down right near me. I was embarassed about how I was about to say things like "Hi honey! How are you? Did you go potty today? Let's sing Twinkle Twinkle!" So, I actually got up and moved so that I could yell odd things in the phone in private.
I went back to the lobby and Joe, Barrett and Griffin came downstairs looking to go out to eat. Rob Lewis and Chris were also downstairs milling around. I went back outside to "call soemone" (total lie just so I could get my thoughts together). I received a text and started to answer it while standing in the doorway. That was until Joe and his family were walking up, then I darted into the bar. The McIntyre's left to go get dinner.
We started to get hungry so we all got in the car and drove around the mall area looking for somewhere to eat. We finally decided on Bravo and as we were heading in, just across the sidewalk was Joe and Griffin walking around outside of PF Changs. I was terrified he was going to recognize us and think we were REAL stalkers so I literally turned around and started walking back to the car. The girls talked me down and I eventually turned around again and avoided him like the plague as we walked into Bravo (although I totally peeped at them from the inside).
We finished dinner and were headed back to the hotel to have a few more drinks and I got a call that Jordan was in the lobby having a drink. We walked in and immediately saw him to the left talking with some people. I took my computer out into the lobby and while we were trying to get it to work (stupid internet connection), Ethan walked by. I yelled hi and he came over and gave me a hug and asked me if I was a Twitter friend. I said yes. We chatted about how he was going to a club and he told us to go but I explained I was lame and wanted to stay here on my computer. I told him he smelled great and he said thank you. Then Jason walked up (by now, someone told me who he was) and I said, "I know you too! I recognize you from Twitter!" Jason made a face like "OH NO!" and ran away. Ethan started CRACKING up! So much so that he ended up just laughing his way out of the hotel with Chris. Jason went over to Jordan, whispered something then walked away. We never got an explanation for it!
While in the lobby, we also saw Taylor Hicks walk in. He hung around downstairs for a while then let but his friend stayed down there. We went into the same lobby room as Jordan and drank for about a half hour to an hour with him right there. Jason was also with him. We never said hi but we did share space. ;) Honestly, we had heard he had told someone else that it was his "day off" so we didn't want to bother him, but we couldn't leave!!!! When he headed upstairs at 1am, some other girl asked him if his back was feeling better. He just said "Well... eh..." and left. We stuck around for a little bit after he left, missed Joe's famous RANDY tweet (YES, I was in the same frickin' hotel as him that night and didn't even know he sent a tweet like that) and then headed to bed.
THURSDAY - CLARKSTON, MI - The next morning, Nicole and I went to go get bagels. When we got downstairs, take a wild guess who we saw. Joe, Barrett, Griffin and Ducnan were outside.... AGAIN. Joe had a backpack on and they were all headed to their bus. Griffin was so cute and was chatting up a staff person they saw outside.
After we ate and everything, our Canadian friends, Renee, Jackie and Tegan showed up downstairs. We had called them the night before to tell them the guys were in our hotel. We told them to get their butts here and stay with us and join the fun! They left late at night and got to Dearborn very late. They said they had come at 3:30am to see us and saw Jon outside. They started following him and said "Don't run away!" and he just said "Its my day off." End of convo. They were truly bummed. Especially the girl who was supposed to stand next to him during pictures!
In front of the hotel, one bus had pulled up outside and was sitting idling. The Canadians said Joe was on the bus. We chatted for a bit (we met these girls on Ning and they were going to be in our 5* group at DTE), then Joe came outside. A group of about 4 other girls started walking towards him and he said "Wait, I'll be right back." I wasn't going anywhere!!! He's coming back???? So I stood there longer even though my friends had gone to get the car and were gonna be PISSED when they found out what had happened. He c
ame back and said "Ok, come here" to the girls. We went too. He took pics with them. They were gonna hold the camera themselves, but he said "No no no, lets do this the right way" and had someone else take the pics. He chatted up with a little guy who was under 5 and then it was my turn. I had my "I still love Joe" shirt on and he looked at it and said "Awww!" I said I was going to be at the meet and greet later so he'd see it again. We posed and took the pic. He finished with the Canadians and then got back on the bus and left. I got in my car, with some angry Joe girls, and headed to the venue.
ame back and said "Ok, come here" to the girls. We went too. He took pics with them. They were gonna hold the camera themselves, but he said "No no no, lets do this the right way" and had someone else take the pics. He chatted up with a little guy who was under 5 and then it was my turn. I had my "I still love Joe" shirt on and he looked at it and said "Awww!" I said I was going to be at the meet and greet later so he'd see it again. We posed and took the pic. He finished with the Canadians and then got back on the bus and left. I got in my car, with some angry Joe girls, and headed to the venue.It was crappy weather in line for the 5*. It rained and trees were dropping stuff on us too. But we did have umbrellas. We got assigned Group K and headed to the picnic area and the rain finally let up. We had hot dogs and hamburgers with chips. It was cool because I knew a lot of girls from the community boards.
While we were there, we found out (via Twitter) that Donnie was stuck on a plane. They wouldn't let him off until the lightning stopped. We didn't think it was possible for him to make it. The Donnie girls were heartbroken.
A few mintues later, the band came up to the picnic area to say hi. I grabbed Renee and walked right up to Rob Lewis and I introduced Renee as the girl with the "breakfast idea". He was happy to meet her and so I went to say hi to Chris (the drummer). I gave him a hug and I said I saw him earlier at our hotel an dhe said "Oh, YOUR hotel?" and smiled. I went to talk to Ethan, hugged him, and said I was the girl he laughed at the night before. He said, "Oh, you're the one who knew Jason" and started laughing AGAIN. I said yes. He said that was hilarious and he's never seen Jason act like that. "It was so funny!" I tried to tell him to apologize to Jason or tell me why it was funny, but he just kept laughing. I went over to Fish and told him I had seen him all over the hotel. He looked surprised and said "Oh really?" Then the rest of the VIP area came over to chat with the band, so I walked away.
