| Tour byNSYNC | |
 Tour memorabilia poster | |
| Associated album | Celebrity |
|---|---|
| Start date | May 23, 2001 (2001-05-23) |
| End date | September 1, 2001 (2001-09-01) |
| Legs | 1 |
| No. of shows | 44 |
| Box office | $90.2 million ($160.18 million in 2024 dollars)[1] |
| NSYNC concert chronology | |
| |
PopOdyssey was the fourth concert tour by Americanboy bandNSYNC. Sponsored byVerizon Wireless andChili's,[2] the tour promoted the band's fourth studio album,Celebrity. The tour's name is defined as "an adventurous journey towards popularity, beginning as just a dream and ending in reality". The tour became the biggest production in pop music, beatingU2'sPopMart Tour. The tour, which visited stadiums, was NSYNC's first to include backup dancers, and is known for its elaborate audio and visual effects which included lasers, fireworks, animation, and suspension wires.
The 2001 tour earned over $90 million, becoming one of the biggest tours of the year.[3] It was also nominated for "Most Creative Stage Production" forPollstar's "Concert Industry Awards". The tour primarily visited North America.[4]
While promoting their performance atRock in Rio in 2001, the band stated production was underway on their forthcoming tour. Following the performance,SFX Entertainment announced the band was planning a summer concert tour to promote their upcoming album. Band memberLance Bass said the inspiration for the tour's concept was the film2001: A Space Odyssey, saying, "We wanted to do 2001: A Pop Odyssey and pay tribute to pop icons. So the whole tour revolves around the meaning of pop and what was popular from the '40s til today."[5] Initially, the tour was expected to begin May 12, 2001 at thePro Player Stadium inMiami,[6] with English pop groupBBMak slated to be the opening act.[7] PopOdyssey was considered "the largest production for a pop concert",[8] as the stage was five stories tall and included three video screens and five mini-stages.[9] The tour was then postponed to May 23, 2001, to ensure that the crew was able to complete the stage construction.[10] NSYNC's third studio albumCelebrity was initially planned to be released on June 26, 2001,[11] but was moved to July 24, 2001. As a result, NSYNC decided to perform new songs fromCelebrity on the tour before the album was released.[12] Additional tour dates were cancelled due toweather conditions in theSouth.[13] However, PopOdyssey was one of the most anticipated tours of 2001.[14] Two months into the tour, the band expressed hopes of later bringing their shows back to Europe, where they first toured before their American breakthrough,[15][16] in addition to Australia;[17] this did not come to fruition.
The opening of PopOdyssey was held atAlltel Stadium inJacksonville, Florida to positive reviews.[18] They were joined on tour by several pop acts including:Christina Milian,Samantha Mumba andDeborah Gibson.[19] During the show,public service announcements were shown for an anti-drug campaign with theOffice of National Drug Control Policy, along with promotional spots forOn the Line, a film starring band members Bass and Fatone which was to be released theatrically in the fall of 2001.[20] The band also partnered with theCandie's Foundation to help preventteen pregnancy.[21] The tour also opened the newly builtHeinz Field.[22]Celebrity peaked at number one on theBillboard 200, setting the second-highest record for first-week sales after their previous albumNo Strings Attached (2000).[23] The tour ended in the Caribbean islands ofTurks and Caicos.[24]
The show begins with a short film that spells out the definitions of the wordsPop ("music popular with the general public") andOdyssey ("a long series of travels and adventures") on a typewriter. The words are combined to formPopOdyssey: "an adventurous journey towards popularity, beginning as just a dream and ending in reality.”Joey Fatone, dressed as a professor in a classroom, appears in the video and plays a montage that details NSYNC’s journey from their origins to the present. Fatone then scrawls the phraseDirty pop on a chalkboard. Hooded figures appear on the main stage in a nod to NSYNC’s previous tour entrances. This turns out to be a misdirection, as the band instead emerges from a midfield stage which connects to the main stage by a long ramp. After kicking off with “Pop," they perform a mash-up of old favorites from their debut album.
