NSYNC was one of the most popular boy bands of 1999 and 2000 and this group originated in Orlando, Florida in 1995. The band was made up of Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Chris Kirkpatrick, Joey Fatone, and Lance Bass. It took several years of sweat and toil, but with their second album, NSYNC received unprecedented fame in America and around the globe with their album No Strings Attached in the year 2000. This marked the beginning of a grueling concert touring activity to popularize the album internationally.
The No Strings Attached Tour commenced in May of 2000 and commenced across the arenas in the United States. Their popularity was peaking and audiences wanted to watch them live and in person, especially from teenagers and young adults. Audiences were patronizing these events by the hour throughout the country, venues were selling out within minutes. The US leg was well-grounded for two months and contacted many cities including Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Miami, New York, and Orlando. Everything from lighting and props to changing costumes, dancing, and positioning of the actors was incorporated into the production. Both nights were sold out with audiences of ten thousand fans actively participating in the performance doing songs like Bye Bye Bye, This I Promise You, and It’s Gonna Be Me.
Following their successful tour across the United States, in July 2000, NSYNC took their show to the rest of the world, particularly in Europe. They were also able to perform several shows in London at the Wembley Arena before they proceeded to the continent. The European leg of the tour involved performances in Dublin, Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Milan and Zurich. The young fans in Europe stomped and clapped in equal measure as back home as they performed hit songs each night. They also broke new ground by becoming the first American boyband to sell out an arena concert in Beijing China in October 2000. Their gains across the continents were a testament that their music was universal regardless of language or ethnicity.
At the end of the year 2000, NSYNC took back to the US for their second tour. This time they graduated from arenas to stadiums based on hot demand. They did command performances at stadia like the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, GA; Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, CA; and Giants Stadium in New Jersey. As in the previous tour through the arenas of the United States, each concert was held in a hall filled with the audience. This tour was soon followed by another in early 2001, the third NSYNC tour in the United States.
Entitled the PopOdyssey Tour, it was their largest North American tour in support of their fourth studio album Celebrity released in 2001. This tour culminated in NSYNC’s commercial peak as well as an incredibly elaborate stage show. The setlist changed to include songs from Celebrity such as Pop, Gone, and Girlfriend. There were several set pieces, costumes, fire, suspension systems, trap doors, stage platforms, moving sidewalks, and other such gimmicks. At some point in the concert, the band was lifted off the ground and above the audience.
This was so massive with five consecutive sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden. Stadiums like the Georgia Dome and the Florida Citrus Bowl were packed with audiences. Originally it was planned to last until October 2001, but due to the tragic events of September 11, 2001, the tour was stopped. However, the PopOdyssey Tour remains one of the most successful concert tours of 2001 based on the record of sales and attendance.
Following the success of the movie No Strings Attached and the television series Celebrity, NSYNC were true ‘supergroups’ that filled up venues across the globe in 2000 and 2001. They had massive concerts, and their fans were legendary setting the band in place as one of the most famous boybands in the pop music industry. It should be noted that they took a year off in 2002 to work on their solo careers, but their concert tours represent the pinnacle of NSYNC’s chart success and acclaim during the 1999-2000 boy band/teen pop boom. For those lucky enough to see an NSYNC show in person during this stretch, it created memories and fan bonds that last a lifetime.
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