It really was a Funky, Funky Christmas!

Waking up to the snow covered streets of Boston was fantastic.  Especially since we were planning on being lazy for a few hours.  Usually Jess and I call show days “game days,” but since it was soooo cold and nasty out we were only going to wait for a few hours before showtime.  We were just relaxing, or in my case freaking out over whether Joe was going to make it, when I got a text message from one of my friends saying to get to the House of Blues…NOW for wristbands.  Well, time to go!  So with my large gangsta Joe Mac t-shirt, sweatshirt, jeans and boots I was ready to roll.  It wasn’t till we were in the cab that Jessica and I realized we didn’t brush our hair…or teeth. EWWWW funky, funky Xmas was right! Whatever we were just going to get the wristbands and then head back to the hotel, right?
WRONG!!!
Once we got out of the cab, we noticed Armando lurking around.  Now what in the world was he doing here.  We heard him before we saw him, “NO CELLPHONES!!!”  Wellllllll fuuuuuck our life.  Mr. Donnie Wahlberg is here.  Who has a piece of gum?  A brush?  Ahhhh fuck it!  He was talking to people, so we lurked in the back.  He begins to say, “How many people we got…” and then holds two fingers up to count Jess and I, when he realized it was in fact, Jess and I.  He kinda gave this look like “you again!?!?!” I just waved innocently and he asked if we have been following him, we said we just wanted a damn wristband, so hurry the hell up!  He told us to hold on for a few minutes, because he was going to see if he could bring the 12 of us inside.  Come again?  Say what now?  Well go on playa!


We were outside for about 15 minutes, which felt like an eternity and we were all popsicles.  Finally, Armando comes back out and herds us in like cattle and lines us up against a wall.  Donnie went down the line and gave hugs to everyone.  When he got to me, I got all nerdy and said, “Mornin’ pal!” and gave him a hug.  He laughed, backed up and punched me in the arm while saying “HEY BUDDY!” *smacks face* D’OH!!!  He had to sneeze, so he backed the hell up and let out the loudest sneeze ever.  Jess and I told him to go wash his hands and he did.  When he came back he went on this rant about how through the past year he has developed an allergy to women’s hair products and it makes him sneeze and feel “creepy crawlies” on his skin.  Ummmm….moving on.


Lucky we were able to hang inside all day and didn’t need to wait in the cold.  A few of our friends got in too.  Donnie decided he wanted to do a BubbleTweet and ran up and down the line to the front door slamming it open.  Well, he almost slammed that door right into my friend Christine’s face.  HILARIOUS!  It was truly perfect timing, meant to be even!  Linda made her way in before they locked the door and I was thrilled, because our whole goal was to stand near each other for such a special show.  I felt really bad that we couldn’t leave and spend the day with Jen, but she assured us we needed to hold our spots in line and she would find things to do (I love ya Jen!!!).  We basically just hung around all day.  No food, no water, just warmth and we were all pleased with that.  Finally I NEEDED to go back to the hotel and change...and brush my teeth.  Christine needed to check on her car, so we talked to the girl in charge of us and asked if we were only 45 minutes can we get back in.  She introduced us to the door man, Dominic,  and he told us if we remember the girl’s name (hollaaaaa at Adrianna!) and were back in 44 minutes, he would let us back in.  Freakin’ deal!!!   We ran (well walked briskly…it was slippery out) to Christine’s car and bolted.

I got changed, washed up and did a little bit of make up, while Christine grabbed a change of clothes and a toothbrush for Jess.  It was a mad dash to get ready.  Got our props and we were out the door.  A little about the props.  Red velvet pimp hats.  Everyone was going to have a Santa hat, but who would have a pimp hat?  This fool.  Once I was done, we took a cab back to the HoB and looked for our man, Dom!  He asked for the secret code and told us to enter when we screamed the girl’s name.  We were back in action.  Jess changed and then we waited some more.  Well when you listened closely, you could hear sound check…WHAAAAAT!?! Who did I hear singing?  Was that a Mr. Joe McIntyre? YES!!! YES IT WAS!!! I praised baby Jesus and the Holy ghost.  He was there and looking fine as hell with sunglasses and a leather coat.  Good Lord.  With sound check, the wait was about 45 more minutes, not bad considering we were there for 5 hours already.  
Now…it was time to get to business.  Doors opened.


There wasn’t as much as a rush as I thought there was going to be.  Thank the good Lord.  All my girls and I made it to the 2nd person from the barricade on the left hand side.  SCORE!!! I am not going to lie, I cried.  I was SO happy to be that close.  I thought I was going to be way in the back, but I had the perfect spot.  Plus, I knew Joe would see my dorky ass in my pimp hat.  We waited while Jimmy Marsh did his one song.  To which Jess and I began singing “One song baby…” to him.  It was hilarious.  Then Rob did his set.  I love that man.  Plain and simple.  He has a heart of gold and a voice of an angel.  Then we got down to Thomas the Tank Engine or whoever the opening act was.  If you were reading my tweets, you saw I kept getting the name wrong…oh well.  Then more waiting…then…
SHOWTIIIIIME!!!!


