2022 Pop2000 Tour
Concert Date: September 15, 2022
Location: The Palace Theatre, Stamford, CT
The Pop2000 Tour LineUp consisted of O-Town, LFO and Ryan Cabrera, hosted by Chris Kirkpatrick from NSYNC.
This concert was my second O-Town and Ryan Cabrera show and first full LFO show. I saw O-Town a year ago at City Winery in Boston. Ryan previously performed at my college during my freshman year. I met Brad at a St.Patrick’s Day Party in Boston where he performed Summer Girls with Jeff Timmons from 98 Degrees and Trevor Penick from O-Town.
The Pop2000 Tour was definitely one of my favorite concerts in 2022. The concert brought me back to the MTV/TRL nostalgia. I was ecstatic to spend time with Brad Fischetti of LFO and be his watergirl for the night. I was especially happy to meet Chris Kirkpatrick from NSYNC and hang out with the O-Town Boys.
Arriving Early
Despite Stamford being only a three hour train ride from Boston, I decided to travel the night before. As I mentioned in my concert tips, arriving early gave me enough time to relax and not risk missing the VIP events. I also booked the Marriott hotel, right next to the concert venue.
Lunch with Brad Fischetti
On the Saturday afternoon before the concert, I ate lunch with Brad, Brad’s manager, Mike Caputo and fellow LFO fans at an Asian-fusion restaurant, Mecha Noodle House. I know the irony. The meal was a nice intimate hang out. Though I’ve met Brad before, it was lovely to get to know him better on a personal level.
During lunch, Brad talked about his family and shared stories about his former bandmates Devin and Rich. One story that stood out was about how Devin made the band late for another event because he spent a long time after the concert signing autographs for fans.
At the end of lunch, Brad each gifted us a signed photograph.
Meet and Greet with Chris Kirkpatrick
Later, I had a meet and greet event with Chris. As readers know, I’m a big NSYNC fan so I was definitely excited to meet him. Even though Chris just did Q and A, he had a larger crowd than Brad. Understandably, NSYNC nation turned out in droves for the former Pineapple head.
I can say Chris is who he is on TV. He has a very snarky sense of humor. I asked him about JC. Chris answered by making fun of the fact that JC has gray and he doesn’t. Chris also told us a crazy fan story where a fan sent him a very long letter. And how he sometimes uses that story when his wife nags him to pick up his socks to remind her of loyal NSYNC fans.
Recalling NSYNC’s touring days, Chris admitted that the guys actually prefer doing the up-tempo dance songs rather than the ballads. Which I found surprising because I thought they prefer sitting in chairs or standing and singing slow songs. Especially when Chris sings I Drive Myself Crazy!
He did outwardly state NSYNC is not reuniting anytime soon. I think some of us NSYNC fans were inwardly disappointed and sad but understood.
After Q&A, Chris took photographs and signed autographs. I totally regretted not bringing any NSYNC memorabilia for him to sign. Fortunately, he did provide a photo to sign. I also got to hug him. Spending time with him was worth it.
O-Town also had a VIP Meet and Greet with this show too. However, the timing was close to Brad’s Lunch and overlapped with Chris’s event. I did not want to miss out. So I prioritize meeting Chris since I was a bigger fan of NSYNC. I also planned to meet O-Town in their post show Meet and Greet. And I was going to meet them at another concert four days later.
The Concert
The concert clearly brought a huge turnout of Pop Fanatics. The venue’s floor level was almost filled up. No seat empty.
Performing his MC duties, Chris first appeared on the stage and got the crowd excited for O-Town, LFO and Ryan Cabrera. Chris then introduced Ryan as he came onstage. Ryan definitely brought me back to my college days. He performed his classic hits, “All The Way Down” and “True”. He truly does sound amazing live. His guitar playing is phenomenal.
Then O-Town appeared onstage, opening their set with their first single, “Liquid Dreams”. They also sang their other hit songs, “We Fit Together”, “Chasin’ After You” and “SkyDive”. Those boys definitely had a lot of energy and knew how to engage the audience.
One of my favorite moment of the O-Town performance was when the group sang “These Are The Days”. Erik managed to grab my phone and recorded himself singing the song.
Being Brad’s WaterGirl
Later, as O-Town were singing “Hello World”, Mike brought me backstage where I met Brad again before he was to join the O-Town boys. Brad handed me his LFO Yeti and instructed me to hand it to him when he calls me to the stage.
It was so surreal to witness him walking onstage and performing classic LFO hits, “Girl On TV” and “West Side Story” with O-Town. Jacob did a wonderful job singing Devon’s solo in “Girl On TV”.
My friends, the sneaker keepers, brought on Rich and Devin’s sneakers onstage to acknowledge their spiritual presence to the stage.
Brad briefly shared the LFO story and spoke about his memories about Rich and Devin. At that moment, I realized the huge amount of emotional loss Brad experienced in his life. Losing two bandmates/friends truly impacted him. I can’t imagine going through loss like that. The way he reminisced about Rich and Devin clearly showed that Brad carried a responsibility to shoulder the LFO legacy and keep their memory alive. O-Town and Brad then paused the show to pay respects to Rich and Devin.
Brad then called me out after he performed “Every Other Time”. I walked onto the front stage, handed him his water and waved to the crowd before returning back behind the curtains. Brad and O-Town then sang “Summer Girls”. After the performance, Brad came off stage and thanked me for being the Water Girl. I told him he was incredible onstage and I was really proud of him.
Mike was generous enough to let me watch the rest of the concert backstage. I can’t lie. The view was definitely an upgrade. It was nice to see Trevor backstage too. We hugged despite him being really sweaty. He was definitely taken by surprise when he saw me giving Brad his water.
Encore
O-Town continued the show with their song “Off”. They also sang three NSYNC songs, starting with the infamous “It’s Gonna Be Me”. Then they sang “Bye Bye Bye” where Chris joined them mid chorus. Their choreography definitely being on point. Chris also sang Pop with them acapella. I hadn’t seen Chris perform live in person since 2000 No Strings Attached Tour. (I know a LONG Time!) So it was just amazing to watch him sing live again. And his voice sounded so beautiful, especially acapella.Chris definitely still got it!
O-Town closed the show, inviting Chris and Brad to sing “All Or Nothing”. All the boys just belted their hearts out with their vocals. The brotherhood camaraderie was sincere. And watching the whole performance backstage was simply magical.
Post-Show Meeting with O-Town
Even though I was feeling a bit tired after the show, I still wanted to meet O-Town. I did have to wait quite a while. Fortunately, I was waiting with fellow fans so it didn’t feel long.
Finally, I met the O-Town boys and hugged each one of them and we took a selfie. They were so nice and friendly. Trevor joked he was no longer sweaty. Erik told me great job handing Brad the water.
Overall, I had a wonderful time at the concert. LFO, Chris Kirkpatrick, Ryan Cabrera and O-Town dedicated their hearts and vocals onstage. Their passion and commitment was clearly reflected in their performances. I highly recommend going to a Pop2000 Tour concert in a town near you. I also recommend going to the VIP meet and greets with LFO and Chris Kirkpatrick.
Being Brad’s watergirl was undoubtedly one of the best of best experiences (and side hustles) I’ve ever had. I felt like a very important groupie! Mike texted me later that he and Brad appreciated my help.
I look forward to seeing them all in future shows.
