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span class="inline inline-left">Step by step: New Kids On The Block, Danny Wood (from left), Joe McIntrye, Donnie Wahlberg, Jordan Knight and John Knight perform in East Rutherford, New Jersey on May 17, 2008. The boyband will perform on Friday night in Jakarta. AP/Bill KostrounWhether they can still be referred to as “boys” or “kids” might be disputable, but members of the
phenomenal boybands New Kids On The Block and the Backstreet Boys are set to wow fans tonight in their Jakarta show.

The two groups, popularly known by the acronyms NKOTB and BSB are slated to put on their show under the name NKOTBSB in the Mata Elang International Stadium in Ancol, North Jakarta.

Formed in the U.S in the mid 1980s when the members were barely out of their teens, the five-piece NKOTB are known for hits such as “Step by Step”, “Please Don’t Go Girl” and “I’ll Be Loving You Forever”. The group is often dubbed as the forerunner of similar acts, including the Backstreet Boys and N’Sync.

NKOTB’s last visit to Indonesia for a show was in 1992, to the thrill of their mostly female fans who often collected various memorabilia of the group ranging from t-shirts to stationary items. Despite the passing years, many NKOTB fans, popularly known as “blockheads”, have remained loyal to the group.

This will, however, be the Backstreet Boys’ first show in the country. BSB was formed in the early 1990s, also in the US. Their hits include dance-happy tunes “I Want it That Way” and “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)”.

A BSB member, Kevin Richardson, left in 2006 to pursue a solo career but the group recently announced his comeback. Their latest release was “This Is Us” in 2009. According to the group’s website, the album debuted at number 9 on the US Billboard 200, making them the first group since Sade to have their first seven albums reach top 10 on the chart.

The two groups’ first public performance together was in 2010 during a concert in New York. They proceeded to release the album NKOTBSB, which contains hits from both groups as well as the single “Don’t Turn Out the Lights”, the following year.

According to the organizing committee, the show is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. and the audience is forbidden from bringing cameras, video cameras or tablet PCs.

Ticket prices started at Rp 950,000 (US$100.7) for festival class from Rajakarcis.

Director of Berlian Entertainment Marcel Permadhi said that the 3,000 pre-sale tickets for the show, priced at Rp 750,000 for festival class and Rp 2,5 million for VIP class made available online at www.rajakarcis.com in September last year, sold out within seven minutes.

Meet their fans: Backstreet Boys Brian Littrell (from left), Nick Carter, A.J. McLean and Howie Dorough entertain their fans during a concer in Jakarta on Feb. 25, 2008. JP/Jerry Adiguna The organizer recently added a new class, Diamond, priced at Rp 5 million for those who want to be in the festival area but have seat numbers to hand as well.

The process of exchanging coupons for tickets for the concert titled “One night – One Stage” kicked off on Wednesday. Tickets will also be available on the day of the concert at around 2 p.m. at the Backstage Cafe, located near the venue.

Members of the group reportedly arrived in Jakarta on Thursday, with the twitter account of Berlian Entertainment saying “The boys are here! Complete! Perfect 9 #NKOTBSBjkt” and the twitter account @jordanknight saying “Indonesia...we are here!!!” on Wednesday night.

NKOTBSB’s Indonesia show is part of the group’s world tour. After Jakarta, they are scheduled to head to Manila, the Philippines.

So the boys and kids might be in their 30s and 40s by now, but it will likely be easy to say “what’s in a name” for fans of the groups or simply those up for a night of song and dance.