O-Town: Making the band — again

You’d think that having a gaggle of girls waiting for you at the airport hoping just for a wave — or a selfie if they’re lucky — is something reserved for teen heartthrobs, but O-Town’s Jacob Underwood, 35, says it’s a reality for the band who’s on the road for their reunion tour. “It blows our minds,” he says. “It reaffirmed that people want us back.”

And 15 years after exploding onto the pop-scene, back they are. O-Town, who got their fame on the MTV reality show, “Making The Band,” released a new album in 2014 and is now taking a victory lap around the country promoting it.

Now or never

“We were all a little giddy in the beginning to see what was going to happen,” Underwood says about getting back in the studio again. “We had never lost touch, but [talking] did become fewer and farther between because we all live in different places.

Underwood says when they got back together, it felt just like old times, although they were down a man, Ashley Parker Angel, who opted to pursue Broadway instead of rejoining the band.

“We’d been wanting to get back together as a band for a long time, but the reason why it took so many years is because one person was always out for one reason or another,” Underwood says. “When it became 10 years and Ashley was out again, we thought we needed to do it as four or never do it at all. There were no hard feelings either way. Ashley’s happy for us and we’re happy for him.”

Relating to One Direction

Underwood says losing Parker wasn’t as traumatic as, say, One Direction losing Zayn Malik mid-tour at the height of their fame. Since he spent his 20s in a crazy popular boy band, he can imagine what life is like for them and getting older has given him a new perspective.

“I get not really understanding the blessing you have when you have it,” he says. “It’s going to stop at one point. You’re kind of foolish to think you’re always going to be on top.”

Variety hour

That said, O-Town’s current tour is selling well proving that their old fans are ready to relive old memories, while checking out the new tunes the band has recorded.“It’s more of a variety show than just a concert,” Underwood says. “There’s dancing, there’s time for each person to talk. It’s more than just about the music.”

If you go:

Philadelphia
Jan. 10, 2 p.m.
Theatre of the Living Arts
334 South St., 215-922-1011
www.inphilly.com

New York City
Jan. 12, 7 p.m.
Gramercy Theatre
127 East 23rd St., 21-.614-6932
Venue.thegramercytheatre.com

Boston
Jan. 13, 8 p.m.
Brighton Music Hall
158 Brighton Avenue, Allston
617-779-0140
Crossroadspresents.com/brighton-music-hall

Follow Emily on Twitter: @EmLaurence