Jordan Knight @ The Opera House – 02/17/12

Photos and Review by Jaimie Milburn.

“It’s all women!” remarked a passerby as he and some friends walked down the street alongside The Opera House on Friday night. Truer words couldn’t have been spoken as New Kids On The Block alum, Jordan Knight brought his “Live and Unfinished” tour to Toronto for two shows, including a sold-out Friday night performance. The scene was easily comprised of 95% women, particularly middle-aged and decked out in their finest Friday-night-concert wear, likely safely tucking their wedding rings away along with their children’s wallet photos in their purses. It can’t be denied that Jordan Knight still makes the women swoon.

With a slick stage set-up comprising of four musicians on drums, keyboards, and bass, and accompanied by two male back-up dancers, Knight made an entrance breaking into his song “Let’s Go Higher” followed by current radio hit, “One More Night”. It was evident that he could do no wrong in the eyes of his fans, who eagerly encouraged Knight’s succinctly choreographed dance movies and infamous high notes for track after track. With an impressive solo career dating back to 1999, Knight never ran short on crowd pleasing tunes and even included a lesser known album cut called “I Wish” at the request of his Twitter followers.

Despite the pre-recorded backing tracks on certain numbers and old school popstar posing at the end of nearly every song, Knight proved that he’s still more than just a pretty, boy band face. Knight balanced singing, dancing, and even taking to a keyboard for a few songs throughout his hour and a half set. There was no better way to end the evening than with a rendition of NKOTB hit, “The Right Stuff” with the subtle lyric change to show his love for Toronto and a surprise appearance from brother, and New Kid, Jonathan Knight.