If you hated the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync, blame New Kids on the Block.
The precursor to the late-'90s spate of boy-band mania, the New Kids initiated modern teen hysteria in the late-'80s under the guidance of guru Maurice Starr. But by 1994, the boys' glammy pop had given way to Kurt Cobain-driven angst and the group disbanded.
Like any smart businessmen though, last year the New Kids -- who prefer to refer to themselves as NKOTB now -- realized the financial potential in reunion tours and embarked on one that was surprising in its massive success, selling out nearly every arena in major cities.
To their credit, Joey McIntyre, Jordan and Jonathan Knight, Danny Wood and Donnie Wahlberg didn't just return to the screaming masses with their well-worn radio hits, but last year released "The Block," a hit-and-miss collection of new pop piffles.
All of it -- the nostalgic and the fresh -- was on display for two hours last night at the Richmond Coliseum at a show that began with a ridiculously hyperbolic video ("One year ago they SHOCKED THE WORLD!") but gave the hyperventilating crowd of 4,500 exactly what it craved.
Rising from the bowels of the stage like some well-chiseled phoenixes, the quintet instantly slid into its old-school dance moves -- and didn't look entirely ridiculous doing them during "My Favorite Girl," an airy confection filled with clichés and platitudes. But isn't that the purpose of boy-band music?
Of the fivesome, Jonathan Knight looked a bit bored and stiff, but the others seemed to relish the adoration as they skipped onto two side platforms to spin and grin.
An early appearance by mega-hit "The Right Stuff" -- complete with that groovy little side-step dance -- elicited a level of squealing not found in nature, and the four shapely female dancers who accompanied the guys must have been recruited solely to occupy the roughly 19 men in the audience.
The group's cover of The Delfonics' "Didn't I Blow Your Mind This Time," which they brought to the top 10 on the charts in 1989, sounded sublime, mostly due to Jordan Knight's undiminished falsetto.
Jordan, the younger Knight brother at 38, also took a solo spin later in the show with "Baby, I Believe in You," baring his toned chest as a large fan billowed his white shirt behind him.
And why yes, it did indeed resemble a Whitesnake video.
No one expects life-changing music from a boy band, but when used as a couple of hours of distraction from the current world, the guys get a salute for a mission accomplished.
Contact Melissa Ruggieri at (804) 649-6120 or mruggieri@timesdispatch.com.
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