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At the height of the 2000s, MTV was at the forefront of pop culture. The network expanded from music videos and live performances to pimping rides, tours of celebrity homes and choosing a date based on the items in their bedroom. While the music aspect of MTV slowly disappeared, the artists did not.

The Pop 2000 Tour has been traveling the country since 2018 with artists that best represent the early aughts. The most recent lineup includes O-Town, LFO, Ryan Cabrera, David Cook and *NSYNC’s Chris Kirkpatrick as the host.

Not only do fans get the opportunity to see these musicians perform the best songs of that era, but they can also purchase meet and greet packages that allows them to watch soundcheck, get photos and autographs, and even sit on stage during the show.

With Kirkpatrick as the host - “taking you way back to the second time slap bracelets were popular” - it is a guaranteed comedy show on top of musical performances. During the tour’s stop in the Chicagoland area, Kirkpatrick not only hyped up the crowd in between sets but came out to perform alongside his tourmates. He performed Jimmy Eat World’s “The Middle” with David Cook and sang a few classic *NSYNC songs with O-Town (“Bye Bye Bye” dance moves included).

Starting off the show was Cook, who rose to fame after winning the 7th season of American Idol in 2008. His stage presence is haunting, from the gravelly vocals to the richly textured guitar. At one point he requested the house lights be turned off, and illuminated just by the audience’s phones, sang fan favorite “Light On” in a beautifully intimate setting.

Ryan Cabrera took the stage next, sharing a story about how he was one of the first people to sing outside with the crowd surrounding the TRL studios. He shared several stories throughout his set, giving the audience the feeling of catching up with an old friend.

When O-Town took the stage, the audience immediately time traveled to their former teenage selves. They knew every dance move, sang every lyric and were decked out in their finest O-Town merch.

Halfway through their performance, they brought out Brad Fischetti of LFO. Fischetti is the only remaining member of the hip hop band, losing Rich Cronin and Devin Lima to cancer in 2010 and 2018, respectively. He honored his friends in many ways, wearing their names on his shirt and bringing out a mic stand that held a pair of red sneakers and white sneakers to honor them. Alongside O-Town, he sang the band’s hit songs and spoke about how he will continue to keep the LFO legacy alive.

Something each performance had was cover songs and mashups. In addition to “The Middle”, Cook also sang Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way”, Cabrera covered The Goo Goo Dolls and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song, and O-Town spun Nelly, Maroon 5, Missy Elliott and more into their songs.