New Kids on the Block Explain Long-Awaited Las Vegas Residency

After rising to stardom in the 1980s and becoming one of the most successful boy bands of all time, it’s kind of surprising that the New Kids on the Block is just now doing its first Las Vegas residency. Although they took a 14-year break, it has been 17 years since the band reunited and began performing together again.

To Joey McIntyre, it’s all about timing. “It just takes a lot of patience to go, ‘No, this ain’t it.’ If we were going to do it, we’re going to do it the right way, together and on our time frame,” he told The Hollywood Reporter.

“We did practice some patience over the years and, and I think maybe karmically that patience pays off in timing,” he added. “And that’s why it feels right to be in Vegas right now in our 50s and feeling like this is the perfect time, not a minute too soon, and it still feels incredibly fresh.”

Donnie Wahlberg Gets Emotional Over ‘New Kids on the Block’ Journey

While McIntyre and Jonathan Knight decided to take an epic road trip to get to Vegas, many of the band’s family members also came to town to support them. Donnie Wahlberg felt a mix of excitement and disbelief that they were finally at this point.

“It’s been a long, long process, and last night we did our dress rehearsal,” he said. “We don’t know how it looks. I mean, we’ve been working on it, we’ve seen the content, we know what it looks like, but when you’re on the stage performing, all that goes away. It’s like, OK, you’re the New Kid now, and everything’s around us, and we don’t know how we look in the world.

“But last night, my wife was here, Jordan’s wife was here, and Joey’s sons were here, and every time something new happened, I looked at Joey’s kids,” he continued. “Sorry, I’m crying.” The look on the kids faces helped Wahlberg relax.

“They pulled out their phones and they’re videoing and I was like, that’s the dream of this moment,” he added. “like all the energy and arguments and patience we had to find for each other and all the people that work for us and all the stress that goes into something like this. It’s to see that reaction.”

New Kids on the Block Reveal the Key Reason They’re Still Beloved 40 Years Later

When so many other bands have come and gone, why have the New Kids on the Block endured for four decades? It’s a difficult questions for them, but they think it’s because they don’t take their fans for granted.

“The fans are the reason we’re still here,” Wahlberg said. “First and foremost, they keep showing up, we keep showing up. It doesn’t matter who shows up first, one of us keeps showing up and the other one’s like, screw that, we gotta be there. And that’s a fact.”