Then, we started getting tweets that Michael Jackson had died. At first we didn't believe it, but later got confirmation. That was crazy. Very weird. Especially considering where we were and what we were doing. I left the VIP area and talked to Nicole for a bit. On my way back, Rob was leaving the VIP area while on the phone and was saying "I want a downlaod of Man in the Mirror".
Finally, I heard screaming. I was still outside the 5* party and saw the guys walking up to the meet and greet area. I got a glimpse of Danny, Jordan and Joe. No Donnie. :( So the meet and greets started with Donnie still missing. Suddenly right around Group H, there was a very loud roar of applause. DONNIE HAD MADE IT!
We got called into line and waited for our turn. The girls in front of us came out squeeling. I knew one of them, Vanessa, who said one of the girls in her group had just made out with Donnie! Oh my! We headed inside. I was last in line. I went right for Joe, said "I'm Heather". He said "Hi Heather," opened up his arms, read 
my shirt, smiled and nodded in recognition and hugged me. He immediately slid me into position to get our pictures taken. I felt someone behind me so I started to duck down a little. Joe pulled me up and said "No, don't do that". "Sorry", I said. He said "It makes the picture look funny." After the first pic had been taken, I started to move and he held tight. Somehow I had forgotten I got ANOTHER pic! lol! Stephanie was on the other side of Joe and was squeezing his side. She asked him if he was ticklish. He said "Actually, I'm not." Then I said, "All guys say that."
my shirt, smiled and nodded in recognition and hugged me. He immediately slid me into position to get our pictures taken. I felt someone behind me so I started to duck down a little. Joe pulled me up and said "No, don't do that". "Sorry", I said. He said "It makes the picture look funny." After the first pic had been taken, I started to move and he held tight. Somehow I had forgotten I got ANOTHER pic! lol! Stephanie was on the other side of Joe and was squeezing his side. She asked him if he was ticklish. He said "Actually, I'm not." Then I said, "All guys say that." When the pics were done, I said thank you again and told him I would see him later because I was doing the Cincy book drive. "Oh really? Cool!" he said. Then I went and hugged Jon and gave him the gift Nicole had given me to give to him. He said "Aww, thank you! Thanks!" very appreciatively. I went over and hugged Danny then and waited for Donnie. While waiting, I said to Danny "I just have to do this," and I felt his bicep. It was firm, but not as LARGE as I expected (probably due to his small stature). I finally hugged Donnie and said "I'm so glad you made it." He said "Thanks". As we were walking out, Jordan was reading Renee's shirt. It was an awesome shirt that was a play on the "I'm thinking of someone..." games. He was smiling a huge smile as he read each line. As I walked by, I said "Its long!" and kept walking. He continued to focus on reading the shirt and I figured I'd get a hug from him in Noblesville (where I was posing as a Jordan girl).
I went back to the party and went over to Ethan again and got my pic taken. In the first one he was laughing at me because I said "At least I know I can make you laugh!" Then we got a good smiling one.
As we were standing there, I noticed a guy in a van starring at me. I wasn't the only one who noticed it too. All the girls saw this guy just STARRING. We were joking we should go over and flirt and get in the back of the van, cause you know he had something to do with the guys. We really should have, because just then, the guys left meet and greet and got in the van! Donnie stayed behind to meet up with the groups A-G who had missed meeting him.
When we were all done, we went to our seats. I had 2nd row!!!! They were amazing seats! Almost dead center but slightly over to the left which was great becuase that was where Joe stood a lot! Approx 4 or 5 times, Joe looked at me and smiled BIG! He could see my shirt, so I'm pretty sure he recognized me from earlier. Also, during Step By Step, there was a part where he rubbed up along his microphone stand sensually and I SWEAR he looked right at me while doing it TWICE! *THUD* I also got some looks from Danny and Jordan, but nothing really from Jon or Donnie. The guys also did an amazing tribute to Michael Jackson. Rob played Man In The Mirror and the crowd sang along. Then the guys came out and sang "I'll Be There". It was very touching. Lots of tears. After the concert was over we drove to Lansing to spend the night.
FRIDAY - CHICAGO, IL - In the early afternoon, we started our trip to Chicago. We got there and I entered early so I could take some things to the Ta-Ta Tailgate. I dropped my items off and turned to see Barret, Griffin and Duncan walking toward the buses. Ethan also came around. I said hi again and he laughed again and gave me a big kiss on the cheek and hugged me. He was so sweaty I think my ear actually suctioned to his face, so when he pulled away I felt a pull and my ear actually hurt! LOL! Gross and embarassing.
I saw a lot of girls I knew from Michigan that evening and was able to chat and say hi to so many people form the online community. The Canadians also had gone to Chicago so we were able to talk to them a little bit too! It was great! We had seats in Row N on the aisle. They were very good! The show was awesome (of course) and at the end I held up a sign that had the "Let's Get This" logo. At one point Joe pointed right in my direction and smiled. I thought he was pointing at me, but when I turned around, the girl behind me was giddy and said he pointed to her. I was disappointed. But then during Hangin Tough I was DETERMINED to be seen. I stood on my chair and held up the sign again. Joe pointed at me and smiled and I pointed back. To be sure he was pointing at me, I blew a kiss to him. He then blew one back! AHHHH! An air kiss from Joe Mac during a concert!!!
