Orlando Bands Together
March 15, 1998--Hard Rock Cafe

By Ashley

I was so excited when I found out that the "Orlando Bands Together" concert was on the Sunday I was going to be in Orlando! I immediately called my friend, Randy and had him get me tickets. On Saturday, March 14, I arrived in Orlando at 2:00 pm. I drove to Randy's apartment at Summit Sand Lake (where I used to live also!), but Randy wasn't home yet. I called his cell phone and he said he was at Dowtown Disney buying clothes for the show the next day. So I drove to Disney and found him at Harrington Bay. He was with a guy named Jim who works for NSync.

Soon after I got there, they met up with a girl (I forgot her name) who was working to inform the public about the show. Randy, Jim, and I helped pass out fliers for the show. We walked through the parking lot putting them on people's windshields. Then, we drove out to the Florida Mall to do the same thing. We ended up shopping some more, then Randy had to go to the TranContinental office to fax something to his dad. I got to go with him!! It was the coolest thing! It's the place on Sand Lake Rd. where most of the fan mail goes! When you walk in, you immediately see BSB posters everywhere. Also NSync, Aaron Carter, and LFO (very cute boys!) posters. BSB and NSync had their gold records on the wall! I felt so special just being there! Randy showed me where Donna Wright's office was, then Jim gave me a free NSync t-shirt and hat! We went over to Jim's that night to watch Saturday Night Live, then went back to Randy's to go to bed cause we had to get up early the next morning!!

At about 10:00, I finally pulled myself off of the blow-up mattress I was sleeping on, and got in the shower. We got in the car and drove to the end of the street. Randy and I were sitting at a red light and this car pulled up next to us. The guy in the backseat turned around and was starring at us. I had only seen a few pictures, but I immediately recognized him as Joey Fatone from NSync!

"Isn't that Joey?" I asked Randy, cause he didn't notice him.

"Yeah! It is!" Randy said, and started waving, "Let's see if he has his phone with him."

Randy pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number and Joey answered. The first thing Joey said to him was,"Who's that girl with you?"

Randy said, "It's my friend, Ashley from Kentucky." Then Joey said, "Hi Ashley from Kentucky!" It was funny!

We drove on to Universal Studios and parked across the street. We walked with a couple guys that are friends of Randy's. We finally got to the entrance, and the line was soooo long!! Randy took charge and walked up to the front of the line. He knows everyone!! We got to go in as VIPs!

We were standing behind the family of "Take 5" for about an hour, then we were admitted into the pre-backstage area. From this point on, I didn't pay much attention to what was going on on-stage, all I was watching was the madness backstage! First, I got to meet all the members of "Take 5", and I got pictures of all of them except Steve. I got pictures of Justin, JC, and Joey from NSync, and another guy from "C-Note", among a few others. Unfortunately, the only BSB that came over to sign autographs was Howie. And I could have gotten a lot more pictures of the performers if I had known who they were when they were standing right next to me!! The coolest picture I got was with Johnny Wright. I was so excited because not only is he the manager of BSB, but he used to be the New Kids tour manager!! I have him on tape many times!!

Well, BSB finally performed, and then they had to duck out to catch their flight. NSync had already left. So when it was over, I met back up with Randy (who was backstage the whole time!) and we went to change clothes. We went around the corner from his place to this restaurant called "Carrera's" (I think). Randy hadn't really explained to me who was going to be there, and I was surprised to walk in and see about half of the groups from the show!! Lou Pearlman was paying for this dinner for the whole TransCon family!! How did I ever get this lucky?! Anyway, we got in line for the dinner buffet, and Lou Pearlman was right behind me. I felt weird because he didn't know me, yet he was paying for my dinner! Oh well. I was eating, and there was this hot guy I kept locking eyes with. I didn't recognize him, so I finally asked Randy who he was.

"Oh, that's Brad from LFO," he said.

I couldn't believe it! I had been hearing about them for like 6 months now, and here was Brad, smiling at me! And I didn't even know who he was!! Ugh! To my disappointment, I overheard Brad telling someone that he was leaving. I turned around and he looked right at me and said, "bye." I said "good-bye" back to him, and he turned around and left. Why couldn't I have talked to the guy??!!

Anyway, Randy was talking to this girl, Elisa, from "Solid Harmonie" and everyone was petting her new puppy. She named it "Harmonie"--isn't that cute? Everyone was leaving, and I was getting kinda bored. Donna Wright stood up and thanked everyone for their help, then we went outside. All the kids from "Take 5" were sitting out there, so I started talking to them. I asked Steve who the oldest in the group was, and he said, "Ryan is...he's 17."

I was like, "Whoa! If he's 17, how old are you guys?"

He pointed to himself and Tilky(sp?) and said, "15 and 16." I thought they were older than that! Oops! They are too hot! Then Tilky said, "Why, how old are you?" and when I said 22 they were like, "Oh." I tell ya what, between Nick Carter and these boys, I wish I were younger every day!

They left, and one of the younger boys in the group, Clay, came over and hugged me. He was adorable! Then Tilky shook my hand and so did Lou Pearlman. He thanked me for coming. It was so cool! Then a bunch of us went to TCBY yogurt (the one Lou owns) and had yogurt. Some of BSB's records were on the wall there, too! Then we went home, and that was that.

I hope you liked my story!