Words and Photos by Jose Serrato
The Magic Summer tour took Dos Equis Pavilion in Dallas, TX back nearly 4 decades with performances by teen idols New Kids on the Block, Paula Abdul and DJ Jazzy Jeff. At the open aired amphitheater, the Texas heat was in attendance along with the thousands of fans who showed up in their best neon colored attire. Walking through the parking lot on my way to the venue entrance, I’m reminded of all the years my sister and her friends would blast NKOTB music from her room. At that young age, I could not understand why they were screaming over these 5 guys. It wasn’t until years later that I started to understand a little more.
To get the crowd going as they made their way into the venue, DJ Jazzy Jeff got on the turntables to play all the hits from the 80’s and 90’s. The Philly based DJ has built a career that has made him a legend in the game and we all witnessed why. Along with Dayne Jordan on the mic, the energy for the early crowd started to rise.
From Laker Girl, to pop sensation, to American Idol judge and now back to performing live, Paula Abdul has done a little bit of everything over her career at the highest level. With a full squad of dancers, Abdul rose from the back of the stage and lead straight into one of her biggest hits, “Straight Up” from her debut album in 1988. I remember watching the video for this song so many times on MTV. For the kids, MTV use to be a channel that played nothing but music videos instead of reality shows like it is now. Some things were better back then. Now, I can’t tell if this was just a joke on her age, but at the end of the first song, her dancer came out with an oxygen tank for her. Paula joked about still being able to perform at this level, so I’m guessing this was just her having fun. You can forget about age, Paula moved across that entire stage as it was 1988.
New Kids on the Block have been teen idols since the mid 80’s and after a split in the late 90’s/early 2000’s, NKOTB have been going out on tours and filling venues across the country. Nostalgia is strong and all those teen fans from back then are more than happy to spend adult money to see their favorite boy band. Dos Equis Pavilion was packed all the way up the lawn with screaming fans as the boys came up on the stage. Led by Jordan Knight, the boys sang their way down the steps with a select group of fans on both sides of the stage. Jordan, Joey, Donnie, Jonathan and Danny brought all the hits and dance moves everyone wanted to hear and see. The perks of being at the level that NKOTB are in is that they can just enjoy their time on stage. Joking and laughing between members while on stage was great to see. The 28 song setlist included all the songs you’d expect like “Step by Step” and “Hanging Tough” but also a cover of “Summertime” by DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince. The hot Sunday night summer party was worth the rough Monday morning that was coming up quick.
