The Pop2000 Tour Storms Into New Hampshire
Date: August 15, 2023
Location: Bernie’s Beach Bar, Hampton Beach, NH
The final New England leg of the Pop2000 Tour landed in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire. Since Hampton Beach was only an hour away from my home, my concert friend, Margaret and I drove up midafternoon. We arrived early before the show started because we had VIPs with O-Town and BBMAK.
Fortunately, these VIPs were scheduled one after the other and in the same location. No rushing around this time!
VIP with O-Town
For this show, we decided to do All Access VIP with O-Town. An experience a townie should do at least once!
In addition to the O-Town acoustic session and photos, you get to spend more time with the boys before, during and after the show. You also get to assist with setting up the stage and hand the boys their microphones.
As luck would have it, Margaret and I were the only fans doing the VIP that day! So we had the O-Town boys all to ourselves! With the exception of Eric’s half brother, fiancee and friend.
The VIP took place in quite a unique location, a beach house kitchen, next to the main venue, Bernie’s Beach Bar. The VIP felt more like an intimate house party gathering. We were literally sitting on a couch and watching the boys singing with appliances in the background.
Like Webster and Portland, O-Town sang “Suddenly”, “Been Around The World” and “The Joint”. Their vocals were flawless as usual.
After, we chatted with them briefly. By this time, the boys pretty much know who we are since Margaret and I almost go to every show and VIP. I do appreciate the fact they make the effort to remember our names and get to know us. Dan clarified we are friends now NOT groupies.
VIP with BBMAK
We also chose to do BBMAK VIP since we don’t get to see Mark, Christian, and Ste very often. Like Webster, BBMAK performed an acoustic version of “Back Here”. Other fans felt the same way because they definitely had a bigger turnout at VIP than O-Town.
BBMAK also took questions from fans. The group hopes to add more US tour dates and cities. They also plan to release more new music. Christian and Ste stated they are influenced by and hope to collaborate with either Stevie Wonder or Paul McCartney. Mark also mentioned that they were also signed by Simon Cowell. And later meeting Simon years later who said he really regrets not signing BBMAK. I’m actually glad he didn’t
Sunshine Heat to Pouring Rain
Unlike Webster’s clear skies and hot sun, we faced a downpour in Hampton Beach.We were definitely soaking wet by the time the concert started. Moreover, the show was still going on rain or shine in the open air. Fortunately, I was well-prepared with my rain trench coat, hat and moccasin shoes. We only had to endure the brunt of rain during the long wait outside the venue.
Regardless of the weather, the fans still showed up for the Pop2000 concert and lined up around the corner of the venue. The boys definitely showed their fan appreciation when Jacob briefly came out and ran up and down the line filming with his phone.
When the doors finally opened, Margaret and I were lucky to score a close enough view of the stage despite the long line.
The Concert
After the opener Dean Ford, the Pop2000 show kicked off with Ryan Cabrera. Ryan’s performance definitely uplifted the audience’s spirits after a lengthy wait in the rain. The crowd especially got re-energized when he sang “All The Way Down” and “Whatever Whenever”.
Thankfully the rain stopped by the time BBMAK came onstage. BBMAK performed songs mostly from their first album, Sooner or Later, a good balance of uptempo and ballads. My favorite performance was definitely “Out Of My Heart/Into Your Head” because I felt the performance built on Ryan’s momentum on the rain drenched crowd’s spirits.
In addition, I enjoyed “Ghost of You and Me”. Their voices and emotions particularly Ste’s truly transcended in this performance. BBMAK performed this song at night under the dark sky with the stage incorporating multi-color spotlight. And a smoke machine provided a soft ambience to the song. These elements made me appreciate the song more and understand why it’s one of BBMAK’s popular songs.
All Access with O-Town
During BBMAK’s performance of “Back Here”, Margaret and I headed backstage and met with Joel, O-Town’s tour manager. Prior to O-Town getting onstage, Margaret and I handed Jacob, Eric, Trevor and Dan, their microphones. We wished the boys good luck !
