Former New Kid lost on the block

Here's at least one reason to admire Joey McIntyre: The former New Kid On The Block apparently isn't ashamed of his past.

 Because if he was, he might have packed it in after his first couple of songs at the Warehouse last night.

 Don't get me wrong. McIntyre's days as "Little Joey," the youngest member of NKOTB -- the prototype for all hit-making '90s song-and-dance groups to come -- must have snagged the 26-year-old Bostonian mucho dinero to play with. And, as last night proved, he still has a small reserve of grown-up fans and newcomers in his corner for his recent debut solo album, Stay The Same.

 But even with the presence of about 1,000 seemingly interested females, the show felt like a miniature re-enactment of past glories.

 Just imagine if NKOTB went back to playing shopping malls after Hangin' Tough. Or better yet, imagine any former teen star trying to gain legitimacy as a grown-up star by mugging and talking cutesy-like.

 That's not to say that playing the Warehouse isn't a respectable level for any young artist. McIntyre just did so little with the opportunity, it was hard to believe he had much else to offer beyond his young-Paul Newmanesque good looks.

 There could be other reasons the singer didn't connect on the adult-contempo R&B level favoured by most maturing boy-pop stars.

 After all, former groupmate and current comeback-kid Jordan Knight -- who kind of beat McIntyre to the punch, even though their albums came out at the same time -- managed to catch up to 1999 audiences, while still playing the pin-up.

 The real problem could have been McIntyre's repertoire. If he's in over his head on Stay The Same, plumbing territory that at times sounds vaguely like Terence Trent D'Arby or possibly Jamiroquai, and including the Boston Symphony Orchestra on one tune, his live approach made the material sound like Muzak reworkings of the songs.

 Backed by a standard issue, black T-shirted and gold-chained R&B.S. band, McIntyre threw down with a tepid take on Wild Cherry's Play That Funky Music. (On second thought, white boy ...).

 He never really delivered on that threat, choosing instead to entertain "the ladies" in attendance with oozy ballads like I Love You Came Too Late and titillate-by-numbers dance moves on Couldn't Stay Away From Your Love.

 By Let Me Take You For A Ride, for which McIntyre completed the strip-o-gram look with a shiny shirt and cowboy hat, the crowd was shouting "take it off!"

 "This is just a taste of what's to come," he cajoled back.

 Far be it for me to criticize any burlesque routine, but a man who's just released an album of his own songs and wants to be taken seriously -- might want to play it a little cooler.