It’s been over two decades since the debut of O-Town and the iconic boy band is back on the road for the Pop2000 Tour. Hosted by Chris Kirkpatrick of *NSYNC and featuring LFO, BBMAK and Ryan Cabrera, this night of nostalgia filled the seats at Phoenix’s own Celebrity Theatre.
The self-professed “baby” of the tour, Ryan Cabrera opened the show with an intimate acoustic experience. As the venue’s stage started slowly rotating to present the performers to every fan in the room, Cabrera’s expression changed from surprise to total delight and he bantered about the experience between songs. The fans were on their feet for “True” and “On the Way Down” before Cabrera finished his short set with a classic 90s medley that got everyone dancing right at the end.
Kirkpatrick returned to the stage to introduce British boy band BBMAK who’d made the long journey across the pond for this tour. The guys were all smiles as Phoenix greeted them with exuberance- many fans never had the chance to see the group perform live, making this set a very special one. The trio also played largely acoustic and took full advantage of the rotating stage to make every fan feel like they were the center of attention. BBMAK had plenty of hits in their heyday but songs like “Out of My Heart” and “Back Here” nearly drove the fans into hysterics as they got as close as possible to their favorites.
O-Town has gone from a five-piece group to a quartet with their touring reunion but being down a member didn’t stop them from bringing plenty of energy to Celebrity Theatre. Fans who’d been sitting for much of the night were up and dancing from the first notes of “Liquid Dreams”. Erik-Michael Estrada, Trevor Penick, Jacob Underwood and Dan Miller still have all their moves and busted out some classic choreography all night long.
Special guest Brad Fischetti of LFO joined the group in the middle of the set for a solo performance that honored Devin Lima and Rich Cronin- the other two members of the former A-list group that passed away due to cancer. Fischetti sported a shirt with Lima and Cronin’s names on the back and carried a mic stand with their sneakers dangling from it in their memory. O-Town eventually came back out and joined Fischetti for “Girl On TV” and “Summer Girls”- and we can confirm they still like girls who wear Abercrombie & Fitch.
LFO was only the first surprise of the night- O-Town decided they wanted to be a quintet again so they brought out Kirkpatrick for a mini *NSYNC cover set that included renditions of “Tearing Up My Heart”, “Pop” and even the iconic “Bye Bye Bye” choreography. After this intense run of songs, the group slowed things down and ended the night with a venue-wide sing along to “All Or Nothing”.
Nostalgia reigns supreme as more groups and albums are celebrating milestone anniversaries and millennials are looking for connections to the music of their youth. The Pop2000 Tour fulfilled all of these expectations and both artists and fans were having the time of their lives at this week’s kickoff show- we’re hoping for more moments and anniversary celebrations like these.