After performing newer song “The Two of Us”, a film segment ofLance Bass andChris Kirkpatrick in cowboy attire prefaces “Space Cowboy.” The video directs the audience to look upwards, and the guys appear on the rafters of the stage. Harnesses take them flying above the crowds and to the midfield stage. They return to the main stage and each guy rides a futuristic-style mechanical bull.[20]
The guys transition to the ballad “This I Promise You,” accompanied only by guitar, piano, and saxophone, and ending with a new harmony by the guys. A 1920s-style film segment titled “There Was Once a Flower” hasJustin Timberlake playing aCharlie Chaplin-esque figure (just like in the "Gone" music video) trying to give a flower to his love interest, only to be rejected. The camera zooms in on Timberlake with a tear rolling down his face, saying, “I just can’t believe she’s gone.” The band, dressed inProhibition era costumes, sing “Gone” while sitting on steps on the main stage. As Timberlake is the main singer in this song, he moves downstage solo to the catwalk and engages in theatrical displays of heartbrokenness.
As Timberlake concludes singing, bandmate Kirkpatrick joins him onstage and the two humorously fight. While both guys spar, the other band mates swarm the stage on go-karts, wagons, and an oversized teddy bear, accompanied by dancers. To the tune of “Pop Goes the Weasel", the guys spray silly string and squirt water guns at the audience. They perform “It’s Gonna Be Me” with a toy theme, referencing theirmusic video.
They segue into “See Right Through You,” singing and dancing atop moving conveyor belts. For “Up Against the Wall,” the guys are bounced onto Velcro walls brought onstage. A short film plays ofJC Chasez stuck in a phone call with his gold-digging girlfriend, a phone call that is interrupted by his band mates. Chasez asks the girlfriend “Wait a minute. Do you want me, or what I can buy you?," and the band performs “Celebrity.”
On the midfield stage, the guys shift into a downtempo segment as Fatone reads letters written by fans in the audience. The guys perform a trio of ballads, “Something Like You”/“Falling/“Selfish”. They switch to the uptempo “No Strings Attached”; there is a gag at the beginning of Timberlake’s verse about him “losing his touch.” After his fruitless attempts to summon his touch, Timberlake finally joins his hands together to form a fireball effect that sets off a row of fireworks on stage.[25]
The high-tech villain figure Mobius 8 appears midfield playing remixed snippets of NSYNC songs.[26] The guys shoot out onto the main stage from unseen elevators and sing “The Game Is Over,” with the screens showing video game effects. The group engages in a video-game “battle” with Mobius. The show ends with “Bye Bye Bye.” Each band member goes inside a cage that is covered in drapes. The drapes are then dropped, revealing the cages to be now empty.
On this tour, all six accompanists returned from the No Strings Attached tour. Two new additions would join the ranks, however
The following setlist was obtained from the concert held on May 23, 2001, at the Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida. It does not represent all concerts for the duration of the tour.[40]
| May 12, 2001 | Miami, Florida | Pro Player Stadium | Rescheduled to August 2, 2001; later cancelled[10] |
| May 15, 2001 | St. Petersburg, Florida | Tropicana Field | Rescheduled to July 31, 2001. Moved to Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida[10] |
| May 18, 2001 | Jacksonville, Florida | Alltel Stadium | Rescheduled to May 23, 2001[10] |
| May 20, 2001 | Jackson, Mississippi | Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium | Rescheduled to August 24, 2001. |
| May 22, 2001 | Charlotte, North Carolina | Ericsson Stadium | Cancelled[8] |
| May 24, 2001 | Atlanta, Georgia | Georgia Dome | Rescheduled to August 11, 2001[10] |
| May 30, 2001 | Foxborough, Massachusetts | Foxboro Stadium | Cancelled[41] |
| June 10, 2001 | Plattsburgh, New York | Plattsburgh Air Force Base | Cancelled[42] |
| June 26, 2001 | Green Bay, Wisconsin | Lambeau Field | Cancelled[43] |
| June 29, 2001 | Pontiac, Michigan | Pontiac Silverdome | Moved to Comerica Park in Detroit |
