The Pop2000 Tour Pops into Portland
Date:: July 13, 2023
Location: Portland, MA
Let me just say concert withdrawals are REAL side effects! Concert withdrawals impact you both physically and emotionally especially after three consecutive days of live shows!
Summertime means the Pop2000 Tour is in full force! The last time I was at the Pop2000 Tour was September 2022 in Stamford, CT. What made the 2023 tour extra special was BBMAK being added to the lineup. I haven't seen BBMAK since 2018. I was going to see them in 2020 before the pandemic shut everything down. In addition to BBMAK, the tour includes O-Town, LFO, and Ryan Cabrera. Chris Kirkpatrick from NSYNC returns as host.
I was super excited that the tour stopped in multiple cities across New England - Portland, ME; Webster, MA; and Hampton Beach, NH. So I decided to turn the opportunity to a personal vacation o
Visiting Portland
First stop, Portland. This was my first time visiting one of Maine’s popular travel destinations.. I arrived two days before the concert to give me a chance to explore the area. Portland is a beautiful and relatively quiet but relaxing town. I see why most Bostonians enjoy vacationing here. Portland is filled with cute boutiques and is located on the harbor. The city has a lot of history and character. Not to mention delicious food. I visited the Victorian Mansion, the Portland Waterfront Historic District, and Old Port. I also carved out time to relax at East End Beach. I event climbed up Portland’s Watch Tower. And definitely ate some lobster!
VIP with O-Town, LFO, and Chris Kirkpatrick
The day of the concert, I purchased VIPs with O-Town, LFO, and Chris Kirkpatrick. Which is a LOT and NOT to do in the future. Though set at separate times, VIPs tend to overflow and schedules can change. I found myself rushing from one to the other.
O-Town’s Acoustics Session
O-Town’s VIP started behind the allotted time. The band and their crew arrived late and had a delayed soundcheck. Fortunately, their VIP was only 30 minutes. And it was still a great VIP!
O-Town hosted an acoustic session, performing three songs from their sophomore album, O2:
Suddenly
Been Around The World
The Joint
The acoustics session was a marvelously l intimate and engaging mini-concert.All the boys’ vocals sounded flawlessly amazing. In addition to the singing, they took time to answer questions from fans.
I felt awful for asking them to take my photo first so I can leave for my next VIP. O-Town was definitely very understanding about it. Also Joel, their manager, called Brad and his manager that I will be a little late. Fortunately, Brad was going to be 5 minutes late too!
Coffee with Brad
I power-walked/ran to Starbucks. Luckily, Starbucks was seven minutes away from the venue. I had arrived at the coffee shop just as Brad had arrived. I was almost out of breath. An iced coffee was just what I needed!
I was the only fan that showed up in addition to Brad’s friends and tour crew. Fine with me! Because, not only did I get to know Brad more as a person, he got to know me more as a person.
Brad talked about his family. He also talked about how Jeff from 98 Degrees convinced him to bring back LFO after the long hiatus. Jeff also motivated Brad to change his diet and get into healthy eating. I talked about my real job, its challenges and benefits as well as my recent fellowship program. We discussed our favorite concerts and our favorite boyband members of all time. I admitted that mine is Jon Knight from NKOTB. Sorry Brad!
Overall, the Coffee talk was extremely relaxing. I enjoyed chilling with Brad, his friends and crew. Since I was going to be Brad’s watergirl again, Brad’s assistant Floyd provided me with instructions to come backstage after Otown’s 2nd song.
The Concert
The show took place in Aura located in downtown Portland. Aura is a close-knit night club and sports bar with wonderful acoustics and sounds when the bands started playing the music.
Because I was a VIP, I was able to enter Aura early and snag a spot close to the stage since the concert was general admission.
Ryan Cabrera
The Pop2000 tour started with Ryan opening up the show with his song, “40 Kinds of Sadness”. He also played the party track, “Whatever, Whenever”, uplifting the crowd’s energy. Ryan was clearly excited to be onstage because he broke some strings on his guitar. But being the professional that he is, he immediately replaced the strings and had an extra guitar.
My favorite Ryan performances were obviously his classic hits “True” and “All The Way Down”. Those songs honestly bring back so much nostalgia of the early 2000s!
