Nearly 40 years after rising to superstar status, New Kids On The Block are anything but “new.”

But at their “New Kids on the Block — The Right Stuff Remixed” residency now running at Dolby Live at Park MGM, the Boston-bred group shows it can still command the kind of fervor that defined late-’80s and early-’90s pop fandom.

NKOTB — brothers Jonathan and Jordan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg and Danny Wood — delivered a full-scale Vegas production packed with dynamic lighting, fog, flames, bursts of confetti and streamers, plus a six-dancer ensemble and a rotating cast of oversized set pieces, including a Ferris wheel car and illuminated, futuristic phone booth-style “flying boxes” that lift the singers over the theater’s lower bowl for closer contact with fans in the upper tier.

The staging leaned heavily into spectacle: a 60-foot subway car beneath a neon “Block Party” cityscape opens the show, while later segments shift to a cabaret-style lounge where the tuxedo-clad group performs atop individual tabletops. A specially modified 1971 Buick LeSabre convertible rolls onstage late in the set as a centerpiece.

Beantown, meet Vegas. Vegas, meet Beantown.

Still, the production was secondary to the performers themselves. The group — now decades removed from its boy-band peak — danced and sang its way back into the good graces of longtime fans, affectionately known as Blockheads, over the course of the more than two-hour show. Archival clips from the group’s early years punctuated the set, drawing loud reactions from the crowd.

Nor did it hurt when Wahlberg, who took on the role as band spokesman for the evening, remarked, “There’s no way to explain how we’re still here after all these years. I know someone upstairs has a lot to do with it, but your love for us is so amazing. And we promise you, we’re going to spend the rest of our lives trying to pay you back for all of it.”

The group led singalongs, urged participation (“Raise your arms and punch the sky!”), traded hand slaps with fans along the stage and moved deep into the seating area — a tactic familiar from Park MGM residencies by Usher, Adam Levine and Lenny Kravitz.

The evening’s set list spanned the group’s catalog, including seven songs from the eight-times-platinum 1988 album “Hangin’ Tough” and its 2019 anniversary reissue, seven from 2008’s reunion release “The Block” and five from 2024’s “Still Kids.”

The biggest ovation of the night came after the first performance of “You Got It (The Right Stuff),” with its catchy hook, “Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh the right stuff.” That led Wahlberg to note, “There’s no way, no way, that we expected you to be louder than last night’s crowd. It was even crazier that you were even louder than every single crowd in Las Vegas, and it’s not even close!”

It wasn’t the only musical highlight. “Click Click Click” and “Dirty Dancing” stood out during the cabaret sequence, as did their cover of the Delfonics’ “Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time)” and “Baby, I Believe in You,” which featured Jordan Knight on piano.

Jordan Knight and McIntyre’s vocal talents shined above the others, though none of the group members needed to be carried, even in their 50s.

One of the night’s biggest production moments came late in the show, when Wahlberg asked, “Blockheads, do you mind if we get a little bit closer to you now?” The five members then climbed into the “flying boxes,” which rose above the crowd as the group performed “The Whisper / Shout.”

A close second was the group’s appearance in the LeSabre, which served as the stage for the three-song encore, including a closing reprise of “You Got It (The Right Stuff).” The car was a replica of the LeSabre featured in the 1988 video for “You Got It (The Right Stuff).”

It was emblematic of how far the New Kids on the Block have come from the past to today.

“New Kids on the Block: The Right Stuff Remixed” resumes at 8 p.m. today, and July 1, 3 and 4, plus Oct. 2, 3, 7, 9, 10, 14, 16 and 17 at Dolby Live at Park MGM. For ticket information, go to ticketmaster.com/NKOTBVEGAS.





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