After the concert, we said goodbye to the Canadians and were on our way to Cincy. The idea was to stay at the same hotel as the guys again if possible. We stopped at a rest stop and met some girls who were trying to follow them too. We traded cell #s and went on our way.
SATURDAY - CINCINNATI, OH - Still driving, we later (WAY early in the AM) got a call from the same girls and they said they were following a bus. We were geeked. We also saw a bus and passed it but kept track of it in the rear view mirror. The girls called and said they followed the bus to a Holiday Inn. That seemed incredibly hard to believe. We still followed their directions and went there (and lost the other bus in the process). We didn't get there until 6:00am. We saw a few tour buses, and we saw one of the guys from the crew, but the guys busses weren't there. We were disappointed but figured we'd just go to our hotel that we had already paid for downtown. We went and there was only one bed for 4 of us. It sucked but we were so tired. I slept on the bed (passed out) and the other girls argued and decided they wanted to go to a different hotel. We stayed until noon when we then checked out to stay some place else in Cincy for the next night, but we couldn't check in until 3:00.
We went to check out the venue and saw a nice but busy waterpark next door. It was INCREDIBLY hot! We also ate. I had to get ready and be at the venue by 4:30 for the book drive but we still weren't checked in. I started freaking out and was so upset. I got my make up on in the lobby bathroom. I started crying then. I was a mess. I needed sleep so badly and couldn't imagine meeting Joe in this shape, which just made me cry harder! I continued getting ready and we FINALLY got in the room. I had enough time to drop my stuff off and change then go downstairs to wait for valet. While waiting there was another girl who was going to the book drive. She offered to drive so I went with her. Her name was Allie and she was from Kentucky and was super sweet (and pregnant!).
We got there and waited around. It was so frickin' hot that day!!!!! Iowa came to get us and walked us over to Joe who was standing waiting for us in the shade, wearing his yellow shoes, while scraping the nail polish off of his finger nails. He smiled and said hi and gave us all hugs. I held up my "Let's Get This" logo sign from the night before and said "Remember me?" He said "Hey - that was you?" and gave me a hug (and no, I didn't believe he actually remembered me, but nice that he said that!). I stood next to him while he explained where we would be setting up and what we would be doing. He also made sure to tell us to stay in the shade since it was so hot. They said they would have only 2 bucket stops and I spoke up and suggested they add one more to the VIP area. I explained when we were in VIP in Detroit, none of us wanted to leave to donate books. Iowa said she thought there was a bucket over there already. Then he said "So they should be taken care of." He also said he and his family had been at the water park earlier in the day and had fun. (Should have gone there when we had the chance! Shirtless Joe! Ugh!) He told us that the Chicago book drive got 1300 books. He also said that for Detroit they didn't get as many as they had hoped and many had gotten wet from the rain. He said more that I don't remember because he kept making eye contact with me and those blue eyes were STUNNING!!!!!! Then we got together for a group pic t
hat was taken with his phone. After he kept starring at it trying to make sure it was ok, trying to decide if he should take a 2nd. Finally he said it was good. Before he left, a bunch of people started giving him stuff as gifts. I had a bracelet that I had bought with the intention to give it to him that said "Let's Get This"on it, but decided not to give it to him because of the rush of girls. The last girl (Carolyn) gave him some nail polish remover and said it was because of something that had been said by him previously (although he didn't remember what she was referring to). He looked at his nails and said, "Yeah, I've been thinking about it and am trying to decide if I should take a break from the polish or not." I blurted out "Take a break!" and then kind of tried to cower and hide (not very well) while he and everyone else turned and looked at me. Then another girl said "Well, maybe just use a different color..." I felt like an idiot.
hat was taken with his phone. After he kept starring at it trying to make sure it was ok, trying to decide if he should take a 2nd. Finally he said it was good. Before he left, a bunch of people started giving him stuff as gifts. I had a bracelet that I had bought with the intention to give it to him that said "Let's Get This"on it, but decided not to give it to him because of the rush of girls. The last girl (Carolyn) gave him some nail polish remover and said it was because of something that had been said by him previously (although he didn't remember what she was referring to). He looked at his nails and said, "Yeah, I've been thinking about it and am trying to decide if I should take a break from the polish or not." I blurted out "Take a break!" and then kind of tried to cower and hide (not very well) while he and everyone else turned and looked at me. Then another girl said "Well, maybe just use a different color..." I felt like an idiot. The book drive went well. We collected almost 900 books in the heat. The concert was amazing once again. When the guys ran back from Single in the crowd, I got a high five from Jon and Joe. That night, we stayed in Cincinnati... THANK GOD!
Donnie headed to a club in downtown Cincinnati that night, so was right down the street from us. After the concert, I tweeted what had happened at the book drive with the nail polish and the comment I made. Some people thought I was insane and said they couldn't believe I had said what I did. I FELT HORRIBLE. Remember, at this point, I've still only had 2.5 hours of sleep in a 38 hour time frame. I started crying again while the other girls argued about who got to take a shower first. I decided to take a walk outside to calm down. I ended up walking down to the club and peeked into the window and saw Donnie up on stage doing his thang! I also saw a Michigan girl, Julie, outside. I headed back just in time. Apparently Donnie left just minutes after I did. I got back and FINALLY got some sleep.
