'Nsync @ Toronto Sun, Toronto-September 4, 1999-Last night of "Ain't No Stoppin Us"
Mission accomplished
N SYNC shows they've come into their own as a song-and-dance band. The name of 'N SYNC's upcoming new album is No Strings Attached. And there couldn't have been a more fitting pronouncement than that for the five-man pop group's performance at the Molson Amphitheatre last night. Okay, so every one of the 16,000 screaming fans in attendance at the sold-out show would likely tell you in a fluttering heartbeat that these guys are not pop marionettes. But like their Orlando cross-town rivals The Backstreet Boys before them, 'N SYNC seemed determined to prove that they've come into their own as a song-and-dance band, on this, the last night of their year-long tour. Upped the ante Well, mission accomplished. If the Backstreet Boys upped the ante with their recent album of worthy Top 40 fluff that showed they can write a tune, 'N SYNC's prowess is their knack for pure concert spectacle. As per teen-scream usual, the music took a backseat last night. Let's face it, those tinkling neo-R&B numbers barely sailed past the lip of the stage before being swallowed up by the roar of the crowd. No biggie, in this case, because the real show here lay in the action. This was karaoke, yeah, but karaoke as staged by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The curtain had barely swung open by the time the 'N SYNC crew had laid the foundation for a show-within-a-show: Appearing on a jumbo screen above the stage, a mad scientist -- didn't catch his name, but with his turtleneck and horn-rimmed specs he looked for all the world like one of us critics, fancy that -- informed the crowd that he had sealed off the entrances and exits. There would be none of "that dreadful noise you call fun music." The sound of chopper blades, and the 'N SYNC boys' voices on walkie-talkies, informed us otherwise. Sparks indicated that the 'N SYNC-able five were blasting their way in through the roof. Enter JC, Justin, Joey, Lance, and Chris, rappelling down to the stage floor via ropes. After making entrance like that, the band could hardly top it. But even at their most cliched moments, the group managed to put a twist on things. A dozen or so girls and some dude in a gorilla costume (?) were invited on stage for what JC called "the first looooove song of the night," For The Girl Who Has Everything. (Hey, the gorilla was the only one to get a lap dance from Justin.) The band also used rather icky video projections and songs to run through the past four decades. The '60s saw the band suited up Beatle-style for the token boy-band-takes-over-the-backing-band's-instruments routine. Their take on the movie theme That Thing You Do was loose and almost thrashy, but fresh. Jackson 5 medley The '70s featured a Jackson 5 medley complete with Afro wigs (though, fortunately, 'N SYNC left the blackface at home). The '80s had them dressed up and dancing like forebearers New Kids On The Block; and as for the '90s, well, that was all them, singing their hit Tearin' Out My Heart. It's probably a good thing 'N SYNC are entertainers and not history professors. But as their own teachers might have told them, they get extra marks for effort.
--KIERAN GRANT
'N Sync @ Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, NY, 3/12/99
'N Sync: they sweat. You get yourself an 'N Sync ticket and you're guaranteed an hour-and-a-half of unbridled sweat action. Which, to us, seemed rather odd. You'd think that the guys would just half-ass it, knowing that the girls would go home hoarse and happy anyway. But not only do they sweat; they dance like nobody's business, they play to the crowd, they crank it out hi-NRG, and they don't stop till the lights come up. 'N Sync actually wants to win you over, or at least make it look like they're trying.
During a speedy, snappy set which made the Backstreet Boys' recent Tour O' Slow Jams look like the concert equivalent of Seconal, 'N Sync proved themselves to be nothing short of upbeat, fun, and slickly professional, even if the fivesome's collective technical accuracy was so sharply delineated that it led one to believe there may be a cyborg or two lurking in its ranks. Justin (the Monchichi-like blond one) barely batted an eye when he got pegged with a slew of Beanie Babies during "For the Girl Who Has Everything," and J.C. (the cheekboned one) was showboating so hard by the end of "I Drive Myself Crazy" that we temporarily feared he was having a heart attack. But he just kept on going, and like true suckers, we giddily went along.
From "Here We Go" to the final encore of "Tearin' Up My Heart," the 'N Sync machine motored along with precision, secure in the knowledge that following up a slow number like "God Must Have Spent a Little More Time on You" with any less of a jam than "I Want You Back" would spell disaster. 'N Sync's stage presentation, however, is half pure entertainment and half huh?, from the 30-foot-tall pop-lockin' body-rockin' electric boogaloo loincloth-garbed gargoyle to the dayglo Kabuki fencing outfits the guys wore while twirling around giant fluorescent pixie sticks... oh, did we happen to mention this all happens before the show even starts?
