While this week the Enterprise Center in beautiful downtown St. Louis, Missouri is playing host to the St. Louis Blues Stanley Cup playoffs bid, last weekend it was hosting a much different kind of event, albeit one that was every bit as exciting! Melissa, Nancy, and I all went there to see The Mixtape Tour starring New Kids on the Block, En Vogue, Salt-N-Pepa, and Rick Astley! Needless to say, it was THE BEST! We’re totally batting 1,000 this year with all three of our concerts! Elton John kicked things off for us in March with THE BEST show, followed by Bon Jovi in April giving us something every bit as spectacular, and now this 80’s/90’s festival of hits was EVERYTHING we wanted AND MORE!
New Kids opened the show with Block Party, an energetic banger off their 2013 album 10 before delivering my absolute favorite song of theirs: My Favorite Girl! I was living my best life singing and dancing along to every word! Somehow it was never officially released as a single back in the day, only served to radio, which I maintain is a HUGE oversight in an otherwise spotless career because this song could’ve easily earned them another top ten hit!
Dirty Dancing and Summertime came next, both tracks off their 2008 comeback LP, The Block. I love both these songs, so the zone I was in for My Favorite Girl, I never abandoned. 1989 hit Cover Girl, had the crowd – and especially the three of us – going wild! That momentum only amplified when they broke into You Got It (The Right Stuff!) The Enterprise Center was rockin’ out in unison during this number! Everyone was on their feet jammin’! They wrapped up this set with a track called The Whisper, which while I was completely unfamiliar with, I super loved.
New Kids on the Block finished their set on the smaller stage, which was to the right of where we were sitting and as the lights on the small stage went dark, those over the large stage ignited, showcasing the ladies of En Vogue. They wasted no time diving into My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It), which was a real crowd pleaser and had everyone singing along with them. They then delivered us the song I’d been most excited to hear all night: Free Your Mind! Let me tell you all what, I LOVE THIS SONG! This jam should be mandatory listening for everyone regardless of age! This song about prejudice slaps so hard that I cannot even begin to tell you how many miles I’ve ran while this jam played out my airpods! I love it so much and again, was living my absolute best life!
I about pooped my pants with sheer excitement when En Vogue disappeared and Rick Astley arrived immediately on the other stage singing Together Forever because that’s the other song I was most looking forward to hearing! I was singing along so loud and so hard that I started coughing rampantly in failure to catch my breath! I didn’t even care that I couldn’t breathe right in that moment! I was hearing one of the best songs of the 80’s right there live and in person, so if I would’ve died, at least I would’ve died happy. Rick gave us one more song, It Would Take A Strong, Strong Man before turning the stage back over to NKOTB. I don’t think I’ve ever heard this song in my life, but it was pretty solid. Definitely another jam.
NKOTB wasted no time in getting everyone back on their feet with a medley of their fast-paced songs mixed with some covers: House Party, Hold On, Full Service, Return of the Mac, and Call It What You Want. We then got an interesting combo of a cover of the Eurythmics, Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) and their own hit, Twisted. They then closed this set with Remix (I Like The) and everyone was back in their element again. Showman Donnie Wahlberg really knows how to get the crowd out of their seats and on their feet.
It was finally Salt-N-Pepa’s turn and they were the first act to feature some backup dancers! We loved that! They opened with None Of Your Business, which I wasn’t too familiar with before giving us a song called Express Yourself, which again, didn’t really know, but I did like both these. Finally it was Let’s Talk About Sex and me and everyone else in there knew this one and we were all singing and dancing along! Shake Your Thang followed and I wasn’t too familiar, but when the ladies of En Vogue arrived back on stage I knew it was time for Whatta Man and of course, we all knew this jam! Whatta hit!
Salt-N-Pepa left the stage and En Vogue then performed Don’t Let Go, which is such a slow jam! I was singing along to every single word of this iconic hit! Love me some 90’s R&B and this song is about the pinnacle of that genre!
