Right Stuff Residency Night 1

LAS VEGAS — For New Kids on the Block‘s first-ever Las Vegas residency — which kicked off Friday night (June 20) at Dolby Live at Park MGM — the veteran boy band had a lot of ground to cover in their night 1 setlist.

As they explained onstage, Joey McIntyre officially joined the group in June 1985, meaning they’re celebrating 40 years together this year. So how do you cover four decades of music in one two-hour concert?

When Billboard caught up with the Kids on Friday ahead of their Sin City debut, they explained that they were trying to serve their Blockhead fanbase with the song selection while not alienating the casual Vegas fans just looking for a show while they’re in town.

“Sometimes if you’re playing to the superfan, you can do deeper and deeper cuts, but we wanted to give them surprises that they haven’t seen before but also keep it tight enough for the regular Las Vegas person that’s just in town to go to see a show,” Jordan Knight explained to Billboard. “We want to keep it moving fast so they’re entertained as well.”

McIntyre made it clear that their superfans are always their main priority — putting it in terms Las Vegas can definitely understand. “We’re gonna take care of our high rollers, you know what I’m saying? We know we gotta take care of our die-hards first.”

Billboard was in the house for night 1 of The Right Stuff residency, and below we have the full night 1 setlist. Stay tuned for our full recap of the opening night.