Source: Times
Union
By ALAN WECHSLER , Staff writer The concert's only half the show
Albany -- Fans gather at hotel in hopes of an up-close-and-personal brush
with their idols
At noon Tuesday, 16-year-old Ashley John's life became complete.
"My life's complete,'' the Long Island teenager told her friends, long
white nails fluttering across her mouth. "I just met Leigh Anne.''
When you've been waiting hours to meet a Backstreet Boy, you'll settle for
just about anything: a member of the back-up band, a bodyguard, a roadie -- or
even Leigh Anne, girlfriend of one of the members of the hottest teen act since,
well, who can keep track anymore?
On Tuesday afternoon, nearly a hundred young ladies in waiting spent hours on
their feet at the lobby of the Crowne Plaza Hotel just to catch a glimpse of
their favorite Boy.
"It's addicting,'' said 21-year-old Kelly Hanlon of Boston, who came
here for the two shows. "It's so much fun to meet them.''
The Backstreet Boys -- Nick, Kevin, A.J., Howie and Brian -- played the
second of two sold-out shows at the Pepsi Arena Tuesday night. And for many
fans, there was little else to do but wait in the lobby of the hotel where the
Boys and their huge entourage occupied more than 80 rooms.
Inside the lobby, more than 75 people stood behind velvet ropes, waiting.
Some looked at photos of the band taken the night before -- "Do you have
any Brian pictures?'' "Hang on, who wants Kevin?'' -- while others kept a
watchful eye out for anyone walking by with long hair or wearing a "BSB --
Millennium 99-00'' tour jacket. When the band's drummer comes out to hand a pair
of drumsticks to a 7-year-old boy, the crowd "oohed'' with appreciation.
Dana Burnham, 13, and her friend, both from the Utica area, saw their first
Backstreet Boys concert Monday night. On Tuesday, they woke up at 4:20 a.m. to
camp out in the hotel lobby, just in case a Boy should happen to walk by. At
noon, Burnham was tired and hungry, but had no intention of leaving her spot in
front of the velvet rope.
"I love A.J.,'' she said. "I'm A.J.'s wife. You can put that
down.''
Some fans tire of such drippy fawnings -- especially when unrequited poster
love fuels actions like, according to what one fan witnessed Monday, putting a
teenage ear to the door of a room in which it is suspected a Backstreet Boy
might be sequestered. "As a guest of the hotel, I have to say it was a
little disturbing,'' said 23-year-old Emilie Duggan-Hicks of Boston. "There
were probably 200 people in the lobby. There was fights and screams and yelling.
They all think they own a piece of each Boy.''
One band official, dealing with a three-page bill in the front lobby, said
the hotel was "a mess.''
"It's been a challenge,'' said the representative, declining to give his
name. He added: "It's understandable, since they don't want people staying
out in the cold.''
Carrie Hillenbrandt, director of sales and marketing at the hotel, said even
she was surprised by how many people came to catch a glimpse of Backstreet fame.
Though the band had its own security, she said, it was sometimes hard to tell
which fans had rooms in the hotel and which were just there to gawk.
"We certainly didn't have any problems,'' she said. "They're a very
nice crowd.''
Outside, a group of fans watched four black buses in the hopes the Fab Five
might board. Some of the more seasoned fans, who have seen the band 10 or 12
times, are able to recognize the band's girlfriends, and are on a first-name
basis with the bodyguards.
Courtney Morrison, a 22-year-old Tampa woman who works three jobs to pay for
her Backstreet Boys addiction, still talks about the time A.J. got on the
elevator with her.
"It was cool,'' she said. "He was like, 'Not you guys again.'
"You can put in there he smells good,'' added her friend, Faith Hatch of
Rome. "He smells like Jute.''
awechsler@timesunion.com
First published: Wednesday, February 16, 2000
