Boyband Festival in Cambridge
Date: September 5th and 6th, 2025
Location: Cambridge, MA
On the first weekend of September, the Saint Cosmas and Damian Society of Cambridge hosted its 100th Annual Feast of Saints Cosmas and Damian. The Feast is a multi-day celebration honoring "The Healing Saints" Cosmas and Damian and celebrating Italian Tradition.The Feast celebrates includes food, games, rides and free live entertainment. Because the Feast was celebrating its centennial year, they invited O-Town, Chris Kirkpatrick, LFO, Ryan Cabrera, All-4-One and Joey Mcintyre as their main entertainment line up. A great weekend for boyband fans!
Friday - Pop2000 on Warren Street
Friday night kicked off with the Pop2000 tour line up and a packed crowd. The last time I saw the Pop2000 tour was this past summer in Cohasset and Rhode Island. The show is hosted by Chris Kirkpatrick of NSYNC. Their stage, set up on Warren Street, was noticeably smaller than what the artists are used to. The stage definitely wobbled, particularly when O-Town and Chris Kirkpatrick performed their intense choreography. But they still delivered a great show.
Ryan Cabrera
Ryan was the first to hit the stage, playing his purple sparkly guitar and wearing noticeably tight pants. He was accompanied by his drummer Tony. His setlist included his hits “On The Way Down”, “True”, and “40 Kinds of Sadness”. As the opener and “little brother” of the Pop200 group, Ryan definitely boosted the energy of the crowd. I was happy to meet him later after the show. He signed my t-shirt and even complimented my shoes!
O-Town
O-Town further increased the crowd’s enthusiasm, opening with their smash hit “Liquid Dreams”. Their setlist also included “All For Love”, “SkyDive” and “These Are The Days”. O-Town also performed a mash up of Mariah Carey’s “Heartbreaker” and their song “We Fit Together”. They undeniably fed into the crowd’s MTV/TRL late 1990s/early 2000s nostalgia as they always do.
LFO
LFO’s Brad Fischetti joined O-Town onstage and sang the uptempo song, “Can’t Have You”. The show continued with “Westside Story” and “Every Other Time”. As usual, Brad and O-Town honor LFO’s deceased members, Rich Cronin and Devin Lima with LFO’s famous ballad, “Girl On TV”. Always a beautiful moment for me. Brad and O-Town closed the LFO set with “Summer Girls” and got the crowd to sing along. I also met Brad after the show. He definitely remembered me and was so happy to see me.
Chris Kirkpatrick
Chris Kirkpatrick later joined O-Town and performed an NSYNC medley with full choreography. Honestly, my favorite part of Friday’s show. Even though he is the host, Chris is truly in his element when he sings. Everytime I see Chris, he has become more confident as a performer, not to mention a lead singer. The setlist included “It’s Gonna Be Me”, “Tearin’ Up My Heart”, “Pop”, “Space Cowboy” and “Bye Bye Bye”. My favorite was obviously when he sang “(Thinking of You) I Drive Myself Crazy”. His high falsetto voice always stands out.
Finale
As expected, O-Town closes the show with “All Or Nothing”. But the Finale is always special. The performance clearly displays the strong brotherhood amongst Pop2000 artists as well as the solid bond between artists and the fans.
Saturday - All-4-One and Joey McIntyre on Cambridge Street
The Saturday show was delayed to 9 pm due to intense thunderstorms. Yes I was drenched. Despite the weather, All-4-One and Joey McIntyre still delivered an awesome show on a significantly larger stage on Cambridge Street.
All-4-One
This is my second All-4-One show. The last time I saw them was with 98 Degrees in Foxwoods in September 2023. Their setlist included “(She Got) Skillz”, a cover of Earth, Wind and Fire “September” and a medley 90s hits - “Motown Philly”, “This is How We Do It” and “Poison”. However, All-4-One truly shone when they sang their own ballads especially their signature hits “I Swear”, “I Turn To You”, and “I Swear”. My favorite performance was definitely “Someday” from Disney’s Hunchback of Notre Dame soundtrack. It was a song that clearly relevant for the times we are living it. The performance delivered a gospel vibe and Delious Kennedy’s got to showcase his powerful and soulful voice. Another highlight was “So Much In Love”. They turned off the background music, snapped their fingers and decided to perform the song acoustic and acapella. The performance was intimate and connected and you could clearly hear the harmony amongst the members’ voices.
Joey McIntyre
At 10 pm, Joey finally graced the stage, opening the show with a mash up of NKOTB’s “Tonight” and Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk”. The crowd went absolutely wild as Joey confidently danced on stage like the biggest popstar he is. I had previously seen Joey’s Solo show in Boston’s House Blue early this April. Joey undeniably carried a lot of swagger and sway onstage. He wore a blue vest and loose beige pants and hat. Joey was accompanied by his guitarist/pianist, Sean Thomas. His setlist (that he came up with on the fly because he lost it) included: “ You Got It (The Right Stuff)”, “I Love You Came Too Late”, “Run This Town”, “Until Tomorrow” and George Michael’s “Faith”. The biggest highlights of the night was when Joey performed his signature ballads: “Please Don’t Go Girl” and “Stay The Same”. After performing for more than three decades, Joey proves he can still hit those high notes. He also performed Tony Bennett’s “Rags to Riches”. But, I loved his stripped down performance of NKOTB’s “Cover Girl”. He and Sean seamlessly transitioned the normally uptempo song to a slow acoustic ballad. I definitely felt Joe’s emotions and heart during that performance. What made the performance more beautiful and memorable was the sky started drizzling. Fortunately, the rain did not deter Joey’s performance. Rather, the light rain complemented it and connected Joe closer to the audience. Furthermore, I was blown away by Joey’s encore performance of “Shut Up and Sing” off his “Freedom” album. Joey truly showed his vocal range within the song, clarifying him as a crooner. He showed so much vulnerability and soul.