Later, I went onstage as I was in charge of starting the music before O-Town entered the stage. All I had to do was press the play button on the laptop. To say I was nervous would be an understatement. Even though the task was simple, I thought I would mess up the entire show. Fortunately, Joel was by my side the entire time and guided me through! And I pressed the start button on time!
After I got off stage, O-Town ignited the show with “Liquid Dreams”, igniting the crowd. Margaret and I were able to watch the rest of the concert from the side of the stage with a roof over our heads. A definite upgrade from the open air general admission floor with rain pouring down on you. I joked to the boys later that they should have also sang New Edition’s “Can You Stand The Rain?”
O-Town then performed their hits - “Chasin’ After You”, “We Fit Together”, and “SkyDive”. LFO’s Brad later joined them onstage and performed “Summer Girls”, “Girl on TV”, and “Every Other Time”. Upon bringing Brad onstage, O-Town mentioned when they started out as a band, the LFO guys were their mentors, showing O-Town the ropes of being a boyband. During the show, they did take a moment to honor the late LFO members, Rich and Devin.
After Brad got off stage, Margaret and I joined the O-Town boys onstage during their song “These Are The Days”, which was an incredible experience. We got to watch the boys sing with their backs to us and dance along onstage. They were going into the crowd and grabbing fans’ phones and filming themselves. Eric, Jacob, Dan and Trevor even turned around and gazed directly into our cellphone cameras. I even gave them my cell phone so they could record us and the rest of the crowd. It was just a surreal moment!
Chris Kirkpatrick, shortly, joined onstage as a surprise guest when O-Town performed a medley of NSYNC songs - “Bye Bye Bye”, “It’s Gonna Be Me”, “Pop”, “This I Promise You” and “Tearin Up My Heart”. I thought the boys did a great job on the “Tearin’ Up My Heart” and “Bye Bye Bye” choreography. Chris, though, thinks their dancing needs more work.
My favorite part, though, was definitely when Chris broke into singing “Pop” acapella. Sometimes I forget how crazy talented Chris is and how his falsetto voice is so beautiful. He definitely reminded me so during “Pop” and “This I Promise You.” They got real NSYNCy.
O-Town closed the show with “All Or Nothing” where they invited Brad, Chris and the BBMAK boys onstage to sing with them. As usual, the performance was the perfectly culminated ending to a fun nostalgic concert.
From my view backstage, it was awesome to watch the other artists sneak up the staircase and join O-Town.
After the show, Margaret and I joined O-Town in the green room as they cooled down after the show and ate their dinners. BBMAK and Brad ended up joining us. I felt like I had just been invited to an exclusive celebrity party. We were just hanging out in a beach house kitchen and just chatting with the guys.
O-Town asked us about our feedback on the show. I told them that the show was excellent and their performance was great as usual. The only downside was waiting longer in line in the rain than expected. The doors were supposed to open at 7 pm. Instead, we could only enter the venue at 7:30 pm. Jacob explained doors opened late because the boys started their soundcheck late. The crew at Bernie’s Beach Bar were waiting till the rain lightened to turn on the equipment for soundcheck.
I also mentioned that there were a bunch of first timers at the show who did not expect Chris to join the boys. Erik noted to keep that surprise element for future shows.
Overall, I had an absolute blast at the Hampton Beach show despite the rain. O-Town, BBMAK, Ryan Cabrera, LFO, and Chris Kirkpatrick all sounded amazing. These guys truly put their heart and effort into the show in making sure the audience is entertained. BBMAK was definitely a wonderful addition to the Pop2000 Tour. It’s also quite obvious, the boys are having fun onstage and enjoyed their time with the fans and each other at the show.
All Access VIP was totally worth it! If you ever plan to go to an O-Town Show, I truly recommend purchasing the All Access VIP. You really get your money’s worth. You get to spend more time with O-Town than you usually would at other artists’ VIP.
