Y'all mind if I cool off?

The column in this morning's paper was about the New Kids on the Block concert from last Friday. And yes, I was really there. If you're part of the group that got a picture of me scowling in the background of your group shot, please, please, please send it in. I think we'd appreciate it.

Here's an excerpt for you non-subscribers.

This was not an ordinary reunion concert. This was nothing like No Doubt, the band that plays the amphitheater tonight and is coming off a five-year hiatus but still received significant radio play the entire time. This is not like a Page and Plant tour that seems to happen about once a decade, while their music remains ubiquitous in bars and garages. This is not Steve Winwood and Eric Clapton, who are playing together again after 40 years. This was not music on stage. This was nostalgia.

Some people called this morning, accusing me of taking a slap at the fans and the band. Sure, I'm guilty of that a little bit. But the bigger point was to think about this show as a reunion concert of the type which we haven't seen for a long time and to wonder what that could mean for Hampton Roads' venues.

One other thing I wanted to bring up about the show. Lots of the women I talked to Friday night said one of the best parts of the show would be if NKOTB took their shirts off. Sure enough, about five songs in, Donnie Wahlberg unbuttoned his dress shirt. "Y'all mind if I cool off," he said.

I would like to make "Y'all mind if I cool off" the official catchphrase of Summer 2009. Anytime you take off your own shirt, or reach for a beer, or turn on the air conditioner, or get into a pool, or do anything remotely related to lowering your own body temperature, I think you should say "Y'all mind if I cool off?"

http://hamptonroads.com/2009/06/yall-mind-if-i-cool

*nkotbgirl.from.peru*