SUNDAY - INDIANAPOLIS, IN - We drove from Cincy to Indy in the early afternoon after sleeping in! Whew! Angie and I both had 5* for this show. I was posing as a Jordan-girl in my group. But I had a mission to apologize to Joe for the nail polish comment. Again, it was hot so this time I wore a dress to stay cool AND look cute! The Indy 5* was awesome! Seemed like it lasted forever! We walked in and Joe was walking towards us yelling something at a girl who was leaving. We had no idea what he was talking about - something like "Well, you didn't say anything so how would I know?" But that just gave us extra seconds to look at him! I went right over to Jordan who was lifting up his shirt a little bit. I said "Woo! Are you taking off your shirt???" He hugged me and said, "No, my pants!" I said, "Woo hoo! Even better!" Then other girls came up for a hug.
I headed over to Joe. I looked him straight in the eye and said "I was the blabber mouth from the book drive yesterday and I just wanted to apologize for telling you to take off your nail polish." He said, "What? Don't worry a
bout it! Other girls have said the same thing to me." And I said, "I know, but I just felt bad about it. There are some girls who do like it." At this point, they were yelling for pictures so I started walking towards Jordan. Joe had his hand on me and was following me - I think he thought I was going to stand next to him for pics. I could see out of the corner of my eye that the 'real' Joe girls were just waiting for him to come back for pictures. He said again, "Don't worry about it." And I said, "Thanks." and ran to Jordan quickly. Jordan said something like "Oooooo" during the 1st pic (to the point that I thought he was probably going to have a goofy face in the pic) and then said something else during the 2nd pic but I was too busy listening to Joe yell "Sweaty balls" to hear Jordan.
bout it! Other girls have said the same thing to me." And I said, "I know, but I just felt bad about it. There are some girls who do like it." At this point, they were yelling for pictures so I started walking towards Jordan. Joe had his hand on me and was following me - I think he thought I was going to stand next to him for pics. I could see out of the corner of my eye that the 'real' Joe girls were just waiting for him to come back for pictures. He said again, "Don't worry about it." And I said, "Thanks." and ran to Jordan quickly. Jordan said something like "Oooooo" during the 1st pic (to the point that I thought he was probably going to have a goofy face in the pic) and then said something else during the 2nd pic but I was too busy listening to Joe yell "Sweaty balls" to hear Jordan.So after the pics, I said thanks to Jordan and went back over to Joe, shaking terribly and took off my "Let's Get This" bracelet to give it to him. The security was trying to get us out, but I went to Joe and I handed the bracelet over and he gently took it while I said, "I know this may be silly, but I just want to give this to you." He looked at it and said "This is cool. Thank you. Now, were you the girl who gave me the nail polish remover yesterday?" I said, "No, that was another girl. I was the one who told you I thought you should take a break from it." He said, "Well, don't worry about it at all. Its all ok." And I said thanks and was shooed out by security.
Again, we had Row N for the concert. I was finally starting to get a little tired of going to the concerts every night. I sat down through two songs... I'm not gonna say whose, but lets just say Joe wasn't on stage. I ran over to Donnie's mini-stage during Single and got a high five. At the end of the show, I held up a sign that said "The Rocksicle makes me Hotsicle". Joe looked over at one point, pointed in my direction and pumped his arm as if to say "YES". I felt like it was me he was looking at, but I'm still not 100% certain. As Renee says, if you aren't sure, then the answer is YES, he WAS looking at ME! :)
That night we went to a Waffle House, but no one came. We just had fun on our own with our new found friends who worked there!
The next day we ended our amazing journey and returned to real life. But we had an amazing time posing as true groupies for a bit. We MAY just have to do that again!
Doesn't that deserve a kiss from Joe? - April 4, 2009
After my October concert, I needed more. Just after the concert I learned that if you got special tickets, you could do a meet and greet with the guys!!! SERIOUSLY????? If I shell out enough cash, I can meet these guys? No sneaking in hotel rooms? Or bus stalking? Just money? Oh I wanted in on this!!! Luckily, the guys announced they were going to do more concerts in the Spring. I talked to my friend about the VIP tickets. Unfortunately they were pricey - $375! But to meet the guys? I could handle that! Isn't that why I had a job? To do things I wanted?
We bought the tickets three days after they went on sale. This was before they sold out in minutes! Around that time, I also discovered newkidsnetwork.ning.com. I studied up on other people's 5* experiences. I learned not to expect anything. ANYTHING I was able to get would be wonderful! I also found several other girls to be in my group so that there weren't too many of one 'type' of girl. We had trouble finding Danny girls, so there were 3 Joe girls, but we were ready to share.
I also decided I needed a catchy shirt! I decided on one, bought it and was all ready. THEN the Michigan State Basketball team made it into the Final Four! The game was going to played DURING my meet and greet! I was gonna miss this huge game! :( I was ok with that. I knew this meet and greet was a great opportunity. So I decided to make it work for me. I made a green shirt that said "I'm missing MSU in the Final Four to be here" on the front. And on the back it said "Doesn't that deserve a kiss from Joe?" I also got my hair done the day of the concert so that I looked as good as can be (although once it was done, I decided not to do that again. My hair was too poofy!)
My friend Stephanie and I drove to Grand Rapids to the Van Andel Arena. We met up with our preformed group, but two of our girls decided to back out since they were way ahead in line and wanted to stay there. We were left with only 7 of us: Nicole, Dawn, Stefnie, Virginia, Jamie, Stephanie and me, but those 7 were so AWESOME! I was so happy to meet them all and thrilled our group was so nice! Nicole saw a friend of hers from online. She went over to talk to them and there were 3 of them without a group! 2 Danny girls and 1 Donnie girl! Perfect! We had 2 Donnie girls already, but everyone was willing to share the love. :)
We were assigned to Group "I" and went upstairs. There was lots of food left. Basically it was chips/bread and dips and it was perfect to settle the stomach a little (you know me and my nervous eating). They also had free wine and beer, bu the wine went FAST! No problem, I'm happier with my beer anyway! I only had one, just to calm the nerves. We also got our tickets and found out we were in row H, which isn't bad since I bought my tickets on the third day of sales!
