Concert Of A Lifetime

The date was February 19^th 2012 – that was four years ago to date.

This date will forever hold perfect memories of a lifetime… or until I grow old and senile or start suffering from dementia…. but until that happens (hopefully not)… I hope to forever keep this memory close to my heart.

Months prior to this date, I heard Engelbert Humperdinck would be performing in Singapore again. I was thrilled as the last my mum and I saw him in concert was in the year 2010 but I will get to that later… Of course I bought the most expensive tickets for both my mum and me. Unfortunately, we did not get the best seats as I was so caught up with work and did not buy the tickets when it first went on sale. But we were just glad to get tickets even though we were in the 16^th row or something like that from the stage.

Gosh the last we saw Engelbert in concert before this was in June of 2010 in Malaysia. We did not get to meet him though. But before that, we saw him in concert for the first time in October of 2003. I was then living in USA and I bought my mum a plane ticket to come visit me from Singapore so we could go see Engelbert at Foxwoods Casino. That was our first Engelbert concert and the first time we got to meet him!!

Anyway, to fast forward all the nitty gritty details…. my mum and I were fortunate enough to be given backstage passes to meet the Legend himself again and not just that, but we were given concert tickets – front row seats!

Engelbert was amazing as always. He gave his best to his fans who like both my mum and I, thoroughly enjoyed every single minute of the concert. I was torn though…. towards the end of the concert, I was feeling sad as the concert was over and I did not know when I would see him perform again….but I was also excited because we will finally get to go backstage!

As both my mum and I sat backstage and waited for Engelbert, we mingled with his band members and I swear my heart was beating so hard and fast I thought it was going to pop right out of my chest! A few minutes after, Engelbert walked out and everything felt a lot better. I guess that is the kind of energy he gives out…. He lets you feel so much at ease to be around him.

He was absolutely gorgeous inside and out!! First thing he did was to give both my mum and I the biggest and warmest hug. Yes, he gives the best hugs!! We introduced ourselves and we just talked as if we had known one another for a long time. I showed him the tattoo on my arm that had part of the lyrics to “Love Me With All Your Heart” and he said to me, “you mean you had it tattooed?” I went on to explain that I did it in memory of my grandfather as it was his favourite song.

The best part about this meeting was the fact that we also got to meet his family; Scott, Louise and Patricia!! My regret…. that we did not ask to have a photo taken together!!! I sure hope we get that chance one day in the near future.

We presented him with a little award we had made for him and also had him sign on one which we had planned to put in our showcase.

It was a meeting of a lifetime!! Engelbert has got such a beautiful warm heart. You can’t help but love him and feel so much love for him especially when you’re standing right in front of him and looking in to his eyes. 

Till this day, I am still very grateful to the Legend himself for taking the time out to meet with both my mum and me after his performance. I especially appreciated it because I know he must have been exhausted, yet he gave us so much love. I am also truly grateful to the people who made it possible for us to make this memory.

No one can take Engelbert’s place. In fact, lots of other celebrities should follow in his footsteps. He’s so down to earth. He gives so much back to his fans. He appreciates his fans and never fails to show it to them every single day. He takes the trouble to respond to his fans on social media. He makes us feel special. This is a true gentleman. A true celebrity who deserves all the success.

He may not know it, but a simple gesture of ‘liking’ or ‘retweeting’ my tweets about him ,goes a long way. It can turn my most awful day in to the best day ever. It can put a smile on my face for the whole day and it lifts my spirits up without fail…. And when he does ‘tweet’ me….. I am on cloud 9.

I am one person who has to deal with a lot on my plate so in all honesty, Engelbert has been helping (without even knowing) me see the brighter side to things and life in general.

I hope to tell it to him one day. I hope to get to thank him one day.

“Never underestimate a girl’s love for her favourite band/singer. Never think, even for a minute, that she won’t defend them to her death. Because it’s not just the music that makes the band/singer her favourite. It’s the guys, it’s the girls, it’s the fans. People whom of which she has interacted with, thanks to the band/singer. That band/singer might have saved her life. Or maybe they just make her smile every day. That girl’s favourite band/singer, they have never broken her heart. They have yet to leave her. No wonder she finds such joy in her music.”

Twenty Four Years Ago

The date was February 8, 1992 – twenty four years ago. I was a few months shy of being thirteen years old. Have been a fan of NKOTB since I was 10 years old. So meaning, I had to wait three whole years before I got to see them LIVE in concert in my country, Singapore!

My family were not very rich. We were not poor either. When NKOTB announced they would hold a concert in Singapore, my dad had to buy three tickets. One for me, one for my brother and one for my mother who had to chaperon us…but don’t let her kid you…she was a fan too! We didn’t get the most expensive tickets, but we did get the tier below the most expensive.

Imagine ticket prices then were only S$30, S$40, and S$70 yet we could not afford the most expensive tickets.

We had nose bleed land seats. NKOTB were as big as my thumb from where I was standing. But I was just happy to be there, to experience them LIVE. I won’t deny I was envious of the girls who were out in the front…. and wished I was them….

Who had cams with zoom back then? I did not even own my own camera! The photo you see at the beginning of this post are photos from the actual February 8 concert here in Singapore but it wasn’t me who took them. I had recently gone down to the press room to pull out these old photographs and purchased them at S$8 a piece!! Daylight robbery but all worth it.

