BSB Encounters
by April
My BSB Experience # 1
The next day I called the BSB tour manager and he told me where to pick up my tickets and passes. When we got there we went to will call thinking that we were just going to get regular meet and greet passes. Well I was wrong because when the lady at the window handed me the envelope it had 2 VIP passes that said Guest of Brian Littrell, and then 5th row tickets. (Kim couldn't sit in front row because of her heart and all the explosions). We both started crying like babies and everyone around us thought we were nuts until we told them why. Around 7:00 we went backstage to wait in the VIP room where some of AJ's friends were, and a bodyguard. Around 7:15 the tour manager came and got us. He told us to wait out in the hall and he would go get Brian. We were waiting thinking it would be a while when all of a sudden here comes Brian. OMG!!
We talked to him for about 15 minutes about Kim's surgery and where we lived and how we were. He even lifted up his shirt and showed us his scar. I asked him if he remembered giving his shirt to me the night before and he said I thought I had seen you before. Then we gave him a thank you card for his mom and the HHC club and a necklace that said Brian loves Leighanne, and I gave him a book of scriptures because I know he's a Christian. After we talked we took pictures with him and then he said he had to go get changed. He asked if we wanted to meet the other guys and of course we said YES!! We just had to wait till everyone got changed so we went to wait in the VIP room again. About 10 minutes later the road manager came back and took us to where the MEET and GREET people were. Well he put us in line in front of all of them and told us to go in the room and wait for them. We were in the room when in comes Kevin and Howie, we gave them hugs and talked to them for a minute when AJ came in. We hugged him too. After that Brian and Nick came in and Brian told them how we were his guests and told them about Kim's heart surgery. They were all SOOOO NICE! After talking for a few minutes we had to take a picture with them and hug them goodbye because all the people were waiting and they had to hurry. Before we left Brian asked us where we were sitting so he could look out for us. We told him we were in the 5th row. So during the concert and when they were on the bridge they would wave. Well that is the end of Friday. On Saturday there was no show so I had a break and rested up.
On Sunday March 4, 2001 it was back to the same old thing. My sister didn't go to the concert so she dropped of me and my friend there in Sacramento. We had 12th row for this show. Guess who was sitting in front of us? Nick Carter's cousin. He looks just like Nick but younger and chubby. :) Well since she didn't go to the show my sister and her friend went to go look for the hotel, but more about that later. During the show I held up a sign that I had made that said "BRIAN IT'S ME APRIL" He saw it and waved, I also made a sign that said "BRIAN, OLIVE JUICE" which is from Leighannes movie, it means I love you. When they were on the bridge I held it up and he said, "Aww, I love you too." I was so happy he knew what I meant, I guess he would being his wife's movie and all. :) After the show I called my sister on her cell and she told me that they had found the hotel. She said they were staying at the Hyatt. I said I guess that means we're staying there too. When we got there were girls waiting outside, and we tried to get a room and they said it was all booked. We had a feeling they were lying so my friend Fred, called and said we were coming in from the airport from LA and we needed a room, they gave us a ROOM! hmm and they said it was booked! We went to our room and it was really nice. We spent the whole night in the lobby. It was worth it though because Brian and AJ came through. Brian first, but he was tired and didn't really stop to talk to any one. Me and my sister stayed in the lobby and her friend Jenny and Fred were in the room we called up to their room and said Brian's here hurry. Well he was already on the elevator then so we thought it was too late, but when they were leaving our room who was getting of the elevator on our FLOOR, Brian. He was 4 doors away and the bodyguard was 3 doors away. Around 3 in the morning is when AJ came he was really nice and stopped to take pictures and sign autographs for everyone. After that the valet guy told us that the other guys had snuck in the back so we went to be around 4 in the morning. We got up late and went down to the lobby again around 12. There were girls there that said most of the guys had left except Nick. So we waited for a while, then all of a sudden Nick and his dad got out of the elevator! I wanted to take a picture of him but my sister was outside talking to some girls to find out info and she had the camera. Nick went into the resturant they had there to go eat. I was like I have to go eat there. Since we were hotel guests we were allowed in the resturant. There were other girls in there too but they were all acting crazy and screaming and bugging him while he tried to eat. The manager of the resturant sat all the crazy girls away from him at that other side of the resturant. I think since we were acting normal they didn't mind us because they sat us like 3 tables away from us. Nick's back was facing is but we could see his dad. His dad smiled at us, he was probably grateful that we didn't bug them while they ate. After he ate he had to sneak out the back through the kitchen. Now this is really sad, after he left all the crazy girls took all his leftover and the straw and lemon from his iced tea and kept them as souvenirs. I was like that is disgusting. After we ate we decided just to go home. We had to change and get ready to go back to Sacramento for the last show there. For Monday's show we had pretty good seats because my friends mom knew a lady that worked for ticketmaster, we were 6th row. We took the OLIVE JUICE sign again so Brian would remember it, he did!