The place went banana sandwich!  I was jumping like a freaking lunatic and losing my mind.  They all looked SO good! Now I don’t need to recap the whole concert, because by now it is old news.  However I have to say Jordan was in rare form.  He was actually giving me eye sex.  After the first time, I looked at Jess and just asked, “that happened right?”  She said something along the lines of, “I saw it!” and then I lost my shit.  I lost my mind during that show.  I was staring a hole in Joe’s head at one point, just willing him to look my way.  It worked.  He saw me, looked away and did a double take and smile.  Again, I looked around to see if anyone saw it.  Christine looks at me, shows me her Blackberry and goes, “I got a picture of it!”  *happy dance*


The guys were in rare form that night.  They were all jokes and seemed to have the time of their life.  Jordan as Santa SLAYED me.  I had tears of laughter streaming down my face.  Such a doofus.  At one point, he tried to put his gum on the speaker and one of the guys called him out then asked if anyone wanted it.  Call me a creep, but my hand shot up so fast.  He was right in front of me and saw my hand up.  He looked me in the eye and began twirling that shit around his finger!  WHAAAAAT THE HELL JORDAN!?! *I’m still a Joe girl, I will not regress*  I still wanted the gum though.  Jordan was all over our section, during "Tonight" we threw Jess' pimp hat on stage and he picked it up (it was originally for Joe) and put it on.  EPIC WIN!!!  I find Jen in her seat and give her a thumbs up.  They walk down the catwalk, Jordan is now playing with the hat.  Then song ends and the hat goes sailing into the crowd.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?! I gave him the finger.  That was a fail. (At a later date, he claims he thought it was the hat he wore on stage during his solo...no Jordan, you did NOT wear a red velvet pimp hat during your solo. SMH!)

Jordan and OUR pimp hat.

Moving on, Joe killed “O Holy Night" and I am pretty sure if people weren’t pregnant, they were after that performance.  Everyone was silent while he sang.  It was beautiful.  Just beautiful.  The money we raised for Toys for Tots and the presentation of the check brought me to tears.  How awesome was that moment?  Really showed that when we come together incredible things happen.  The Mistletoe Magic was some epic shit, congrats to those lucky ladies!!!  I love when they adlib like that, it shows their true personalities and what I love most about them, that they are human.
I didn’t want the show to end.  It was the best way to celebrate Christmas.  I didn’t need anything else, the show was enough.  They did the “Hangin’ Tough” encore and it broke my heart, that song will never be the same.  The guys were saying goodbye.  Joe began to slap hands with the crowd and I leaned my hand out.  I warned the girl in front of me I may push her and she told me to push ahead and made room for me.  I loved her.  He was slapping hands and then got to me.  He held on tight and just screamed, “MACPACK BAAAAABAAAYYYY!!! How are you!?!?!?” Well…I STILL can’t remember if I said anything, I think I just smiled really wide.  He winked, blew a kiss and I was dead.  Jess was screaming and I was too fucked up to do anything.  He knew me.  He saw me.  Merry Christmas Kerri.  Merry-freakin-Christmas.

Thank you Sara for catching it!!!

*Cries* Going in for the hand.

The money shot.  Thank you Heather!

That was that.  A fantastic ending to a fantastic weekend.  It made my holiday a little brighter.  I want to finish this blog entry with a thank you to my million sisters (whether you were there or not).  Before the weekend of the House Of Blues, I was having one of the worst weeks ever and you all helped me through.  I am honored, in some way, to know you ladies.  We truly are a million sisters and have been blessed.  To the guys, thank you for doing the House Of Blues show.  I know all the guys deserve a HUGE thank you, but I want to give Jon and Joe a little extra.  At some points, I thought Jon was going to throw up from pain.  I felt for him.  He would be on the left side of the stage, look at the cat walk and slowly make his way over, probably saying “fuck my life!”, but he did it for us.  For that I am truly grateful.  Oh Joe.  I was joking on twitter how no matter what he needed to be there, if the storm was delaying a flight, drink some Redbull and get some wings.  I was completely joking.  Had he bowed out, I would have been a little disappointed, but would have understood completely.  It must have been SO difficult leaving his family with a newborn at home.  It truly shows how much these men love us and would do anything for us.  That’s why when people ask me, “Why do you still love NKOTB?” I just smile and say, “you won’t get it unless you are apart of it.”  It is something special and I am sincerely honored to be part of the sisterhood.

The five men who have changed my life.

Welcome home Mac!

Well you go and bite that lip!!!

I looooove this one! Adorable!

Jon Knight, you really are a freakin' pimp!

My favorite videos I took...Jordan as Santa, Joe singing "O Holy Night" and Joe talking to the crowd in what I call the "daddy voice". Excuse any commentary you may here.