With O-Town at Knotts Berry Farm 2001
My husband was backing up our computer one night and was talking about how many pictures we had saved on our laptop, which was really taking over some space. I ended up looking at some of those pictures and came across some old pictures from back in 2001…
How many of you out there remember a show called “Making The Band” back when it was on ABC? This is long before the P-Diddy version currently on MTV. If you do, you’ll recall that a boy band called O-Town was born out of that show.
Now, I pondered on how much I would divulge about my adventures in boy band land, especially since I am so very much more a Depeche Mode fan. But I think I should just embrace my time in that world because it was actually a lot of fun.
My sister and I started watching the show because there was much hype about the fact that it was basically a made for TV version of *Nsync. At the time, I know it reminded me of when Beatles fans were upset when the Monkees hit prime time (a whole decade before I was born). The premise was the same as “Real World” and actually was the predecessor to “American Idol”: potential candidates tried out for the band by auditioning and submitting videos. The final 10 actually lived in the house together, went through eliminations until the final five were picked. The final five were as follows: Ashley Parker Angel, Jacob Underwood, Trevor Penick, Eric-Michael Estrada, and Ikaika Kahoana. Due to family issues and differences with the band members, Ikaika was later replaced by Dan Miller.
As with many reality shows, “Making The Band” built a following, and we followed right along with it. We went to appearances and concerts. I created a Yahoo Group dedicated to the guys, which somehow had it’s own following. Soon, the Yahoo Group wasn’t enough to contain my creativity in the way I wanted to present the information I had, so I created a website.
I made sure to create a site that was anything but the typical fan site. A graphic designer friend created all the images for the site after I bought the domain name, and soon the phenomenon that was Destination O-Town came into being (see the flier image). I had a staff that I affectionately named the Destination Crew, later abbreviated as the D-Crew. We were fans from all over the world, including my sister. We really hit the ground running and passed out fliers at concerts and events. Due to a few contacts in the entertainment industry and contact with family members of the band by different D-Crew staff, the guys in O-Town knew us by name and often mentioned our site during their radio and TV appearances, which always increased our traffic by thousands. We were invited backstage often by their families, and at one show Ashley Angel himself saved meet and greet passes for me and my friends.
Whenever we attended a concert or event, we covered it on our site and we became the next best O-Town resource to the official site. Their management and record label recognized us, so we always had exclusive interviews, pictures and news stories because I could guarantee the authenticity. My site appeared in domestic and international pop magazines and I was even interviewed by Ladies Home Journal because I was a fan over 30. Our most prized feature was “D-Crew Radio” which was a radio graphic that you could “play” and hear exclusive interviews with the band, their crew and their families. We even had a mini promotional spots where the band themselves would say “Hi, We’re O-Town and you’re listening to D-Crew Radio on Destinationotown.com!” As our sites’ popularity grew, I personally would receive gifts from fans (both in person and by mail). I even had a difficult time attending concerts and events because fans would recognize me and my crew and bombard us with questions and requests to meet the guys.
Wow, that was a lot of memories that just came flooding through! I have some friendships that remained from the whole experience: one of my crew members remains a good friend today and was a bridesmaid in my wedding; I keep in touch with a great gal who worked on their tour crew; and I even still have contact with one of their mothers. It was an insane time in my life, but through the craziness, I had great fun. It’s amazing the memories a few pictures can trigger.