And while the segment during which 'N Sync traveled back in time to perform covers was an adorable idea, the execution was amusing for all the wrong reasons. OK, watching the guys play instruments was cute (though shaky) for the '60s segment, but the Wonders' "That Thing You Do"... well, it's safe to say that song doesn't quite qualify for "back in the day" status. A Jackson 5 medley for the '70s made far more sense, but the Afro wigs troubled us a bit, not to mention the introductory "educational film" which told us that while kids were getting killed at Kent State and in Vietnam, the Jackson 5 were riiiding hiiigh on the charts. (Um… hooray?) The concept master behind this segment has either a truly perverse sense of humor or no brain. It's anyone's call.
Still, 'N Sync's chops managed to escape the more circus-like productions unscathed, and when they came out to perform their cover of Christopher Cross' "Sailing," harnesses sent all five guys up to the ceiling and flying over the crowd. It came out of nowhere, it whipped the crowd into a frenzy, and it was darn classy on top of that. Of course, compared to some of the things we'd seen, maybe that's not saying much. But the gimmick sent everyone home happy -- something that's not all that easy to come by.
Confounded by 'N Sync's success? So were we. But after this show, it makes a weird kind of sense. We're pleasantly surprised... and at the same time, downright terrified.
-- Kim Stitzel
December 9th, St. Louis, Missouri. (met the guys!!)
It's really long, so take a deep breath. It's worth the time though. Here ya go..
. Michelle and I went to the *NSync concert on December 9 in St. Louis. A very good concert I might add. The next day we were kinda like,yeah, the concert is over:( So we went shopping at the Unionstation and walked to Hard Rock Cafe. Michelle was wearing her *NSync shirt and baby blue strap she'd bought at the concert the previous night. As soon as we got in, the maitre d' asked where she got them. Michelle told him, and he asked,"Oh, they're in town?" I said,"yeah, at the American Theatre." So he seated us and asked what brought us to Hard Rock that day. I said,"Our stomachs!" He said, "Well today just might be your lucky day." Michelle's mother spazzed out and waas like, what? what are you takling about? tell us, etc. He just smiled, looked at his watch and walked of. I turned to MIchelle and (being the hypothetical, imaginative little creature that I am) said,"Michelle. Wouldn't that be so awesome if *NSync ca-" She cut me off and was like,"Shutup. Shutup. They're not. Shutup." not wanting to get her hopes up. So our drinks arrived and our little minds wandered (especially mine). Two waitresses, our waiter, and the maitre d' each walked by with this 'I know what's up' smirk on their faces. About five minutes later, he came back and said, "Have you looked at the door lately? I think you'd better look at the door." he couldn't contain himself any longer I guess. We looked at each other and jumped out of the booth. (Michelle jumped out psychotically, and I tried not to look too conspicuous-I didn't want to look like a major fool.) Michelle saw Joey and yelled,"Get the camera!" I said,"No!" Like, why in the world are you asking me to do this!? I hadn't even seen them yet and didn't really know if they were there. We ran down a few tables to get a better look, and I saw Justin! We were freaking out. Then came JC, Chris, and Lance. As each of them came, Michelle was yelling their names, and took each of their pictures(we'll eventually get all of our snaps up when we get a scanner.) Our foo, oh so conveniently, arrived then. Needless to say, we weren't hungry. They went to their tables (it was kinda raised up as a section of its own. They had bodyguards, their band, cameramen, everyone.) We could see them so we took a few more pictures. Then we went to stand by the steps waiting for them to finish so we could get their autographs. Besides us, there was only 5 little kids. All the girls outside they wouldn't let in :) It rocked. But, to kill the mood, about 20 cheerleaders came in and stood by us. It wasn't that bad, but they didn't even know who they were! They were asking us what songs they sang. They even said to each other,"Do we even like this band?" It made me mad; I was like, ugh, go home. They were in the waitresses way and right in front of the kitchen door. But the maitre d', being his awesome self, saw we were disappointed and told them to site down; they wouldn't be signing autographs that day. Joey's brother, Steven, came down and we talked to him for awhile. I said,"sorry, are you trying to go somewhere" after we'd been talking, and he said kinda. but he stayed around a little more. I really think he was going to chat for Joey. On December 10 at 4:00 Joey was supossedly on Yahoo Chat, but he was with us...hmmm..... Well, anyway, Steven was really cool. So they finished eating. JC came down and signed two autographs, but he had to go back up and get a picture by the Hard Rock Logo. They came down in this order: JC, Chris, Joey, Justin, Lance. *from here on our memories are jumbled u* Ok. JC saw my concert ticket and asked if it was to that night's concert. I said no, it