Girls started screaming and we saw the guys came up the stairs and slip into the VIP area and we got a brief sneak peek of them! I was fairly nervous as soon as I saw them since they all looked so short (and I'm 5'11" in heels)! We stood around waiting, trying to stay calm, while getting tiny sneak peeks through the cracks in the curtain, until they called our group.
I was first in line to walk in. We walked in and all of the guys were busy messing with their phones or looking at stuff. Jordan was the only one paying attention (and he was standing next to Joe) so I went straight to him and gave him a hug, said "Thank you" and quickly showed him the front of my shirt and he smiled.
Then I turned and grabbed Joe (whose back was still to the group) and said "Look, this is all for you!" and I showed him the front of the shirt, then turned around so he could read the back. He smiled and then he gave me a kiss on the right cheek and hugged me! He was all scruffy when he kissed me! I was kinda surprised, but I did not mind ONE BIT!!! LOL!
More girls came up for their Joe hugs, so I left and went to hug Jon, who was engaged in conversation with Nicole. I hated to interrupt but did anyway to get a hug. He was SOOOO skinny! They all were! I said "Thank you" and he said "Sure. Its nice to meet you." That was when I realized I hadn't said my name ONCE since we walked in (on my "to do" list for next time).
They yelled for pictures,
so I went running back to Joe and we put our arms around each other and he said "So, wait a minute. Did you go to MSU?" I said "Yeah" and he said "That's like sacrilegious" and I said "Yeah" (I have amazing conversation skills as you can tell). Right before we were getting our pics taken, Joe saw my friend Steph's shirt and said "Full Service Station?" and she yelled "Yah, Joe! It's all for you!" and he said "Can you make a deposit?". Well then! Then we got our picture taken (which turned out fabulous!).
I gave Joe another hug and I said, "Hey, if you get a chance, you should announce if MSU wins". He said "Yeah, but don't you have TiVo?". I said (as I stared into his blue eyes), "Yeah, but I need to know the moment of the win!". They were shooing us out and Stephanie grabbed a hug from Joe. I couldn't resist and stole ONE MORE HUG after her! Then he said "Isn't the game starting, like, right now?" and ask I walked out, I looked at him, pouted and said "Yeah".
Our group got together afterwards and freaked out. We LOVED our 5* experience with them! I missed out on hugging Donnie, but I was ok with that. My fave is Joe and there were 3 girls trying to get to Donnie. It was fine with me - I'll just hug him next time! We all realized that none of us saw Danny. The girls we had added to our group last minute had gotten all of his time! That was fine with me. They had given him an airbrushed shirt of his mom and him. He LOVED it! He took a solo picture with them and he ended up wearing that shirt not only later that night but throughout the rest of the tour and he still wears it at breast cancer fundraising events! Way to go Sabrina!
Before the concert began, I was going to the concession stand to get a soda. I was walking out and a girl said "I love your shirt. I'm missing the game too." I looked at her and said "Did you go to East Lansing High School?" She said, "Uh, yes." I said "You're AMY! I played basketball with you when we were in elementary school!" YES FOLKS... IT WAS @MSUAMY1!!!!!!! I asked Amy if she lived in Michigan and she said she was in town visiting and came to the concert with someone. She acted all disinterested! NOW THAT I KNOW HER BETTER.... AMY? WERE YOU LYING?? LOL!!! We parted ways and didn't talk to each other again until I spotted her in a Tony's Assistant video!
Stephanie and I eventually got to our seats. Just after the lights went down to start the concert, I got a text. "MSU WINS!" I was soooo happy! That was one of the coolest moments ever! The concert was awesome (of course)! I actually felt more calm than I did at the last one - I was able to actually enjoy the music rather than freak out that the New Kids were back! Donnie mentioned the MSU win right away and again later. Joe mentioned it later too. They wore MSU jerseys at the end and were adorable.
Our group met up afterwards and went out to the buses after the show. Donnie made the rounds and I got to see him up close, but I wasn't close enough for a hand shake. Maybe in the summer.... ;)
We bought the tickets three days after they went on sale. This was before they sold out in minutes! Around that time, I also discovered newkidsnetwork.ning.com. I studied up on other people's 5* experiences. I learned not to expect anything. ANYTHING I was able to get would be wonderful! I also found several other girls to be in my group so that there weren't too many of one 'type' of girl. We had trouble finding Danny girls, so there were 3 Joe girls, but we were ready to share.
I also decided I needed a catchy shirt! I decided on one, bought it and was all ready. THEN the Michigan State Basketball team made it into the Final Four! The game was going to played DURING my meet and greet! I was gonna miss this huge game! :( I was ok with that. I knew this meet and greet was a great opportunity. So I decided to make it work for me. I made a green shirt that said "I'm missing MSU in the Final Four to be here" on the front. And on the back it said "Doesn't that deserve a kiss from Joe?" I also got my hair done the day of the concert so that I looked as good as can be (although once it was done, I decided not to do that again. My hair was too poofy!)