I knew during that concert I better savor it because it was the last one I was going to see. I thought that was the end of it all, but then on Sunday March 18, 2001 at 7:30 pm I got "the call that changed my destiny". My mom answered the phone and told me it was for me, she said she thought it was my friend Neil, because he has a real quiet voice. BOY WAS SHE WRONG!!!!! This is how the conversation went. ME: Hello VOICE: Hi, is this April? ME: Yes VOICE: Well you won't believe this but this is Brian from the Backstreet Boys. YES OMG!!!!! Brian called me!!!!!!! I was in such shock. He said that he had been sitting on the bus earlier and he came across my letter. It was a copy of the letter I had written before. He wanted to see how Kim was doing. He said you guys are the one's we met right, I said yes, he said I thought so. He said well did you guys have a good time. I was like Yeah, of course! He said I hope that I didn't call too late, I said NO it's not too late it's only 7:30. He said oh cool, then he asked how I was. I said, Actually I'm is shock right now. He said sorry and then said he was in San Diego right now about to do the last show here and then head down to Mexico. I said oh, I wish I could be there, but we're going to see you guys when you come here in August, if we could get tickets. Then he said, well tell your mom I'm sorry if I called too late or if I startled her. I said I don't think she knew who you were. He laughed. Then he said well I better go, I think he had to do meet and greets then go on stage. Then he said See you in August, Bye I said bye and then he hung up. After I hung and ran down the stairs, I was like MOM do you realize who that was!! She was like no who, I said that was BRIAN!!! She felt bad afterwards because she talked to him and she didn't even know. I just laughed at her.
Finally, it was time to go backstage. We had to walk down about 2 flights of stairs then when we got down there, we had to wait in line. We didn't see that many people in line so we figured the less people the more time with the guys. Well, little did we know that as we waited for another hour that tons of people were going to show up. There were so many people in line that, they had to move the line into a different room. While we were waiting in line we saw Sarah, AJ's girlfriend talking to these 2 ladies and a little girl. It turns out that they were her family. I guess she got them VIP passes or something. She was talking to them and then went into a room, when she opened the door there was AJ standing there! He talked to her for a minute than kissed her. Then she went back to talk to her family. I thought it was nice of her to wait with her family instead of just leaving them.
Finally, they starting telling us all to back up and get in a orderly line. We knew that meant the guys must be coming. They had all the BSB security come out then, and they were having only 2 people come up at a time. When you are waiting there is one security guard in the front of the line of fans, then another one about 10 feet away with the 2 fans who are next, then there are our beloved BSB 10 feet after that waiting for the fans along with security, management and various other people. I starting getting really nervous and anxious as we got closer. It went so fast and finally it was OUR turn.
I had some gifts for the guys, but they told us all gifts had to go on the table that they had set up so we put our things on the table. I was worried that they wouldn't get all the stuff, but other than my presents there weren't any on the table so I was happy that they stuck out. After I set the things down, I turned around and there they were, in all their glory. It all seemed so unreal, they all looked so beautiful and perfect.
