Everyone has a crazy friend. You know the one you have to talk out of bad ideas constantly. The one who instigates the streaking and cusses out random people on the street. The dirty joke friend, the drives like a maniac friend. Well... Renee is that friend to me. And if I am the wild one among my circle of friends, Renee always coaxes me into new heights of libertine decadence. I promised more New Kids dish and today I'm turning over the blog to her to tell the real story of our shennanigans at the Concord Pavillion last week. Take it away Renee...
It's Mac Tonight!
See what happens when a crazy hot Latina finds herself at the feet of her teenage heart-throb.
Call it fate. Call it destiny. Call it karma.
I call it the happiest night of my life.
But let me back up. Things started out pretty normal (me running late to Em's, Em's well-intentioned but lackluster navigation skills, Em's mis-guided tour of Concord, a muy deli
taqueria pit-stop, undecipherable hand signals from Pavillion parking lot attendees...) You know, normal.
Soon enough, we three were bopping and singing along to our favorite NKOTB songs, proving no matter how old you are, girls just want to have fun. But then about half-way through the set, Em's spidey senses went off. Something was afoot.
She noticed that concert staff were bringing in tables into the lower level a few yards from where we sat. And when, the opening notes of "Single" rang out and spotlights showed the boys from Boston snaking their way up the stage right aisle toward the lower level, Em, in a rare moment of f-it-all impulse, took charge and lead us in a sprint towards them. (I swear, I never do stuff like that, it was some kind of out-of-body experience.) Soon she and I were standing a mere feet away from Donnie. I was like, "Where's Joey?!!" And Em pointed toward the center and screamed, "He's over there!"
I ran back like my feet were on fire avoiding the arms and elbows of other fans pressed against the guard rail separating Level 1 and Level 2. As I came dead center, lo, and behold, the seas parted revealing a three foot opening in the fangate. And in the middle of that parting, like an angel, stood my beloved Joey MacIntyre. Seeing my window quickly closing, I pulled myself pommel-horse style up onto the guard railing, reached out the Joey and screamed, "I love you!!!" Mid-verse, he pointed directly at me and smiled! (This is where it got dicey - Renee got the crazy eye, the look she gets right before I have to prevent her from doing something illegal. I was ready to restrain her at this point. Seriously, I grabbed her arm and braced my feet.)
I about died! But then, imagine my utter awe when he locked eyes with me and proceeded to walk over tables, chairs and other fans towards ME! I pommelled the guard rail again but this time came to straddle it just as Joey grasped my hand and hoisted himself onto a guard rail alongside me!
And for what seemed like an eternity, Joey held my arm for balance and dear life as he continued to croon to the frenzied audience.
For the record, this is the closest I have ever gotten to a celebrity. I could have reached up and touched his face. When I was a girl I would spend HOURS rearranging my New Kids posters and then staring at them moonily while listening to Please don't go girl. Never, ever in my life could I have dreamed that I would get that close to one of my first crushes. It was surreal.I wildly searched the crowd at his feet for Em, pleading that someone, anyone was getting this moment on film. Because I couldn't believe it myself! Was I dreaming? Was this really happening to me?
And then, above the throng, as a body guard helped Joe Mac down from the railing and back to safety, I heard Em's excited screams of "I got it! I got it!", I knew my life's mission as an NKOTB fan was complete.
So Joey, if you're out there, thank you for making this 35-year-old-going-on-13's mental book of memories a whole lot sweeter...
