Story and photos by Mary Ciecek/Daily Bruin Senior Staff
It was most likely the pop boy band *NSync that drew a sold out
crowd to this year’s Wango Tango at Dodger Stadium last
Saturday. 102.7 KIIS FM built a quality line-up of more than 10
artists ranging from techno to classic rock performers. But the
group’s fans devotedly waited more than four hours before
*NSync made its first brief appearance on stage to introduce Sugar
Ray.
Though only promoted as hosts of the show, fans were
disappointed when the band didn’t perform any of their
material. The audience of about 60,000, however, did get a chance
to hear the boys perform with Lenny Kravitz, singing his song
“Fly Away.”
Other acts included Latin sensations Marc Anthony and Enrique
Iglesias as well as pop-rock groups Sugar Ray and The Goo Goo
Dolls. Techno group Eiffel 65 performed their popular
“Blue” followed by a special performance from Hanson,
who was added to the list of performers earlier in the day. The
bill offered only one female performer, Jessica Simpson, who sang
her ballad “Where You Are” with boyfriend Nick Lachey
of 98 Degrees. Brian McKnight sang his song, “Back at
One” while Sisqo closed the show with his R&B hit,
“The Thong Song”.
The saving grace of the concert was the musical acts who
entertained the crowd despite several technical problems. Simpson
had to go through three microphones before finding one that worked
and other bands faced similar problems with the sound system.
The eight-and-a-half hour show seemed longer for the audience
which had to sit through lengthy breaks between bands, which
sometimes went as long as 30 minutes. Some of the acts only
performed for 20 minutes, but Kravitz, The Goo Goo Dolls and Sugar
Ray were awarded the longest sets at 45 minutes each.
When the fireworks that ended the show were fading, adolescent
girls were left with tears in their eyes due to the performance
from *NSync that never happened. Yet Wango Tango still succeeded in
offering some of the best in pop music today.
The generation gap was evident though as 10-year stage veteran
Kravitz was unsuccessful in getting the audience to sing along to
his song “Let Love Rule.” *NSync hasn’t covered
that song yet.