Friday, March 15, 2002 | 9:26 a.m.
'NSync is more than a boy band. It has become a money-making machine. What began in 1996 in Orlando, Fla., as a pure financial investment by the band's creator/former manager, Lou Pearlman, 'NSync has grown into a cultural phenomenon. Its first two albums have each sold a staggering 10 million copies. And last year's more experimental album, "Celebrity," has sold half that amount.
And in 2000, when the band contended it was being shortchanged of its profits, the group Lance Bass, JC Chasez, Joey Fatone, Chris Kirkpatrick and Justin Timberlake dropped both Pearlman and its record label, RCA, and signed with Jive Records, home of Britney Spears and the rival Backstreet Boys.
Meanwhile Pearlman filed a $150 million lawsuit and the band counter-sued; both cases were settled out of court.
As Cyndi Lauper once sang, "Money changes everything."
But if a recent teleconference with two members of 'NSync is any indication, the band hasn't changed much.
Nearly a month before the recent Spears-Timberlake breakup rumors began, Chasez and Kirkpatrick fielded questions from an unseen horde of national media members. The duo's purpose was to promote 'NSync's national tour, which tonight brings the band to MGM Grand Garden Arena.
As expected, there were the obligatory teen-friendly questions, usually asked by writers from teen publications:
Question: "What was your favorite moment from the tours?"
Kirkpatrick: "I like when Joey fell down."
Chasez: "Yeah, that was pretty funny."
Question: "If you guys were in a rock band, what would you call yourselves and what instrument would you play?"
Kirkpatrick: "We would be 'NSuck ... and the triangle is for Lance. I would be the stagediver, that guy that always runs up on the speakers, that nobody knows was in the band."
But there were more serious-minded queries, which generally resulted in more serious answers. Early in the interview one reporter mentioned the increasing effects-driven tours both 'NSync and the Backstreet Boys have mounted over the last few years. The shows are driving tickets prices higher than many fans can afford.
Kirkpatrick was quick to justify the band's reliance on added concert attractions, such as lasers, pyrotechnics and an assortment of dancers.
"We did so much on this last tour not to up (the prices for) anybody, only because it was a stadium (tour)," Kirkpatrick said. "And 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.
"This tour that we're doing right now, we've cut back a lot because we don't want the trend to keep going, 'Oh, now we have to up that one, and now we have to up that one,' until the point it comes to a firework display. The show we're doing now is very musical."
Kirkpatrick assured the reporter that the band will stage "a couple of little things," meaning various effects, during the tour, but said it won't distract fans from what they came for: songs.
"The music always comes first and the music is the most important thing 'cause that's what the kids are there to hear," he said.
Later in the hourlong question-and-answer session Chasez described this year's "Celebrity" tour as "raw," with no lasers, extra dancers and very few pyrotechnics. Those effects were used in last summer's "Pop Odyssey" tour, when 'NSync was often overshadowed by theatrics, including the late-July show at Sam Boyd Stadium.
"There's none of those illusions in this show," he said. "This show is strictly based around the band and us."
The band has returned to the road quickly following its previous tour, which ended in August. That barely gave fans (read: teenage girls) time to financially recover from the last tour (read: parents who paid for the tickets). The reason for the swift turnaround comes down to both timing and promotion.
For the summer shows, "Celebrity" didn't reach stores until the band was more than halfway through its "Pop Odyssey" tour.
"So (this tour) is basically a good musical enhancement of the album now," Kirkpatrick said. "People have had time sleep with the album and then come in and say, 'Oh, I know these songs now, I'm ready for the 'NSync show,' rather than (saying), 'I can't wait to go to the show to hear what the new stuff is.' "
Regardless of why fans will pay to see the band again, the point is they will. 'NSync was the second-highest grossing live act last year, trailing only U2.
And this year's 29-date tour, while primarily playing in arena-size venues as opposed to stadiums, will probably place the band near the top-10 concert attractions again.
"We just love being on tour," Chasez said. "That's, like, our favorite place to be. We're just road dogs."
Cash cow also comes to mind.
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