They were lined up in this order, Kevin, Howie, Nick, AJ, and Brian last. I remember telling my sister that all I cared about was talking to Brian, but that's not what happened. Since Kevin was the first one there I went to him first. I hugged
him and then told him that I wanted to wish him a happy belated birthday. I told him that the reason that it was important to me was because my dad's birthday would have been on the same day as his, but he had passed away. While I was telling
him this he had so much care and concern in his eyes that I started crying. He kept hugging me and telling me it was okay and that made me cry even more. He asked me how he died and I told him from cancer, I knew that he understood because
he had gone through the same thing. He just showed me so much love and he told me that no matter what that my dad was still there with me, of course that made me cry even more. I guess the rest of the guys were wondering what was wrong
because they were just looking at me, and AJ asked my sister what was wrong and she told him. Finally I calmed down a bit, and I realized I better hurry because there were the rest of the guys to see. I went to hug Nick and then Kevin says to me, you know this is Howie right here pointing to Howie. I felt so bad for skipping him . I said I know and said sorry and then hugged Howie. I went over to Brian and AJ realizing I better hurry because time was running out. I hugged them both and then decided I better tell Brian as much as I could about the Healthy Heart Club Task Force. I said, Brian do you know anything about the HHC task force. He looked at me and asked, task force? I said yeah we are a group that raises money for the HHC. I told him how we have already raised thousands of dollars, and how we had been approved as the
official group. So then he was like that is awesome, thank you so much and gave me a huge hug. Then he asked, so you've talked to Brandon? And I said yes then I told him that I had brought a whole bunch of HHC stuff and letters for him and he
was like cool thanks. I guess while I was talking to Brian about the task force my sister was saying hi to the rest of the guys. It's funny too because she isn't even a huge BSB fan but she was still awestruck by them. She said that Howie didn't
give her a hug and was acting kinda weird and Nick told her that's okay because Howie's just stupid. lol I can't believe he said that. :) Then she talked to Kevin more about my dad and was telling him about how there has been new studies that
found that the kind of cancer he had might be environmental related. Since Kevin does some of that kind of research for JWR he was really interested and she told him how we wrote letters about it and he said he was going to make sure he
read them. That really made me happy that he was so concerned. Kevin is so kind and caring. It was around then when they said we had to take to picture so we just posed really quick. I was so nervous and I didn't even stand next to Brian in
the picture which was all that I wanted. I ended up standing in between AJ and Nick. While we were leaving my sister told Nick about how we had brought Nick some A's stuff, and I said yeah even though it sucks that they are losing right now. Then he told me that's okay they'll still win it. (which unfortunately they didn't) :( I laughed and we started to leave. As we were leaving I turned around and jokingly said see Nick I am missing the game to meet you! He laughed and then he winked at me and smiled. I was just smiling at him when the security said come let's move it along, so we had to leave. When we got outside of the door, it just all hit me at once, like OMG that was so awesome!! I just met the BSB!!!!!!!
Well, that was all of my meet and greet. I won't go into all the details of the concert because I figure that most of you already know about it. But, I did want to say that during the show I was holding up a HHC task force sign and when they
were on the bridge and Brian pointed at it, then at the end of the show we ran closer to the stage and held up the sign and he waved again. I was so happy! The concert was so awesome and I had the time of my life.
The next day was a concert in Reno so we drove all day to get there. We left for Reno and there was so much traffic and road work that we thought that we were going to miss the show. It took us over 4 hours to get there when it usually takes like
less than 2 hours. We were so worried but then we ended up getting there in time. When we got to the event center we were shocked that the place was so small, they didn't even have an upper level and the floor only went about 25 rows back. They didn't have room for a bridge, end stage, or ramps on the side! We had 9th row so our seats were pretty good. We got there when Krystal was in the middle of performing then Sisqo went and finally BSB. The show was so awesome
as usual. :) They had to change it a little b/c of the size of the stage and since there was no bridge, they were on the front stage the whole time and just sat at the front end of the stage for Time. During the show I held up my HHC sign again and
Brian said I see you. Plus he kept pointing at it. I saw this girl with a sign that said Brian can I have your shirt, so I decided hey I might as well make one too. So I got out my sharpie and wrote it on the back of my sign. I think that he already told that girl yes so he couldn't give it to me. :( It kinda sucked but she did ask first. Well, the show ended and we went to find out what hotel that they were staying at. We ended up finding out but it was too late though. They had already checked out and left right after the show to Bakersfield. We started to drive to Bakersfield too since we were going to that show as well, but it was too long of a drive for us to drive all the way there so we took a break and drove the rest of the way there in the morning.
