Celebrity Tour
The Celebrity Tour was the fifth and final concert tour by the American boy band NSYNC. Promoting their final studio album, Celebrity (2001), this is the second tour to showcase the album. The group stated that the tour would go "back to their roots", as they would be performing obscure songs from all three of their albums. The tour earned nearly $30 million.[1]
Tour by NSYNC | |
Associated album | Celebrity |
---|---|
Start date | March 3, 2002 |
End date | April 28, 2002 |
Legs | 1 |
No. of shows | 36 |
Box office | $33,356,237 |
NSYNC concert chronology |
Background
In January 2002, NSYNC announced another string of tour dates known as the "Celebrity Tour". They believed that their songs were well known and were able to experiment a little more. Originally, the group wanted to perform in theaters, however, they were pushed to arenas due to demand. During an interview, band member Chris Kirkpatrick stated the second outing would remove the spectacle of their previous tour PopOdyssey and focus on just music.[2] Justin Timberlake added,
"[Fans] knew when they were coming to the show last summer that they were going to get something that nobody else had, which was basically about 80 percent of the album that was going to come out after the tour. This year, obviously, they'll know the songs, but we put a twist almost on everything, so it makes it fun for them to hear it a different way and to try to recognize those tunes."[3]
The opening acts for the Celebrity Tour included R&B singer Ginuwine, rapper and entrepreneur P. Diddy, and punk rock band Smash Mouth. The new tour dates coincided with the band's partnership with Chili's, which they were featured in several advertisements online and on television. Before the tour began, NSYNC released the third single from their album "Girlfriend", and performed at the 2002 Winter Olympics at the Olympic Medals Plaza on February 23rd, 2002.[4]
Critical response
Many wrote of the band's oversimplification of the staging. Others felt the "in the round" staging ignored forty percent of the audience. Leah Greenblatt of MTV News described the show at the Rose Garden as "electric". She continues "Justin was quickly established as the star of the show — at least as far as the Jumbotron cameramen were concerned — with JC running a close second. Joey, Lance and Chris have all the moves down, but appear to be going through the motions at times; this is the JC and Justin Show, and the others seemed resigned to their supporting-player status".[5] Kelefa Sanneh of The New York Times thought the show at the Continental Airlines Arena was entertaining given the pseudo-intimate vibe. She continues, "The group is getting older, and its audience is, too: the young woman in the 'Justin I'm legal' t-shirt may not have been misrepresenting herself. And this tour is clearly designed to emphasize the group's musical credibility. And yet NSYNC is still a boy band, which means its existence—and its self-image—depends on its ability to entertain screaming teenagers".[6]
Personnel
NSYNC
- JC Chasez – lead vocals
- Justin Timberlake – lead vocals
- Chris Kirkpatrick – backing vocals
- Lance Bass – backing vocals
- Joey Fatone – backing vocals
Band
- Kevin Antunes – music director, keyboards
- Troy Antunes – bass
- Billy Ashbaugh – drums, percussion
- Greg Howe – lead guitar
- Ruben Ruiz – rhythm guitar, keyboards
- David Cook – keyboards
- Paul Howards – saxophone, percussion, keyboards
- Juan Sepulveda – percussion
Opening acts
- Ginuwine (select dates)[7]
- Mr. Cheeks (select dates)[8]
- P. Diddy (select dates)[9]
- Smash Mouth (select dates)[7]
Set list
The following setlist was obtained from the concert held on March 3, 2002, at the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon.[5] It does not represent all concerts for the duration of the tour.
