“This next amazing band may not have invented the power ballad,” she said. Hay - who, like everyone else in the lineup, was backed by a full band - sounded fairly strong as he crooned through the Men at Work classics “Who Can It Be Now?” and “Down Under.” The latter, as expected, drew a sizable singalong.Īfter Hay made his exit, another TV celebrity - Bellamy Young (“Scandal”) - introduced the third act of the night. The Australian music legend, who was actually born in Scotland, did pretty well, even if a large portion of fans (especially the legion in New Kids T-shirts) pretty much ignored him.

Get it from the Apple app store or the Google Play store.Īfter the New Kids finished with “Hangin’ Tough,” Hay was faced with the difficult task of trying to follow the most popular band on the bill. Reading this on your phone? Stay up to date with our new, free mobile app.

Putting New Kids on first, rather than last, probably allowed more listeners in the Midwest and on the East Coast to tune in. No official explanation was given for the unexpected scheduling, yet it’s plausible that it might have had to do with the show being broadcast live over iHeartRadio’s nationwide network. It made the rest of the concert feel a bit anticlimactic, given that none of the other performers could come close to matching the band’s star power or connection to the crowd. Of course, most people were surprised to see the New Kids - by far, the biggest draw on the bill - open the show. She was talking about the New Kids on the Block, who kicked off their set with the 1988 single “You Got It (The Right Stuff)” and continued to dance, pose and croon their way through such favorites as “Step by Step” and “I’ll Be Loving You (Forever).” “We are starting this party off with my favorite band ever,” she said. Finally, Candace Cameron Bure (from “Full House”/”Fuller House” fame) appeared to introduce the first act. The evening started with a countdown, informing fans of how long until the time machine would zip us back 30 years to the days of “ALF,” Tom Selleck and really big hair.

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