| July 31, 2001 | Las Cruces, New Mexico | Aggie Memorial Stadium | Cancelled[8] |
| August 2, 2001 | Miami, Florida | Hard Rock Stadium | Cancelled due to the effects ofTropical Storm Barry[44] |
| August 7, 2001 | Birmingham, Alabama | Legion Field | Cancelled due to the effects of Tropical Storm Barry[44] |
| August 11, 2001 | Vancouver, Canada | BC Place Stadium | Cancelled |
| August 18, 2001 | Memphis, Tennessee | Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium | Cancelled[8] |
| August 20, 2001 | Lexington, Kentucky | Commonwealth Stadium | Cancelled |
| Venue | City | Tickets sold / Available | Gross revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alltel Stadium | Jacksonville | 42,218 / 71,256 (59%) | $2,030,372[45] |
| Hersheypark Stadium | Hershey | 61,996 / 66,222 (94%) | $3,252,128[46] |
| Foxboro Stadium | Foxborough | 44,858 / 48,089 (93%) | $4,744,485 |
| Giants Stadium | East Rutherford | 154,359 / 176,817 (87%) | $7,364,012[47] |
| Cinergy Field | Cincinnati | 36,371 / 42,285 (86%) | $1,947,461[48] |
| Ralph Wilson Stadium | Orchard Park | 43,406 / 55,874 (78%) | $2,175,436[47] |
| Veterans Stadium | Philadelphia | 46,005 / 54,212 (85%) | $2,534,204[47] |
| Soldier Field | Chicago | 85,650 / 103,903 (82%) | $4,739,359[47] |
| Miller Park | Milwaukee | 34,148 / 44,978 (76%) | $1,956,157[49] |
| TransWorld Dome | St. Louis | 31,790 / 48,808 (65%) | $1,708,437[50] |
| War Memorial Stadium | Little Rock | 31,062 / 41,126 (75%) | $1,517,261[50] |
| Reliant Astrodome | Houston | 44,116 / 65,144 (68%) | $2,328,582[50] |
| Texas Stadium | Irving | 44,564 / 44,564 (100%) | $2,374,325[50] |
| Arrowhead Stadium | Kansas City | 40,863 / 53,143 (77%) | $2,107,135[50] |
| Bank One Ballpark | Phoenix | 42,959 / 49,111 (87%) | $2,213,026[51] |
| Rose Bowl | Pasadena | 62,196 / 62,196 (100%) | $3,154,129[51] |
| Sam Boyd Stadium | Las Vegas | 29,003 / 38,100 (76%) | $1,297,973[51] |
| Alamodome | San Antonio | 55,206 / 67,573 (82%) | $3,000,974[52][53] |
| RFK Stadium | Washington, D.C. | 41,831 / 47,962 (87%) | $2,232,680[54] |
| Heinz Field | Pittsburgh | 48,118 / 56,275 (85%) | $2,558,856[55] |
| Sun Bowl Stadium | El Paso | 38,313 / 48,987 (78%) | $2,048,331[54] |
| TOTAL | 1,014,174 /1,238,536 | $52,540,838 | |
| Promotional concerts setlist | |
|---|---|
| Atlantis | Winter Olympics |
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The tour was documented for video during the concert at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. BandmemberJC Chasez mentioned the band chose to film at that venue because rehearsals were held at that facility. The VHS, entitled*NSYNC: PopOdyssey Live, was released on November 21, 2001. A DVD edition was released on April 23, 2002.[56] The DVD featured the entire concert along with special features, which included: interviews with each bandmember, behind-the-scenesEaster eggs, photo gallery, profile of each musician, web links and a documentary.[57] A special intro video was made for the video release to explain the meaning of the tour name. The original video shown at the beginning of each concert was made available as a special feature. For theCelebrity Tour, the concert at the TD Waterhouse Centre was filmed for a possible DVD release. However, the footage was deemed "unusable" and not released. Bootleg DVDs were sold oneBay in 2003 with amateur footage of the concert in Anaheim. A professionally filmed video montage appeared onYouTube in 2006.[58]
Before the group began theCelebrity Tour, they performed a few promotional concerts that aired on television. The first was aCBS Thanksgiving special entitled "*NSYNC: The Atlantis Concert". The show was filmed at theAtlantis Paradise Island on November 14 and 15, 2001.[59] The concert was exclusive to guests of the hotel and featured duets with country recording artist,Tim McGraw. The special aired on November 23, 2001 alongsideThe Rugrats Movie. This concert was followed with another promotional performance. To celebrate the2002 Winter Olympics, the band was one of the headlining performers for the "Olympic Celebration Concert Series". The concert was filmed at the Olympic Medals Plaza on February 23, 2002. The concert aired live onNBC.
