KFEST concert in Fishkill: Jordan Knight joins rappers Ludacris, Shaggy, more
More than two decades after he hit it big with the New Kids On The Block, Jordan Knight is still maintaining a hectic schedule.
Saturday night, he and the New Kids will perform in Boston as part of their sold-out, 53-night North American summer tour with the Backstreet Boys; the groups perform under the NKOTBSB combined moniker. The next night, the tour pulls into Philadelphia .
In between, though, Knight will make his way to Fishkill as one of the headliners of KFEST, the annual concert festival put on by local radio station WSPK (104.7 FM).
"It's pretty fast-paced, but I'm more than happy to do it," Knight, who turned 41 last month, told the Poughkeepsie Journal recently during a break in rehearsals for the NKOTBSB tour. "I really view it as, I am part of a greater whole. Even when I do solo gigs, it's not about me — it's about the New Kids, it's about the fans, it's really about doing good music. That's what people love. They love good music."
Megan Denaut said that's exactly what fans who flock to Dutchess Stadium for Sunday's KFEST can expect from the all-day show that will feature more than a dozen acts, including rappers Ludacris and Shaggy, boy band Big Time Rush, and solo artists Mike Posner and Cody Simpson.
"It's definitely an exciting day. It's a mix of artists for everyone. It's a nice blend," said Denaut, WSPK's promotions director. "There are some big names, names you wouldn't usually see in the Hudson Valley."
The inaugural KFEST took place at the Thunder Ridge ski resort in Patterson, Putnam County, in 1998, with acts such as Color Me Badd and Inner Circle headlining. Since then, stars such as LL Cool J and Rihanna, as well as groups such as Train and Good Charlotte, have graced the KFEST stage. Akon famously threw a young fan from the stage in 2007, resulting in the rapper's subsequent guilty plea to second-degree harassment charges.
Knight isn't the only New Kid with an appearance at KFEST. Fellow NKOTB member Joey McIntyre sang at the 1999 event.
Having released his "Unfinished" solo CD last week, Knight said his KFEST appearance will feature a varied lineup of songs.
Jordan Knight likes to “soak it all in” on stage
Posted on June 2, 2011 by seanmcmann
Many people will remember Friday, April 29, 2011 as the day Prince William married Kate Middleton. Me? I’ll remember it as the day I got to interview Jordan Knight, lead singer of my favorite group of all-time, New Kids On The Block!
In between rehearsals for the NKOTBSB North American tour and putting the finishing touches on his new CD, “Unfinished,” Jordan gave me almost 20 minutes of his time — talking to me about the new CD, the summer tour, his appearance at this weekend’s KFest concert in Fishkill and the possibility of a new New Kids CD, among other topics, and he even took time to answer a few questions posed by fans. I set up the interview because I was writing a preview story of KFest for the Poughkeepsie Journal. Well, that story’s all written and set to run in print and on our website this Friday, in preparation of Sunday’s concert at Dutchess Stadium. (I’ll also have a post here with a direct link to the story on Friday.) But … Jordan gave me so much great information when we talked, I had to let all the Jordan and New Kids fans know what he had to say. Admittedly, it’s not every day I get to interview a New Kid — though I’m sure you know I’ve met the guys a few times, right? — and knowing how many fans Jordan and the group have (not to mention how loyal they are), I figured I’d share my conversation with JK with the world. So, without any further ado, here’s the rest of my interview with Jordan…
Many of us had noticed that since the New Kids got back together in 2008, 14 years after disbanding, the guys seem to appreciate their fans even more this time around. So I asked Jordan if they enjoyed their their fans and the popularity more this time around.
“I think so,” Jordan told me. “Before, it was like this big, huge whirlwind. We probably had bigger egos when we were younger; I know I did. I think we’re a little more humble now. We really appreciate it all the more. When I’m on stage, I soak it all in. We know this go-around isn’t going to last forever, so I just want to soak it all in and have a lot of fun.”Since Jordan and I were talking while the New Kids and Backstreet Boys were still rehearsing in LA for their tour which kicked off last week — “We’re each sending spies to see what the other group is doing,” he said —I asked JK what it was like preparing for the tour, combining two popular groups on one stage.
“Putting the NKOTBSB show together, me and (fellow New Kid) Joe (McIntyre) say this feels like a cakewalk,” said Jordan, who’s been on tour three times with the New Kids since 2008 before this summer. “We get to share the stage with the Backstreet Boys. They’ll do a set, then we’ll do a set. It seems very easy. When we started, it was really nerve-wracking. We were in rehearsals for three months. We didn’t know that to expect — How would we do on stage? How would the crowd react? — and we were really, really nervous. (But) we’ve gotten so much adulation from everyone, we get to relax a little bit.” With that in mind, I then asked Jordan what fans, including me, can expect when we catch the NKOTBSB tour this summer. “They can expect a lot of male energy, a lot of really good songs,” Jordan said. “We’re going to do all our hits. People can stand up, sing along. There will be a lot of choreography.”
So there you go: Somehow, I stretched a 17-minute interview with Jordan Knight into one story for print and three “Sean’s Space” blog entries (so far) over just over a month. Again, check back here on Friday for a preview of my Poughkeepsie Journal story on Jordan’s local appearance, as well as a direct link to my story.
The good folks at K104 have set me up to talk to Jordan again at KFest to tell me about his experience at the show on Sunday, so it’s likely I’ll have a little more JK for New Kids fans in this “Space” soon!
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