- "Video Sequence"
- "Do Your Thing"
- "Bye Bye Bye"
- "It's Gonna Be Me" (contains elements of "It Ain't My Fault")
- "Instrumental Sequence (contains elements of "You Make Me Wanna..." and "Back & Forth")
- "For the Girl Who Has Everything"
- "(God Must Have Spent) A Little More Time on You"
- "Tearin' Up My Heart" (contains elements of "If")
- "Video Sequence"
- "Celebrity"
- "Up Against the Wall"
- "Video Sequence"
- "She Loves You" / "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" / "Hey Jude"
- "Twist and Shout"
- "My Girl / "The Way You Do the Things You Do" / "I Can't Get Next to You"
- "Sailing" (contains elements of "Don't Tell Me")
- "Video Sequence"
- "Tell Me, Tell Me...Baby" (contains elements of "A Little Bit" and "Baby, Come Over (This Is Our Night)")
- "No Strings Attached"
- "This I Promise You"
- "Thinking of You (I Drive Myself Crazy)"
- "I Want You Back"
- Encore
- "Gone"
- "Girlfriend (The Neptunes Remix)"
- "Pop" (contains elements of "Control")
Shows
Date | City | Country | Venue | Opening act | Attendance | Revenue |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
North America[7][9][10][11] | ||||||
March 3, 2002 | Portland | United States | Rose Garden | Ginuwine | 12,913 / 17,840 | $825,843 |
March 4, 2002 | Tacoma | Tacoma Dome | 19,542 / 20,604 | $1,126,473 | ||
March 6, 2002 | Oakland | The Arena in Oakland | 13,219 / 16,579 | $682,146 | ||
March 7, 2002 | Sacramento | ARCO Arena | 14,661 / 15,272 | $883,101 | ||
March 8, 2002 | San Jose | Compaq Center | 14,857 / 16,615 | $896,542 | ||
March 10, 2002 | San Diego | San Diego Sports Arena | 12,312 / 14,391 | $838,556 | ||
March 11, 2002 | Anaheim | Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim | 26,525 / 28,994 | $1,742,981 | ||
March 12, 2002 | ||||||
March 14, 2002 | Phoenix | America West Arena | Ginuwine NSBB Tony Lucca |
12,140 / 17,442 | $806,218 | |
March 15, 2002 | Las Vegas | MGM Grand Garden Arena | 11,519 / 14,393 | $958,090 | ||
March 18, 2002 | Houston | Compaq Center | Smash Mouth Tony Lucca |
13,059 / 15,394 | $950,691 | |
March 19, 2002 | San Antonio | Alamodome | 14,569 / 17,667 | $1,010,388 | ||
March 20, 2002 | Dallas | Reunion Arena | 16,545 / 17,667 | $1,010,388 | ||
March 25, 2002 | Denver | Pepsi Center | 12,337 / 15,900 | $810,568 | ||
March 27, 2002 | Ames | Hilton Coliseum | 12,385 / 13,000 | $764,528 | ||
March 29, 2002 | Grand Forks | Alerus Center | N/A | N/A | ||
March 30, 2002 | Minneapolis | Target Center | 12,291 / 17,832 | $765,881 | ||
April 1, 2002 | Auburn Hills | The Palace of Auburn Hills | 19,040 / 19,040 | $1,133,623 | ||
April 2, 2002 | Grand Rapids | Van Andel Arena | 9,496 / 10,334 | $839,095 | ||
April 4, 2002 | Rosemont | Allstate Arena | 30,637 / 34,354 | $2,910,322 | ||
April 5, 2002 | ||||||
April 7, 2002 | Buffalo | HSBC Arena | 12,854 / 18,221 | $829,065 | ||
April 9, 2002 | Philadelphia | First Union Center | 14,333 / 14,333 | $916,847 | ||
April 11, 2002 | Uniondale | Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum | 13,627 / 16,630 | $778,395 | ||
April 13, 2002 | East Rutherford | Continental Airlines Arena | Smash Mouth P. Diddy Tony Lucca |
36,442 / 38,774 | $1,969,370 | |
April 14, 2002 | ||||||
April 15, 2002 | Boston | FleetCenter | P. Diddy Tony Lucca |
33,473 / 35,357 | $2,097,028 | |
April 16, 2002 | ||||||
April 18, 2002 | Cleveland | Gund Arena | Tony Lucca | 18,297 / 18,297 | $1,133,227 | |
April 19, 2002 | Hartford | Hartford Civic Center | P. Diddy Mr. Cheeks |
14,948 / 15,262 | $1,046,720 | |
April 21, 2002 | Washington, D.C. | MCI Center | 17,656 / 18,373 | $1,123,553 | ||
April 22, 2002 | Pittsburgh | Mellon Arena | 14,606 / 16,114 | $970,801 | ||
April 23, 2002 | Columbus | Nationwide Arena | 12,751 / 15,934 | $842,307 | ||
April 25, 2002 | Memphis | Pyramid Arena | 15,426 / 17,907 | $875,904 | ||
April 27, 2002 | Sunrise | National Car Rental Center | 14,146 / 18,456 | $962,817 | ||
April 28, 2002 | Orlando | TD Waterhouse Centre | 14,344 / 16,619 | $854,769 | ||
Total | 510,950 / 583,595 (88%) | $33,356,237 | ||||
- Cancellations and rescheduled shows
March 22, 2002 | Toronto, Canada | Air Canada Centre | Cancelled |
March 23, 2002 | Montreal, Canada | Molson Centre | Cancelled |
April 10, 2002 | Uniondale, New York | Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum | Cancelled |
References
- Wiederhorn, Jon (December 20, 2001). "Britney, 'NSYNC Buried In Ticket Sales By McCartney, Stones". MTV News. Archived from the original on September 11, 2011. Retrieved January 9, 2009.