The tour received generally positive reviews for its lavish visual effects, the band’s stage presence, and the group’s new songs fromCelebrity. Scott Mervis of thePittsburgh Post-Gazette called the show at RFK Stadium the "mother of all stadium tours",[60] and Jon Bream of theStar Tribune noted the effects were bigger, brighter and bolder than their last tour.[61] For the debut concert at Altell Stadium, Nick Marino ofThe Florida Times-Union wrote that despite the massive stage, the band's stage presence was out of this world.[18] Marino stated PopOdyssey is "a big pop show, an expensive pop show, but a pop show all the same. NSYNC realizes (thank goodness) that they are famous, in part, for being famous, and they're using that fact as the touchstone for this entire tour. Pretty smart".[18]
Bream also noted, "This time around, the Prefab Five seemed to be projecting more of an attitude, as if some of the songs and the messages on the video screen were flipping a figurative finger at critics. The feistiness adds a much-needed edge, but if critics are NSYNC's biggest gripe, these guys have nothing to complain about".[61] Sean Richardson of theBoston Phoenix thought the show at Foxboro Stadium was "colorful", praising the humor of the vignettes and the audience engagement.[62] Peter Debruge fromEntertainment Weekly said the show at Hersheypark Stadium more closely resembled aSuper Bowl halftime show than a traditional concert, saying, "Love them or hate them, you've got to admit NSYNC puts on a killer show".[63]
Jane Stevenson ofJam! gave the SkyDome show three and a half out of five stars.[9] She stated the band's decision to perform 10 songs fromCelebrity as part of their 18-song set list was risky but wise, and that the "more dance-oriented tunes...will only help to spur sales" of the new album.[9] In a review of the opening show of the band's three-night run at Giants Stadium, Neil Strauss ofThe New York Times compared the show toU2'sPopMart Tour, stating that PopOdyssey "was everything that U2's PopMart was afraid to be—sheer spectacle for the sake of nothing but spectacle."[64] Though Strauss said the opening number "Pop" was not as strong of a single as "Bye Bye Bye," he commented the band showed a more aggressive side in showing they write their own songs.[64] Strauss singled out the new song "The Game Is Over" for its "futuristic urban twist...with a skittering, robotic video-game beat."[64]
Critics also argued the increased use of dazzling effects distracted from the music and performance.[65][63] Writing about the Giants Stadium concert, Isaac Guzman of theNew York Daily News considered the show to be "all sizzle, no steak".[66] In a review of the Chicago show, Phil Gallo ofVariety felt "many fans will have trouble digesting all the audiovisual information on offer" and that the production lacked cohesiveness.[20] Gallo also noted that while the first half of the show seems focused on JC Chasez, "the second half is almost all Justin Timberlake, the heartthrob who does a fine job in the band’s faux silent movie...during “Gone,” arguably the band’s strongest ballad in its three-album career."[20]
Of PopOdyssey's heavy use of effects, Chris Kirkpatrick said the band felt they needed these elements because it was a stadium tour. He commented, "When you're playing in the middle of a giant stadium you have to make it big and you have to be big. It was called the 'Pop Odyssey.' It was a spectacle more than anything else. The music was a big part, but we put a lot into just making it a great show."[67] The band returned to a more stripped-down, less flashier setting when they embarked on theCelebrity tour in March 2002.
But we are doing a world tour next summer, and thatwill include London.
'NSYNC was supposed to go [to Australia] last year and this year on tour, but so far we haven't had a chance to; we keep canceling.