August 20, 2019- Raleigh, NC
Seriously, one of the best nights of my life.
Fan girl. Yes, I am not ashamed of it. I’ve loved Nick Carter since I was 11 years old. Basically, I was supposed to become a famous pop singer, and marry him but God had better plans for me. Instead, I will just go see him in concert, and scream until I can’t talk anymore like I am 12 all over again.
So here we are, the last time I saw them in concert, was (now) 19 years ago. Hayley and I were 13, I believe, and her mom took us! It was the Black and Blue Tour and it was amazing. But can I just say how much more you appreciate a concert as an adult. Like, as a teenager, it was just amazing being so close to them, but as an adult, you appreciate the entire experience. Anyways! We had such a great day leading up to the concert, and that my friends, made the experience even better. You see, Hayley and I bonded over BSB immediately. Instant friendship. So, for this concert we chose to just go together, however, we did get to spend time with an old friend as well. We were part of a trio or a girl group, when we were 13. “Desire” which was inaptly named, we sang cover songs and did Britney Spears moves and stayed up until 3 am practicing because we were trying out to open for Jessica Simpson. (Insert Laughing Emoji) But all the while, we enjoyed the late nights and laughs. How cool we thought we were. Well, we were!! But we got to spend the day with Tonya, laugh and reminisce on the old days with each other, and it was the day and time with old friends that I desperately needed in my life. I think we all need to go back, and enjoy things from our childhoods.
Of course, Hayley picked me up and I already had an entire 90’s early 2000’s playlist ready to go, because what’s a road trip/adventure like without your favorite tunes. And we love some pop music (obviously). We headed down to Raleigh to stay with Tonya, listening to BSB, Mandy, Britney, N*sync, O-town, Dream, Christina… You name it. My favorite car ride ever, because Kane definitely isn’t driving to Florida listening to my favorite pop music (for long, anyways). We got to Tonya’s, and had to wait because if you know Tonya, you know. But when we got inside her house, she had the coolest gift ever, waiting for us on the counter. It has to be one of the most thoughtful, creative gifts I have ever been given, I wanted to cry! She hand painted us BSB Wine glasses for the DNA world tour and decorated the dang wine bottle. *tears* I hadn’t seen her in, like, 10 years. It was amazing. It was like we all had never stopped hanging out and just had the best day. We went and grabbed a late lunch and came back to get ready. Now, a little more back story, Tonya was a DIE HARD N*sync/Justin Timberlake fan, but this girl put a Backstreet Boys shirt on, and jammed out and got ready with us. We got glittered up, because, duh, and just really enjoyed being teenagers again.
We hopped in Tonya’s jeep, blaring BSB all the way to the venue where Tonya was dropping us off and even the car ride there was fun! Y’all, I can’t express to you enough how much I enjoyed this day. And then we got to the concert. The place was already so crowded, the lines were crazy long to get inside, but it was so cool seeing all the BSB fans there! Some were young kids at their first concert, and some were older women who came with their friends or their husbands. Being an adult at a concert has other perks, too. An adult beverage (that cost an arm, at least) and buying merchandise, which was WORTH IT! We watched Baylee Littrell (Brian from BSB son, for those who aren’t familer) perform, which he’s totally adorable but also wasn’t even born the last time we saw BSB, so reality check.
And then the lights went down, and crazy strobe lights and a epileptics nightmare ensued, but for us, it was AMAZING. The first song, “Everyone” was the legit perfect song to start with, and I don’t think I stopped screaming after that. 13 year old Amanda TOOK OVER Y’ALL! We sang and danced, and sang and it was seriously so good. And they are still so talented, it’s crazy.
From start to finish, the concert was everything I ever could have wanted it to be. After the encore, when everyone is piling out to leave, we just were in awe of the experience. There really is nothing like it. It’s exciting, and fun, and you can barely talk or hear anything, the room and your ears are buzzing and it sounds like it may be annoying but it’s the greatest feeling. And just sharing that experience with one of my best friends, well, it’s nothing short of MAGICAL! Until, you leave and see the line for Uber and Lyft and realize, that after this amazing night, you will now have to wait for an hour, and pay a ridiculous fee to get a ride to Tonya’s bar she works at. But even THAT was fun! We finally got our Uber driver, the poor guy was lost and so confused, and our phones were about to die. I had like 3% left when we finally got in to his car. We got to the place Tonya works and just relaxed, had some drinks and just relished in the entire day and night we had. And then, just like every other day, it was gone, and all we had left was the experience and the memories. A memory I will FOREVER cherish, and that’s why I wanted to write about it. It’s one of my favorites, and you probably haven’t even made it to the end, but if you did, good job! This was our BSB Day.
Rich Beauty 