My friend Stephanie and I drove to Grand Rapids to the Van Andel Arena. We met up with our preformed group, but two of our girls decided to back out since they were way ahead in line and wanted to stay there. We were left with only 7 of us: Nicole, Dawn, Stefnie, Virginia, Jamie, Stephanie and me, but those 7 were so AWESOME! I was so happy to meet them all and thrilled our group was so nice! Nicole saw a friend of hers from online. She went over to talk to them and there were 3 of them without a group! 2 Danny girls and 1 Donnie girl! Perfect! We had 2 Donnie girls already, but everyone was willing to share the love. :)
We were assigned to Group "I" and went upstairs. There was lots of food left. Basically it was chips/bread and dips and it was perfect to settle the stomach a little (you know me and my nervous eating). They also had free wine and beer, bu the wine went FAST! No problem, I'm happier with my beer anyway! I only had one, just to calm the nerves. We also got our tickets and found out we were in row H, which isn't bad since I bought my tickets on the third day of sales!
Girls started screaming and we saw the guys came up the stairs and slip into the VIP area and we got a brief sneak peek of them! I was fairly nervous as soon as I saw them since they all looked so short (and I'm 5'11" in heels)! We stood around waiting, trying to stay calm, while getting tiny sneak peeks through the cracks in the curtain, until they called our group.
I was first in line to walk in. We walked in and all of the guys were busy messing with their phones or looking at stuff. Jordan was the only one paying attention (and he was standing next to Joe) so I went straight to him and gave him a hug, said "Thank you" and quickly showed him the front of my shirt and he smiled.
Then I turned and grabbed Joe (whose back was still to the group) and said "Look, this is all for you!" and I showed him the front of the shirt, then turned around so he could read the back. He smiled and then he gave me a kiss on the right cheek and hugged me! He was all scruffy when he kissed me! I was kinda surprised, but I did not mind ONE BIT!!! LOL!
More girls came up for their Joe hugs, so I left and went to hug Jon, who was engaged in conversation with Nicole. I hated to interrupt but did anyway to get a hug. He was SOOOO skinny! They all were! I said "Thank you" and he said "Sure. Its nice to meet you." That was when I realized I hadn't said my name ONCE since we walked in (on my "to do" list for next time).
They yelled for pictures,
so I went running back to Joe and we put our arms around each other and he said "So, wait a minute. Did you go to MSU?" I said "Yeah" and he said "That's like sacrilegious" and I said "Yeah" (I have amazing conversation skills as you can tell). Right before we were getting our pics taken, Joe saw my friend Steph's shirt and said "Full Service Station?" and she yelled "Yah, Joe! It's all for you!" and he said "Can you make a deposit?". Well then! Then we got our picture taken (which turned out fabulous!).I gave Joe another hug and I said, "Hey, if you get a chance, you should announce if MSU wins". He said "Yeah, but don't you have TiVo?". I said (as I stared into his blue eyes), "Yeah, but I need to know the moment of the win!". They were shooing us out and Stephanie grabbed a hug from Joe. I couldn't resist and stole ONE MORE HUG after her! Then he said "Isn't the game starting, like, right now?" and ask I walked out, I looked at him, pouted and said "Yeah".
Our group got together afterwards and freaked out. We LOVED our 5* experience with them! I missed out on hugging Donnie, but I was ok with that. My fave is Joe and there were 3 girls trying to get to Donnie. It was fine with me - I'll just hug him next time! We all realized that none of us saw Danny. The girls we had added to our group last minute had gotten all of his time! That was fine with me. They had given him an airbrushed shirt of his mom and him. He LOVED it! He took a solo picture with them and he ended up wearing that shirt not only later that night but throughout the rest of the tour and he still wears it at breast cancer fundraising events! Way to go Sabrina!
Before the concert began, I was going to the concession stand to get a soda. I was walking out and a girl said "I love your shirt. I'm missing the game too." I looked at her and said "Did you go to East Lansing High School?" She said, "Uh, yes." I said "You're AMY! I played basketball with you when we were in elementary school!" YES FOLKS... IT WAS @MSUAMY1!!!!!!! I asked Amy if she lived in Michigan and she said she was in town visiting and came to the concert with someone. She acted all disinterested! NOW THAT I KNOW HER BETTER.... AMY? WERE YOU LYING?? LOL!!! We parted ways and didn't talk to each other again until I spotted her in a Tony's Assistant video!
Stephanie and I eventually got to our seats. Just after the lights went down to start the concert, I got a text. "MSU WINS!" I was soooo happy! That was one of the coolest moments ever! The concert was awesome (of course)! I actually felt more calm than I did at the last one - I was able to actually enjoy the music rather than freak out that the New Kids were back! Donnie mentioned the MSU win right away and again later. Joe mentioned it later too. They wore MSU jerseys at the end and were adorable.
Our group met up afterwards and went out to the buses after the show. Donnie made the rounds and I got to see him up close, but I wasn't close enough for a hand shake. Maybe in the summer.... ;)
My return to NKOTB! - October 25, 2008
The day after my last New Kids on the Block in 1991, I got my first boyfriend. That was also the day I also got over NKOTB. Over the years after that, I had seen Joe, Jordan and Donnie in entertainment here and there. I was happy to see them and giggled a little bit remembering my love for them, but overall I really hadn't followed their careers or been incredibly interested in them.
I did go to one of Joe's solo concerts in Chicago in 2004. He had always been my favorite and it was just a mile or two from where I lived. They were promoting it so much on my radio station and it was cheap so I decided to go all by myself to check it out. I admit, I walked into that show without a camera or a phone thinking this would just be something to pass the time on a Thursday night. But when he got on stage, I found myself squeeling and smiling from ear to ear! It was an amazing, intimate show. I cursed myself for a while afterwards for not having a camera with me! My friend yelled at me for not calling her while I was there so she could hear him! I ran out and bought his solo CD after that (One Too Many) and listened to it every day. But, he kind of disappeared from music after that, so I stopped paying attention to him.