I remember planning for this concert weeks in advance. I made a poster with silver sparkles. I planned what I would wear (denim mini skirt, NKOTB t-shirt and a black hat like what Jordan Knight wore). The day came and we were at the Indoor Stadium hours before hoping we could catch the boys as they arrived.

They did. We saw them. But they were quickly rushed in to the venue by security. We climbed the walls just to get a peek! I saw them for a brief second before security drew the curtains closed.

In all honesty, I don’t really recall everything about the concert. I can’t exactly remember the songs they sang or what I actually did during the whole duration. I wish I did remember.

I was just happy I got to fulfill that dream of seeing them LIVE. I had everything with their name and face on…from jackets to sweaters, towels, books, magazines, dolls, water bottles, etc etc. I swore I would one day go to Boston to find them…. (which I did 7 years later but that is a story for later)…

I watched their concerts videos on VHS over and over again till I memorized every bit of it.

I was a Donnie girl in the beginning until I learned he was a bad boy then I kind of gradually moved to Jordan because he was handsome. I guess I never realized at that age that the bad boys are actually the hottest!

They disbanded not too long after their concert in Singapore which left me with a broken heart but I soon got over it and although I kept listening to their songs whenever…. I was also a teenager and started to date and I slowly forgot the NKOTB. Not exactly forgot them but I wasn’t crazy madly deeply in love with them. I was in love with other boys.

But I held the memories of NKOTB close and dear to my heart.

Seven years later, I moved to Boston after meeting my husband online. But it never hit me then that seven years ago, I swore I would get to Boston to look for guys from NKOTB! I lived in Boston Massachusetts for a good seven years without the thought of maybe looking them up. My god!! Jon Knight was in real estate…..I was in real estate!! We could have met in our course of work but I never gave that a thought until 2007 when I met this lady by the name of Carol through MySpace.

Carol knew I was a Jordan Girl although I do not remember putting it on my profile. But she told me he would be doing a solo concert and asked if I would go with her. And so we did. I got to meet Jordan for the first time in 18 years! The funny part was when I told him about the story and he said, “Where have you been? We are practically neighbours!”

It was then I started to get back in to the NKOTB craze.

I still tease my hubby saying I only married him because I wanted to move to Boston to meet NKOTB!

Sadly, I moved back to Singapore in late 2007 for a better future for my children and not long after NKOTB announced their reunion. Dammit! If I knew, I would have remained in Boston a few more years longer!

Five years later, they finally announced an Asia concert although not in Singapore.

I paid big money to attend both shows in Jakarta and Manila and took my mum with me. It was a dream come true! I finally get to meet the boys in person after all these years. It was everything I could not have imagined. I honestly do not think it would have been the same if it happened 20 years ago when they were in Singapore as they were young and so was I. The meeting was perfect. I still remember every detail of it like it was just yesterday.

They sure are five amazing guys. Not just in talent and looks but personality. They give their all to their fans and that means a lot. Not many celebrities are like that.

A reporter even interviewed me about my meeting with the guys and had a full page article on it.

And a year later, the same reporter who I had become friends with… invited me to her house when she did a phone interview with the guys.

NKOTB had played an important role in my life and they still do today. They took me away from all my sadness and hurt. Listening to their songs took me to a different place where everything was better. My husband knows it thus why he kind of supports my obsession with them.

The many times Donnie made contact with me via Twitter or Facebook sent me to Cloud 9 and kept me happy for days. My hubby says to me, “That is a fine gentleman and as much as I do not fancy NKOTB, I love how they treat their fans and especially how they make you happy.”

Yes, I am a Jor-nnie girl and proud to be. What is a Jor-nnie girl? I am torn between loving Jordan and Donnie. That does not mean I do not like the other 3 guys. Danny is pretty quiet but a sweetheart. I will forever remember how comfortable he made us feel during M&G when he petted the sofa and asked my mum and I to join him. Joey has a memory of an elephant and comes up with the most random stuff. Jon is a sweetheart! But my heart belongs mostly to Donnie!

Donnie can make my god awful day turn sunny and bright instantly by just being him! You can never ask for a better human being than him. God did a fantastic job and sent him to us.

And through these 5 guys, I have made good friends whom are known as BH sisters. We share the same interest, the same love for the guys. We do not just talk about the guys 24-7 but we confide in one another even with personal issues. I am fortunate to have met many great sisters who never fail to put a smile on my face on a daily basis. But I have also met bad apples who are simply just jealous, arrogant and rude! But there are bad apples everywhere you go so I do not let them bother me. But I would like to shout out to the few BH sisters who I am in touch with on a regular basis….. I love you girls!!

As Alex Gaskarth once said, “Never underestimate a girl’s love for her favourite band. Never think, even for a minute, that she won’t defend them to her death. Because it’s not just the music that makes that band her favourite. It’s the guys, it’s the girls, it’s the fans. People whom of which she has interacted with, thanks to the band. That band might have saved her life. Or maybe they just make her smile every day. That girl’s favorite band, they’ve never broken her heart. They have yet to leave her. No wonder she finds such joy in her music.”