was to last night's. He said,"Oh you went?" and something else pertaining to that, which I don't remember. He was really sincere when we were talking about the concert; he really was happy that I enjoyed it. That showed me that they are definately about more than money. That really impressed me. Oh, and I didn't see a Hard Rock menu with him. Either he already has one or someone else carried it for him. I collected Chris ws having an exceptionally bad day. He didn't smile once and only signed 2 autographs. Poor guy! Then Joey came and I said something about his brother and something else I can't remember, but it's no big deal. Then Justin came and I didn't say anything to him except, "WIll you sign this?" Hey, I couldn't think of ANYTHING to say to Justin Timberlake if anyone of you can think of the perfect question to ask him, mail us at Funky530@hotmail.com. Finally Lance came. my sweetie! He signed the picture I had everyone else sign, and I had the concert ticket especially for him to sign, also. (Hey, he's special.) But I didn't ask him to sign it then; I didn't want to end up with 2 autographs and someone else not get one, that would be rude. We were talking while he was signing it and for a few more seconds, but he went to go finish signing. ***This is my Favorite part*** Lance came back to talk to me!! I felt like such a stud. We probably talked for 5 minutes total.Somewhere in there, Michelle came up and asked him what was up with him kissing Kathy. It was cute, he smiled and looked down and said,"It was a skit...made up by Kathy." I said the guys' reactions were really believable. For some reason, Michelle left then, and neither of us know where she was during this time. I'm telling you, it's the adrenaline. I'm stupid, but I just don't remember. My adrenaline was going and I was just so caught up in the moment. Oh, and he signed my ticket! I feel so special :) Well, he had to go, so we went to see him leave and as he walked out, he smiled and waved. We stood there for a second, then followed him out and saw him getting onto the bus. All the camera's lights inside the bus made it easy to see inside. They were all dancing around and being fun. It was so cute. They were all so nice. I know everyone who meets them says that, but they just are!! they are so polite. That was the most exhilarating day. When we went back in, the maitre d' brought Michelle a picture of them that they hand out at the meet and greets. We think he asked them for one; why would Hard Rock have one lying around? I think it was her shirt...I wish I spend $25 on a shirt...sorta. The only thing that would've made our day better is if I could remember what Lance and I talked about, and if I got a hug from Lance. Oh well, I'm content:) So anyways, we have about 22 pics or so, and we'll get those up, like I said. And all those cameras that were at Hard Rock? Well, they were MTV cameras, and we each got about 2 seconds of fame. It was cool! I feel like a stud! We're on after video 28 or 29 in the semi-background. I'm the one with the brown plaid pants, the brown vest and the khaki-colored courduroy bucket hat. You know what Michelle is wearing. That's all I think
-- Heidi and Shel
July 28-recent tour!!
Ok. We left my house around 2:30 to get there. We arrived at the Pavillion at about 3:30. We right away got a parking spot. So we waited a little while to get in. It was me and 3 friends. So it was me , Gina, Erica, and Kristin. ERica used to go out with Jcs lil bro Tyler, and Mr. Chasez like loves her. She saw him and went over and gave im a hug. When they fnnaly let us in, it was like 5:30 and it was pouring down rain and we made two awesome posters for our radio station Z104. When we were coming in the doors they took our posters from us. i was so pissed,. The four of us ran around looking for the Z104 station. When we found it we went up to the and told them what happend they said that thye werent supposed to take our posters but we could TRY to win upgrades by showing Z104 spirit. So we went to our seat which were in like the 201 area; They werent bad, but they wernt great. So Erica was like lets make up a song. I was like yeah! So we made up a song to the Tumh tune. It sounded awesome. We then went and sang it to the Z104 people and the lady I think her name was Lisa was like that was so good but we dont have any upgrades, I was sad. Then as we were walking away she was like hey sing that for Sammy and Matthew Blades {who is really hot might I add!