Fast forward to Spring 2008 when I start to hear mumblings about an NKOTB reunion. Inside, I think "REALLY? That would be cool, IF they were any good!" I had not seen serveral of them for years and wasn't sure if they looked fat and bald or what. I also didn't know if they could still sing. My questions are answered the day my brother emails me the link to the YouTube video of Summertime. He makes fun of the "Its On" text Donnie sends so I know he is definitely still anti-NKOTB. I watch the video and am STUNNED to see how amazing all of the guys look. I mean, have they aged at all???? Not only do they look good, but they can sing! And its a good song! I'm fully impressed! But I still avoid jumping on the band wagon. It had been 12 years since I truly cared about NKOTB. Liking NKOTB was hard enough the first time. Everyone made fun of me! I didn't feel the need to go through that again, but I definitely respected the guys for the work they were doing now.
I hear from a friend that NKOTB is planning a tour. They will be making a stop in Detroit and she has decided to go. She asks if I want her to buy me a ticket. No. I don't. There is a piece of me that wants to jump up and scream "YES! Let's try to get the front row!!", but again, I have so many other friends (including this girl's husband) who are anti-NKOTB and I just don't want to be the uncool kid again. I say no and avoid any NKOTB mumblings I hear.
Doing dishes one day, I have the radio on and this song comes on. I think the idea of the song is kind of weird.... a girl goes to a club alone and this guy wants to be her boyfriend for just one song? What a PLAYER! But I do really like the sound of the song. I wonder if its Backstreet Boys. Did they do a reunion too? Then, the song ends and they announce it was NKOTB's song "Single". WHAT? Really? Again, I am floored by how much I like the song and try to shake it off. But I can't shake it now. My curiosity has been peaked.
I contact my girlfriend and ask for details on the concert. I call my other friend, who I know from high school and the end of our mutual NKOTB & Joe love. I tell her that I think I want tickets for the concert for my October birthday. She is shocked but is open to the idea. She never turns down a good concert opportunity. So, we buy the tickets. Ok, I think. I'll go to the concert and check it out. That'll be it. Nothing more. I bought the CD from iTunes (therefore getting all of the songs available) so I would know the songs at the concert. I am even more impressed now. I love every single song on the CD. ALL of them! I'm still keeping my cool about the concert, but I'm definitely looking forward to hearing these songs live in concert.
The day finally comes. Early in the day on October 25, 2008 I am at a football party with my old high school friends (a big college rivalry game - MSU vs UofM - was on that day). This party includes the boyfriend I started dating the day after my last NKOTB concert. I kept it a secret from all of them why I have to leave early from the party. No way was I telling them I was headed to a New Kids concert! They'd laugh me out of the house! So I sneak out and go get my friend.
We get to the Palace of Auburn Hills and as soon as we walk in, I realize we made the right choice by coming! There are girls every where in vintage NKOTB shirts, neon, with crimped hair and high bangs. It was like a costume party! It was AWESOME! It was like they were celebrating our lives from back in the day! It was amazing to be surrounded by so many people who shared the same history as me! I was starting to get excited!
We take our seats and are impressed with how good they are! We are looking straight on to the stage and are just a few rows up from the floor! Then the girl in front of us points to a black covered block on the left. She tells us it is a piano and that the guys come out to that stage for a few songs. WHA??? We are pretty close to this stage (about 20 rows away)! For not being sure if we even wanted to go, we are thrilled with our seats! The opening act begins. Its Natasha Bedingfield. She is pretty good, but I can't wait until the New Kids come on.
The Palace goes dark and the screen starts with "15 years ago.... they walked away... They're back". I have chills EVERYWHERE! And then the New Kids on the Block take the stage. All of a sudden, I am 14 years old again! I start screaming at the top of my lungs and jump up and down. What happened to me? I was supposed to stay calm! I was supposed to not care! I WAS SUPPOSED TO REMAIN SANE! Yet here I am! I have lost my mind! Again! The concert continues, and so does my screaming. By the end of the concert I am sweaty, hoarse, and on the top of the world. The New Kids on the Block are back! And so am I! And so my crazy journey begins....
I did go to one of Joe's solo concerts in Chicago in 2004. He had always been my favorite and it was just a mile or two from where I lived. They were promoting it so much on my radio station and it was cheap so I decided to go all by myself to check it out. I admit, I walked into that show without a camera or a phone thinking this would just be something to pass the time on a Thursday night. But when he got on stage, I found myself squeeling and smiling from ear to ear! It was an amazing, intimate show. I cursed myself for a while afterwards for not having a camera with me! My friend yelled at me for not calling her while I was there so she could hear him! I ran out and bought his solo CD after that (One Too Many) and listened to it every day. But, he kind of disappeared from music after that, so I stopped paying attention to him.
Fast forward to Spring 2008 when I start to hear mumblings about an NKOTB reunion. Inside, I think "REALLY? That would be cool, IF they were any good!" I had not seen serveral of them for years and wasn't sure if they looked fat and bald or what. I also didn't know if they could still sing. My questions are answered the day my brother emails me the link to the YouTube video of Summertime. He makes fun of the "Its On" text Donnie sends so I know he is definitely still anti-NKOTB. I watch the video and am STUNNED to see how amazing all of the guys look. I mean, have they aged at all???? Not only do they look good, but they can sing! And its a good song! I'm fully impressed! But I still avoid jumping on the band wagon. It had been 12 years since I truly cared about NKOTB. Liking NKOTB was hard enough the first time. Everyone made fun of me! I didn't feel the need to go through that again, but I definitely respected the guys for the work they were doing now.
