New Kids offer a memorable "Tonight"

Sometimes even when you lose, you win ... if you keep "Hangin' Tough" and you've got "The Right Stuff!"
You might remember me lobbying last month for the New Kids On The Block (my fav group of all-time) to hold their screening of their new DVD, "Coming Home," to Poughkeepsie. Well, our fair city didn't win, but my persistence paid off.

I was able to attend an exclusive, fans-only screening of "Coming Home" recently, one of only three in America the guys held. And the best part: The New Kids — that's Jordan Knight, Jonathan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Danny Wood and Donnie Wahlberg — watched the DVD in the theater with us and they held a Q&A afterwards.

Seriously, the New Kids actually sat in the audience with us, as they watched themselves on the big screen, recounting their amazing comeback and ensuing tours ... and they sat right here in these seats! Think of it as seeing a movie with the stars of the film sitting two rows behind you. Who gets that chance?! Surely you know I'd already met the New Kids back in 2008, but this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. This was just as cool at that first meeting, but totally different since this was such a rare event.

Again, there were so many cool things about the screening event, I don't even know where to start...

After driving almost two hours and arriving to the theater five hours before the scheduled start — and yes, there were already a a dozen NKOTB fans already there! — I got to meet all the guys again, including Jordan Knight here. High-fives and handshakes abounded, as the guys were genuinely as excited to meet their fans as we were to greet them.

Even though I already had their autographs, I came prepared and hoped to grab a few more signatures.

Grabbing a seat in the front row, with a handy Sharpie marker ready to go, I was able to snag the signatures of three of the New Kids, turning this picture...
...into this picture, thanks to Joe, Danny and Jon...
But those weren't the only only autographs I walked away with that night, since the experience got even better!

Remember me talking about having "The Right Stuff" earlier? Here's why...

The gods were smiling on me as just prior to the screening, the guys' management gave away three copies of the "Coming Home" DVD that were signed by the New Kids and guess who won one? (Wait for it ... wait for it ...) I won one! Yes, even before I got to watch the DVD — and a week before it was even released for sale — I had a copy in my hand, and it was autographed by the guys! And, as this was the third and final such screening and they gave away three of these autographed DVDs at each event, I was one of only nine people in the whole world to have one of 'em! I couldn't wait to put it up for sale on eBay. (Kidding!)

During the actual screening, everyone was singing along with the songs — there was even a lil' dancing — and the New Kids interacted with fans, even tossing popcorn about the theater.

After the final credits, the New Kids made their way down to the front of the room and sat down for a half-hour to answer questions from me. It was really cool to see the guys just "Hangin'" out with us fans — no host like a talk show, no script or anything like that — and just being themselves. From thoughtful to funny, the guys gave honest answers about their 20+ years together and, in particular, the past two years that led up to everything in the DVD.

Throughout their reunion, the New Kids have made everything fan-friendly — from using Twitter and YouTube to communicate with us, etc. — and this was the epitome of that, and explains why even two decades (and lots of razzing by friends) later, I'm still a fan.