- Stout, Gene (February 28, 2002). "Oh boys! On a 'Celebrity' high, N' Sync journeys to Tacoma". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Archived from the original on September 14, 2011. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
- Baker, Soren (February 19, 2002). "*NSYNC Embarking On 'Celebrity' Tour With A Twist". Yahoo! Music. Archived from the original on September 11, 2011. Retrieved January 9, 2009.
- LiveDaily Staff (November 7, 2001). "Briefly: Winter Games snag 'NSync, Bon Jovi, Harry Connick Jr". LiveDaily. Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc. Archived from the original on November 14, 2001. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
- Greenblatt, Leah (April 4, 2002). "'NSYNC Tour Opener: It's The Justin And JC Show!". MTV News. Archived from the original on September 11, 2011. Retrieved January 9, 2009.
- Sanneh, Kelefa (April 16, 2002). "POP REVIEW; Playing a Crowd for Well-Tuned Squeals". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 14, 2011. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
- Moss, Corey; Tina Johnson (January 30, 2002). "'NSYNC Bringing Smash Mouth, Ginuwine On Tour". MTV News. Archived from the original on September 11, 2011. Retrieved January 9, 2009.
- Awosika, Mary (July 12, 2002). "All for U: Usher, Faith, Nas, Cheeks in Tampa". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Liberty Group Publishing. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
- Armstrong, Max (February 13, 2002). "Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs Likely To Join Smash Mouth & Ginuwine On *NSYNC Tour". Yahoo! Music. Archived from the original on September 11, 2011.
- Mancini, Robert (January 24, 2002). "'NSYNC Line Up 'Celebrity 2002' Tour". MTV News. Archived from the original on September 11, 2011. Retrieved January 9, 2009.
- Box score data:
- "Amusement Business — Boxscore: Top 10 Concert Grosses". Billboard. New York. 114 (13): 26. March 30, 2002. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved October 3, 2011.
- "Amusement Business — Boxscore: Top 10 Concert Grosses". Billboard. New York. 114 (16): 21. April 20, 2002. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved October 3, 2011.
- "Amusement Business — Boxscore: Top 10 Concert Grosses". Billboard. New York. 114 (14): 18. April 6, 2002. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved October 3, 2011.
- "Amusement Business — Boxscore: Top 10 Concert Grosses". Billboard. New York. 114 (15): 33. April 13, 2002. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved October 3, 2011.
- "Amusement Business — Boxscore: Top 10 Concert Grosses". Billboard. New York. 114 (17): 20. April 27, 2002. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved October 3, 2011.
- "Amusement Business — Boxscore: Top 10 Concert Grosses". Billboard. New York. 114 (18): 20. May 4, 2002. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved October 3, 2011.
- "Amusement Business — Boxscore: Top 10 Concert Grosses". Billboard. New York. 114 (19): 19. May 11, 2002. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved October 3, 2011.
- "Amusement Business — Boxscore: Top 10 Concert Grosses". Billboard. New York. 114 (20): 18. May 18, 2002. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved October 3, 2011.