New Kids on the Block returned this time to the smaller stage to sing, Please Don’t Go Girl and Games before launching another favorite of mine, Tonight! What a rocker and what a night we were having! We then got a true mixtape medley of the original choruses of Cyndi Lauper’s, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun; Whitney Houston’s, I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me); Def Leppard’s, Pour Some Sugar On Me; and lastly, my guys, Bon Jovi’s, Livin’ On A Prayer! Again, we were just living our best life jammin’ out to these timeless tunes!
Rick Astley returned to give us what has become his signature hit, Never Gonna Give You Up. Everyone was in a frenzy of excitement and emotion during this one and who can blame them!?! This song was already a jam, but has become something of a sensation in recent years. Good for Rick. He then slowed things down with a track called, Cry For Help, this was a welcomed change of pace because it was the first time since the show started that I actually sat down. My dancing feet needed this break, so thank you Rick!
I didn’t get to sit long though because Salt-N-Pepa were already back with Shoop and if you know that song, you know it’s a banger! I loved their energy each time they were on stage. You could just tell they’re as awesome off stage as they are on.
NKOTB returned with Baby, I Believe In You, another slower song followed by their breakout single from 1987, Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time). Valentine Girl came next and being one of their signature tracks, everyone was going crazy! If You Go Away followed and I didn’t really know this one, but you best believe me and EVERYONE else knew the next one, I’ll Be Loving You (Forever)! I love this tender love ballad! If my voice wasn’t so coughed up from earlier, I could’ve maintained Jordan Knight’s vocal momentum, but I just wasn’t up to par after nearly dying on my coughs earlier, so I had to let Jordan take it for me and instead just sway to the music.
En Vogue promptly returned to the stage with their first #1, Hold On. I wasn’t too familiar with this one, but everyone else certainly seemed to be, but I’ve definitely familiarized myself with it since! What a hit! NKOTB then gave us Step By Step and let me tell you what: I LOVE THIS SONG! Salt-N-Pepa were back with Push It and that’s exactly what we were all doing! Pushing it and pushing it good before NKOTB closed the concert out with Hangin’ Tough! Everyone was going absolutely berserk during this song! I mean, how could we not be!?! Such a generation-defining jam – not my generation because I’m only 29, but for sure Nancy’s.
All four of these acts have a song together, so we knew it was going to be there at some point! Bring Back The Time followed Hangin’ Tough and all four acts were on stage to perform their portion of the song and what a song it is. If you haven’t yet, check out the music video for this one. It’s amazing! Then as I assumed we would, we all got Rick-Rolled with another take on Never Gonna Give You Up and knowing that this was the final song of the night made hearing it once more even more perfect than the first go around. If you know anything about me, you would know I LOVE to listen to my music on repeat, so hearing the same song in the same concert – twice – was most definitely a blessing for me!
I love that New Kids on the Block keep doing these Mixtape Tours and bringing along supporting acts from the same time period! I hope Taylor Dayne, Bonnie Tyler, and Toni Braxton make future cuts! Although, Toni has as many hits – if not more – than NKOTB, so she might be too big to join the Block Party. Nonetheless, these are much dream additions to future tours!
As always, THANK YOU so much for viewing! Your support means the world to me! Please feel free to leave me a comment below as I love reading and responding to them! I’ll be back next week with another all new post, so until then, I wish you all, all the best!
This is a legit blast from the past concert that sounds so amazing!!! I feel like Salt N’ Pepa performing Shoop would be the topped for me!
That was such a jam! They killed it! We had THE BEST time! So many hits! Whatta night!
Sounds like it was just like you turned on the radio in 1990!
That’s EXACTLY what it was like! Oh, whatta night!
I legit thought you were gonna talk about sex in this post. Initially was disappointed by the clickbait, but your writing always makes me smile!
I. Am. Dead. I was just referencing a song from each of the artists, but I’m thrilled that it worked to bring you to my blog! Thank you for your kind words & your viewership!