} We were like ok. When we were done he was like where are your seats I was like 201. He then said come over here and we walked over there and he gave us four tickets in the 103 area. If you look at that they are really goos seats. !7 rows from satge.! We were screaming!! So automatically we went to our seats. I was like OMG! We are gonna be so close to Nsync! Ok skip a few parts.... Ok when the concert began it was 3rd Storie four black dudes. They were pretty good. Then the suga hill gang. They are pretty old so they werent that good. Then JORDAN KNIGHT came! He was so good! I remember him when i was younger! Skip...... Nsync time! nsyncnsyncnsyncnsyncnsyncnsyncnsyncnsyncnsyncnsyncnsyncnsyncnsyncnsyncnsyncnsyncnsyncnsyncnsyncnsyncnsyncnsyncnsyncnsyncnsyncnsyncnsyn OK OK OK OK OK OK let me cool down! Just thinking bout this makes me feel so happy. This guys shows up on the scree talking crap that there is no Nsync and that they arent coming to the concert. They you see the body guard talking to Justin on the phone telling him this guys is trying to take over.Then you see on a screen Five guys walking towards you, and they start showing profiles of the guys. The you see all the lights moving around like a Mission Impossible thing and the lights look like a helicopter. Then all of a sudden in the back near the screen five ropes dropped and they came down the ropes. They come out and sang "Here we go". Then Lance said something like You may have everything but a seat on this stage. Then they sang "for the girl". Then a screen came on and showed what happend in the 60s. They came out ans sang "That thing you do" by the Wonders. Jc sang, Joey played Drums Lance was Keyboardist and Justin and Chris were guitarist. Then the screen showed us stuff about the 70s. The came out singing Jackson 5s,they looked so cute. Then they jetted of to change and a screen came on showing things bout the 80s. They came out and sang "Celebrate" which joey soloed cus he has that kind of voice. The the screen came out showing the 90s. The best band in the 90s of course was Nsync. They came out singing "Crazy 4 You". Then they sang "I just wanna be with you". Then they sang "You got it". Then they sang "I drive myself crazy" They started it off acapella.Then Lance said soemthing that God Must Of spent a little more time on this Audience.Then they Sang "GMOSALMTOY"Everyone was singing to it. In the begining Justin was letting us sing. It was cute. Then at the end. He wouldnt finish the song.It was like a little more time.... And would make faces at us for like five minutes. Then he did again and the other guys started to bow and noticed he didnt finish it were like mad come on! Then he did it again. And Chris was like Justin Man come on you gotta finish the song. He was like I cant. It just doesnt seem right. Finnaly Chris sat down and was like justin come here, sit next to me. He was like you see this little girl, J was like yeah. Chris said whats your name she said kara, he was like justin this is my friend kara kara this si my friend justin. He was like hi she was like amazed. Chris said kara will you do me a favor and ask justin to finish the song, she goes "FINISH THE SONG" Justin was like whoa girl demanding. Then he said ill finish it for you. He goes "on yo... Ok ok ok i am gonna doit" On youuuuuuuuuuu. And he held her hand! I was like aw!!! Then they got up and left and acted like the show was over. Then they came out singing " I want u back". Then they went back to change and the "u drive me crazy " video showed.Then they came out and sang "sailing" I was screaming cause joey flew over me and swear he looked at me and my friends! I was like omg!!! Then they came and sang "TUMH" and at the end they all had water guns and they flew did all these flips and squritted us! I was dieing!! Then it was time to leave. I found my mom and was like lets go. We got right out.When we were driving i was all sayong how cool it was , and all of a sudden Nsync tour bus goes flying past us. I was Like"MOM follow those busses."We were all screaming. Of course she didnt follow em. Like two mins later she decided to try to catch up with them. But theywere speeding down the roads! I was like whoa! Wel thats all ! I love nsync and I gots to say...... GOD BLESS Z104!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love yalls
~*Katie*~
I MET THE GUYS...Kansas City, April 1, 1999. This is my experience as told by my best friend, Kendall.
As Lauren's best friend (the web-master) I have been commissioned to write the review of our second *N SYNC concert experience, which I do have to say was the best one yet. Lauren and I cut school and arrived at the venue like three hours before the gates even opened and like five hours before the start of the actual show. So Lauren and I are being our usual cool selves and jammin' down with the radio station guys and things like that. What happens next is kind of hard to explain because you really have to see Kemper Arena to understand what I'm saying but I'll try my best. The back side of Kemper is all windows so we were looking in to try to see if there was anyone in there (ok so we were looking for the guys) when we saw this really cute guy like hanging up banners and stuff. So of course we started banging on the glass and yelling at him and were being all around obnoxious so that he would let us in.
He didn't of course, but oh well. Time goes on and we're still wandering around the outside of Kemper when we see the guy again (I'll just call him Cute Green Shirt Guy 'cause that's what he was wearing and its easier that way) and Lauren gets the bright idea to show him the sign she made and he starts laughing really hard. It was a really good sign about wanting better seats and went to the tune of GMHSALMTOY. So he starts laughing and calls over Jakim and Jakim calls over his boys and it goes on and on. Because Jakim's boys enjoyed Lauren's sign so much they gave us closer tickets.