Christian Burns
Before BBMAK was supposed to come on, Chris Kirkpatrick appeared on the stage and announced that Mark and Ste of BBMAK were not able to get their visas on time. So they were not going to perform that night. Instead, Christian will perform solo. And I will say Christian was a trooper!! Despite the nerves, Christian’s beautiful voice carried through the performances. His BBMAK setlist included “Out of My Heart Into Your Head”, “I’m Not In Love” and “Ghost of You and Me”.
My favorite performances were “Next Time” and “Unpredictable”. Even though Mark and Ste were absent, Christian still pulled off a great performance with so much effort and dedication. He definitely grew more confident as he closed out his set with BBMAK’s major hit, “Back Here”.
O-Town
Next, O-Town appeared on the stage kicking off with their classic uptempo song, “Liquid Dreams”. Dan, Trevor, Erik and Jacob immediately re-energized the crowd’s spirits following with another up-tempo song, “Chasin’ After You”. Their choreography flawlessly spot on.
LFO
This was my second time as Brad’s watergirl. My first time was at the Pop2000 Tour in 2022. But I still consider the job special and important.
During O-Town’s “Chasin”, I made my way to the side of the stage and met Floyd. We went backstage and greeted Brad who handed me his water to hold during his show until he calls me out.
Before Brad performs, Brad, Floyd, Brad’s friend and I huddled and did a small prayer for Brad to have a great show.
In the middle of O-Town’s setlist, Brad appeared onstage and performed “Westside Story” and “Every Other Time”. You could hear the crowd screaming enthusiastically and start singing along.
After “Every Other Time”, Brad called me to the stage. And the moment was surreal. For a time, I felt like a popstar. I came out and handed Brad his water. I enthusiastically waved to the audience, the audience waved back and I walked backstage.
After “Every Other Time”, Brad called me to the stage. And the moment was surreal. For a time, I felt like a popstar. I came out and handed Brad his water. I enthusiastically waved to the audience, the audience waved back and I walked backstage.
As I watched him walk off stage, his face was overwhelmed with emotion. Brad then took a sigh of relief. I told him I was extremely proud of him and he did a fantastic job with a performance.
O-Town and Chris Kirkpatrick
O-Town continued the show with their songs “These Are The Days” and “After The Light”. Then they started singing NSYNC’s “Bye Bye Bye” with the signature dance moves on point. Of course, the icing on that performance was Chris coming out and singing “Bye Bye Bye” with O-Town. Chris and O-Town continued the NSYNC medley with “It’s Gonna Be Me” and “Tearin’ Up My Heart” with precise choreography. They also did an acapella performance of NSYNC’s “Pop” since it’s the Pop2000 concert.
My favorite performance though was “This I Promise You/Something Just Like This”. Chris’s high falsetto voice truly shines in the song. It was beautiful to see Chris stand in the spotlight and have his moment. I wished that they sang “I Drive Myself Crazy” with Chris’s actual solo parts.
Finale
O-Town closed the show with their major hit song, “All or Nothing”. I absolutely love this song because it is the quintessential boyband ballad. The song undeniably takes me back to the early 2000s. “All Or Nothing” was definitely played at every middle school dance.
Moreover, you can hear Trevor, Jacob, Dan and Erik’s voices clearly on the song. They always put their passion and commitment into the song. Definitely showed in the Portland performance. What made it more special is inviting Chris Kirkpatrick, Christian Burns and Brad Fischetti onstage to sing the song with them. The crowd went wild! It was the perfect ending to the concert.
Post-Concert Meet and Greet with Chris Kirkpatrick
After the concert, I did the VIP meet and greet with Chris Kirkpatrick. This meant missing selfies with O-Town which was happening at the same time. During situations where there are multiple VIPs taking place simultaneously, you have to prioritize what you want to do.
I was happy to have done VIP with Chris. The last time I saw Chris was at 90s con. Always great to catch up and learn more about him. He obviously had a bigger turnout of fans than O-Town and Brad. That was definitely the same case last year. He mostly took questions from the fans. Chris talked about how he had to go out to Dan Miller’s house in Arizona and review NSYNC choreography with O-Town.
Overall, I enjoyed myself in the Portland concert. It was great to be back in the live music scene particularly with my boybands. All the guys delivered wonderful performances. The VIPs were fun too despite the overlap. Next time, select just 1-2 VIPs.
Stay tuned for the Webster and Hampton Beach shows!