I hear from a friend that NKOTB is planning a tour. They will be making a stop in Detroit and she has decided to go. She asks if I want her to buy me a ticket. No. I don't. There is a piece of me that wants to jump up and scream "YES! Let's try to get the front row!!", but again, I have so many other friends (including this girl's husband) who are anti-NKOTB and I just don't want to be the uncool kid again. I say no and avoid any NKOTB mumblings I hear.
Doing dishes one day, I have the radio on and this song comes on. I think the idea of the song is kind of weird.... a girl goes to a club alone and this guy wants to be her boyfriend for just one song? What a PLAYER! But I do really like the sound of the song. I wonder if its Backstreet Boys. Did they do a reunion too? Then, the song ends and they announce it was NKOTB's song "Single". WHAT? Really? Again, I am floored by how much I like the song and try to shake it off. But I can't shake it now. My curiosity has been peaked.
I contact my girlfriend and ask for details on the concert. I call my other friend, who I know from high school and the end of our mutual NKOTB & Joe love. I tell her that I think I want tickets for the concert for my October birthday. She is shocked but is open to the idea. She never turns down a good concert opportunity. So, we buy the tickets. Ok, I think. I'll go to the concert and check it out. That'll be it. Nothing more. I bought the CD from iTunes (therefore getting all of the songs available) so I would know the songs at the concert. I am even more impressed now. I love every single song on the CD. ALL of them! I'm still keeping my cool about the concert, but I'm definitely looking forward to hearing these songs live in concert.
The day finally comes. Early in the day on October 25, 2008 I am at a football party with my old high school friends (a big college rivalry game - MSU vs UofM - was on that day). This party includes the boyfriend I started dating the day after my last NKOTB concert. I kept it a secret from all of them why I have to leave early from the party. No way was I telling them I was headed to a New Kids concert! They'd laugh me out of the house! So I sneak out and go get my friend.
We get to the Palace of Auburn Hills and as soon as we walk in, I realize we made the right choice by coming! There are girls every where in vintage NKOTB shirts, neon, with crimped hair and high bangs. It was like a costume party! It was AWESOME! It was like they were celebrating our lives from back in the day! It was amazing to be surrounded by so many people who shared the same history as me! I was starting to get excited!
We take our seats and are impressed with how good they are! We are looking straight on to the stage and are just a few rows up from the floor! Then the girl in front of us points to a black covered block on the left. She tells us it is a piano and that the guys come out to that stage for a few songs. WHA??? We are pretty close to this stage (about 20 rows away)! For not being sure if we even wanted to go, we are thrilled with our seats! The opening act begins. Its Natasha Bedingfield. She is pretty good, but I can't wait until the New Kids come on.
The Palace goes dark and the screen starts with "15 years ago.... they walked away... They're back". I have chills EVERYWHERE! And then the New Kids on the Block take the stage. All of a sudden, I am 14 years old again! I start screaming at the top of my lungs and jump up and down. What happened to me? I was supposed to stay calm! I was supposed to not care! I WAS SUPPOSED TO REMAIN SANE! Yet here I am! I have lost my mind! Again! The concert continues, and so does my screaming. By the end of the concert I am sweaty, hoarse, and on the top of the world. The New Kids on the Block are back! And so am I! And so my crazy journey begins....
Welcome to my show!
This past year of crazy NKOTB antics and experiences has been amazing! Honestly, things that I only dreamt of as a 14 & 15 year old have come true! And now it actually feels as though my experiences are surpassing any dreams I may have had as a young teen, so I figured it is time that I save all of these stories in one place and share them with others who know about this wonderful journey!
Several of the blogs I will post are already written and have just been sitting in my "draft email" box so that I had it documented SOMEWHERE! So the dates will all have December dates, but it covers some of 2008 and all of 2009.
Another warning: I am a full-fledged JOE GIRL. No doubt about it. And I have been since 1989. So while I will mention my run-ins with the other guys, my focus will absolutely be on Joe! So if you read my blog from start to finish, my may be Joe-d out... or you MAY become a Joe-vert! :) Either way, I hope you EN-JOEY it! ha ha ha
I hope you all enjoy all of what you read here and can smile as you think about your own amazing NKOTB moments. While we all have our own experiences, the thrills of living out childhood dreams is a shared feeling. These 5 men have given us so much over the years, and it just keeps getting better. I will never be able to thank them enough. If any of you guys EVER read this, please know you have made our lives fuller and happier. If I thanked you every day of my life, it still would not encompass my appreciation for you and what you have done.
Much Love Always,
Heather (aka, RocksicleLover)
Several of the blogs I will post are already written and have just been sitting in my "draft email" box so that I had it documented SOMEWHERE! So the dates will all have December dates, but it covers some of 2008 and all of 2009.
Another warning: I am a full-fledged JOE GIRL. No doubt about it. And I have been since 1989. So while I will mention my run-ins with the other guys, my focus will absolutely be on Joe! So if you read my blog from start to finish, my may be Joe-d out... or you MAY become a Joe-vert! :) Either way, I hope you EN-JOEY it! ha ha ha
I hope you all enjoy all of what you read here and can smile as you think about your own amazing NKOTB moments. While we all have our own experiences, the thrills of living out childhood dreams is a shared feeling. These 5 men have given us so much over the years, and it just keeps getting better. I will never be able to thank them enough. If any of you guys EVER read this, please know you have made our lives fuller and happier. If I thanked you every day of my life, it still would not encompass my appreciation for you and what you have done.
Much Love Always,
Heather (aka, RocksicleLover)
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