BUT it gets better. I then spot Cute Green Shirt Guy and German Lady on this bitchin golf cart thing so we take off down this hill of like small dead bushes and mulch (I fell by the way. That was NOT funny) and talk to them and German Lady asks us if we'll do her a favor. I'm thinking like oh great we're gonna get sold into prostitution but she just wanted us to hand out those thingies they give you when you walk into the concert. So we're like "Score!" and we get to go in early and nifty stuff like that. Then they leave to find more people to do that and this other girl we met from like Oklahoma or somewhere goes "Oh my God that's Joey's brother!" So we go over and we meet Joey' s brother and he was really nice and we took pictures with him and he was wearing this really funny Oompa-loompa shirt.
Then we get to go into the arena early because of our handing stuff out so that was cool, but we missed like all of the opening acts. OK now here's the REALLY GOOD part. We finally get to our seats and we see Cute Green Shirt Guy again. Seeing as he was cute I yelled out "Hey cute guy" and him and so he walked over to Lauren and myself and says to us "Do you guys want to go onstage?" Lauren like jumps up and is like "YES!" and so he tells us that all we have to do is go up to this gate when "Here We Go" starts and the body guard would let us back there. Lauren and I like jump this guy after he says that but then we start to think about it and we're like "Oh it's April Fools." But he promised us that it would happen so we were like "Cool."
So blah blah blah the concert starts and they do that monster thing which was actually kinda freaky and then the first song starts and it's "Here We Go". Lauren and I go up to the gate and the body guard was really mean but he let us backstage finally. Then Lauren and I get yelled at by the mean body guard and then Lauren forces this police officer to hold her glasses and he got really mad at her. This other guy took Lauren, myself, and these three other girls who were like college age over to one side of the stage and told us what to do and then "For the Girl Who Has Everything" started and we walked out and we were on stage! So of course the first thing Lauren does is she starts crying, not like screaming crying but just a few tears.
Justin, who was right in front of us, notices and says to her "Are you gonna be ok, sweetie? It's ok. You're ok." Jesus, he went on for like an hour. So they started singing and Justin sits down next to me (I was on the very end) and like slid his hand across my back and left it there for a minute and then reached over and held Lauren's hand until he got up. Actually, I tried to keep him there but that boy's big and I think we kinda scared him. And of course Lauren, being the freak she is, is yelling at Lance the whole time that Justin is holding her hand so I think that might have hurt his feelings. IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT HE LEFT LAUREN!!
Anyway after Justin got up, Chris came over and sat down next to me and did this really funny sigh-and-roll-the-eyes sort of thing 'cause man he was working hard. And that boy is HOT close up. So I held Chris's hand for the rest of the song and Lauren and I sang with him, actually we were singing louder than him 'cause he gave us this look like "Settle down." So, Lauren was still yelling at Lance. He couldn't go over to her but he smiled and waved or something. They had a moment. But then the song ended and Chris walked us off stage (dang he was short, especially compared to Lauren) and they were all really sweet and held our hands and thanked us like a billion times.
And then it was over. Sniff, sniff. I don't really remember the rest of the concert 'cause well who cares after something like that happens, right?
-- Kendall email: PoeAndrews@aol.com
'N Sync @ Kemper Arena in Kansas City, MO 4/1/99
Well, I had 5th Row DEAD center for the Nsync Concert "April 1st 1999" It was packed in their. I looked up and saw all those people in high seats. Some part of me felt sorry the other part was like START THE SHOW! lol Well Divine came out first and they were ok.
Then tatyana Ali Came out she was da BOMB! She got me on FILM!!! I was wearing a GLOW in the Dark Tank top!! (It was Baby Blue by the way!! So if they make a film look for me B/c Joey also got me on film!!) ok So then NSYNC CAME out in these weird outfits lol and danced around . We all though it was dancers at first then they took them off and we started to SCREAM!!!!!!!!
I mean it was sooooooooooooooooooooo loud their!!! I took 3 rolls of film!! they sang and sang!! Then Chris Waved to me I Was like ahhhhhhhhhhhhh. Then I was standin' on my chair to get a shott of Justin when they sang "God muct have Spent A little more time on you" and I just stood their and He Winked I FELL OFF MY CHAIR!!! My friend Janae was laughing so hard!!
Then When they flew up I stood on my chair and Touched JC'S FOOT!!! ( by the way when I touched his Foot After that I slid on my chair and Got a BIG Cut in my leg!! Cos I had to jump a little to get it!! anyways it was worth it!!" Then Joey got me on FILM!!!!!!!! I was about to DIE!!
-- Alicia email: FullEftMBA@aol.com