NKOTB defy age, and gravity, in Las Vegas Strip opening

At the close of “You Got It (“The Right Stuff”) in their residency at Dolby Live, New Kids on the Block gathered at the center of the stage. Jonathan Knight, Jordan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg and Donny Wood.

The crowd’s cheer at the end of the band’s signature song intensified. The roar went on and on, nearly the length of the number, filling the theater and reaching back some 40 years.

Maybe this was all planned, the guys milking a moment sure to incite the adulation. But the cheers were real in a show filled with bells and whistles. NKOTB are still hot, at the box office and in performance. “The Right Stuff” residency opened with 16 dates, within a week extended to 24, into next February.

The band’s legions of Blockhead fans are snapping up those ducats, filling the 5,000-capacity house in the opener, most standing for the duration. The performance was a testament to physical fitness, akin to watching the starting five of a basketball team from four decades ago reconvene for a playoff run.

The New Kids are no longer that,of course. Wood and the Knights are 56 (they are not twins, Jordan being older), Wahlberg is 55, McIntyre 52. But the guys move as well as ever —- as we say, you can’t track dance moves — and, in Wahlberg’s case, are unafraid to pull up their shirts and show some midriff.

Wahlberg, as the team’s unofficial captain is also the front man of the “Backstage Cam” segment that serves as an intermission in the two-hour show. This view shows the guys as they swap out their attire. Wahlberg hogs the camera, preening and shirtless. In case anyone needed to be reminded of their location, “Viva Las Vegas,” plays in the background. The fans love this.

McIntyre (whom we met 15 years ago during a mini-residency at the Lounge at the Palms) threw a charge into the crowd by noting he’d auditioned for the band almost exactly 40 years ago to the day. It was June 15, 1985. For perspective, Billboard’s No. 1 single at the time was “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” by Tears For Fears, also a current Las Vegas Strip headliner

“I was hired on the spot,” McIntyre recalled, to yet another roar. “Actually, that was true of all of us. We were all hired on the spot.”

The band gyrated through such fan favorites as “Twisted,” “Block Party,” “Summertime,” and “Cover Girl.” The closing spree was “Step By Step,” “Kids,” from the 2024 album “Still Kids,” and “Hangin’ Tough.”

They performed in tuxes in classic-Vegas style setting of cocktail tables, and drew up a wedding-chapel set as they exchanged “fan vows” to the audience. This was to an interlude of Bruno Mars’ “Marry You” (and it takes a pair, or five, to summon Mars’ classics at his Strip theater home).

Wahlberg (who else?) led the vows.

“Do you, Blockheads, take these New Kids to be your forever boy band, forsaking all other boy bands? That means ‘NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, O-Town, One Direction, all of them, long as we both shall live?” I would advise at least one date with BSB at Sphere before committing. Nonetheless, New Kids know how to seize the moment.

Near the end the guys were harnessed into individual, LED-trimmed phone booths (for another 1980s reference). They sang “Shout,” as they soared above the crowd, all the way to the upper level. This is where Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith once ascended on a catwalk, and where Lady Gaga arrived in her mirrored suit and matching keytar in “Enigma.”

The indefatigable heartthrobs swayed and smiled and held the mics toward the crowd. The ageless New Kids are on a high right now, and the Blockheads are along for the ride.

A new ‘Awakening?’

Not quite, but tinkering continues at stage show at the Wynn. Three acts are being added within the month. And happily, producers are not messing with the magnificent Water Realm.

Tease this …

Coming up, a plans for a refurbished arts venue are in progress in downtown Las Vegas. It’s a theatrical moment.

Cool Hang Alert

Soul of Motown continues to crush it at Westgate Cabaret. The current roster of Sean Godfrey, Wade Lacy, C.J. Williams and Mo Crosby bring the R&B classics. The show celebrates its 1,000th performance Wednesday. That’s 8,000 custom changes, 28,000 songs and 150,000 lighting cues. Also, one chance meeting of Sean and Brandon Godfrey at a 24-hour tire shop late one night in downtown Las Vegas. We coincidentally rolled into the place, in immediate need of tire repair. The parking lot was a show, folks.

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.