MUSIC: The New “Kids” Are Back

   
    They at least have to change the name, right?
    Seriously, how can a bunch of thirtysomething dudes call themselves the New Kids on the Block?
    Don’t you have to stop referring to yourself as a kid when, you know, you actually have kids?  
    How about something a bit more age-appropriate, like the Middle-Aged Guys With Mortgages and Mild Name Recognition Who Could Really, Really Use Some Dough?    
    Catchy, huh? 
    Regardless of how they bill themselves, NKOTB is back, reforming for one of the more unlikely reunion tours in recent memory -- that sound you hear is soccer moms the world over sighing softly to themselves.
    The group is tentatively set to stop at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on October 11, according to concert industry website Pollstar.com.
    An arena tour seems a little ambitious at this point though, for a group that notched its last hit in 1992.
    Who exactly is the demographic for the show?
    The ‘tweens of today weren’t even born when the group was at the height of its popularity.
    Hard to imagine 13-year-olds still crushing on Dirk Diggler’s brother.
    And is NKOTB’s original fanbase, many of them now in their 30s, going to pony up the dough to relive their junior high days?
    Seems like a stretch.
    The Backstreet Boys, much fresher in the public eye, struggled on their most recent reunion tour.
    But hey the Kids, did sell some 70 million records.
    Even if only 23 will actually admit to having bought one nowadays.