We got to Bakersfield early and waited for the show that night. The show was SOOOO good. I think that since it was the second to last show that they were really
into b/c it had so much energy and excitement, more than others that I have been to. Before the show we met up for dinner with a group of girls and we all ended up going to the concert together and sitting together. I swear though that Jenny and I
were the center of attention at that show. lol Every single sign that we brought, they showed on the huge screen in the background. First it was the HHC sign again that Brian once again pointed to and waved. Then it was a sign that said AJ Congrats on 105 Days, WE LOVE YOU! They showed it during his speech and he said thank you. The third sign was one that said, Nick Get Butt Naked! We held it up during the part were they pretend that they are going to strip. First AJ read it and laughed, then Howie saw it and read it out loud and then Nick read it and said, WHAT! You want me to get butt naked? Then he started to pretend to strip again and did this booty dance where he sticks his butt out and bent over and shook it! Everyone started freaking out. :) The last thing that was ours that they showed was a huge American flag that we held up when they sang God Bless America. The showed us almost the whole time holding it up. We were so happy that they noticed us so much. Well, during the show I was holding up that sign that said, Brian can I have your shirt? He told me half way through the show that yes I could have it! I was so excited, and towards the end of the show during shape of my heart he pointed at me and motioned for me to come to the front to the stage. I had to fight my way up to the front and I guess while I was on my way up there he lost sight of me. He mouthed to Jenny, where is she? where's the girl in the red shirt! Finally, I got up to the front, and I was right against the barrier. Brian handed the shirt to the security guard to give to
me, but there were tons of girls trying grab for it. They were all pushing and shoving, I almost got knocked down and a security guard had to help me stay up. Brian looked over and saw what was going on, the guard asked him who was the shirt for and he pointed right at me and said her to make sure I got it. The guard pushed the other girls out of the way and handed the shirt to me. (MY 3RD ONE! I FELT KINDA BAD ABOUT HAVING SO MANY BUT I LOVE HIM SO MUCH!) Once, Brian saw that I got it he smiled. I said thank you and blew him a kiss, he "caught" it and then gave me the biggest smile. I was so happy and freaking out when this mean lady was like go back to your seat now! So, I went back to my seat and by that time drowning was coming on. At the end of the show, Jenny and I were holding up the I love you sign in sign language. It was so awesome when each and everyone of them did it back, Brian was especially and he was smiling and waving right to us. I think he's starting to remember us after 3 shows in a row, especially because I had my HHC sign. After the show we went next door to the Holiday Inn where we had parked. We were at the car when we saw buses pulling out right in front of us. It ended up being their buses. I didn't see who was in the first bus, but in the second bus we saw Brian and Nick were sitting right in the front with the light on so everyone could see them. After they
drove off we went to my aunt's house were we staying. We went to sleep because we were going to drive to Las Vegas the next morning for the last show.
We got to Vegas the day before the show so we could hang out. That night we were hoping to see the guys but unfortunatley we didn't. We did meet Sisqo though. :) The morning of the show we got up really early to try to get tickets. We ended up getting tickets to the show but they weren't very good. We had floor but it was way in the back and I was surrounded by tall people so I couldn't see a thing. Since it was the last show they said things were going to be crazy. I guess they did some crazy things but it wasn't as crazy as I expected. The things that they did different were during Yes I Will, tons of ping pong balls came out on them. Then during I Want It That Way, a crew member was on stage dancing with them and Kevin and Howie sang to him. When they all come out separately to talk they all took a while longer but the best one was AJ because he came out singing his song, I Want To Be Happy, but in the end he changed the line to I'm finally happy, it was the best and everyone looked like they wanted to cry. At the part where they are supposed to go into the box to change tons of people started coming out of the box like all of their crew it seemed like an endless line of people came out, then when the guys finally started going into the box and it's just AJ and Kevin on stage first Nick then Brian came running out in their wife beaters and boxers it was so cute. I think that is all the crazy things that they did. My favorite part of the show is when they went to the end stage and we ran up to it, the people let us stay there too. I held up the same HHC sign that I had at all my shows and Brian saw me and waved and smiled. He mouthed Hi, and asked me, how many is this, 3, 4? And he held up the same number of fingers. I said four, and held up four fingers. He mouthed 4 wow! and gave me a huge smile. I was so happy and excited. I couldn't believe that he remembered me from all those shows. :) After that they went on the bridge and had an endless amount of silly string that they sprayed everyone with and their crew totally covered all of them with silly string. Basically after that the show went along as normal. It was all just really bittersweet though because we all knew that it was the last time anyone was going to see them.