ALL THAT Experience

Following 98°: Friday, July 30, 1999

Z 95.7 Radio Interview

Yes, we did it again! We swore that when 98° came back to town, we'd find out where they were & follow them...and we were successful! So me, Danielle, Jen, Arlene, and Yan piled into my Nissan Maxima and headed to San Francisco to the Z95.7 studios coz 98° was going to do an interview with a "fanatic" that was chosen by the station at 4 PM. We got there about 10 minutes after the guys had gotten off the bus and went up into the station. Their bus was parked in the back. The radio dj made it seem like there were girls everywhere by the station, but there actually weren't very many people there. I'd say there were 20-30 fans there. Well we found an empty parking space by the bus, so me & Danielle went back to get the car. As you know San Francisco is full of one way streets, so there was only one way to get to the space. And we got stuck in traffic! We were listening to the radio & OH NO, they were getting ready to leave & we were bumper to bumper about a block away! But, lucky, there a new space on the side, so I went down the shoulder of the street and parked. Me & Danielle jumped out of the car about a minute before the guys came out! So we said hi & took pictures as the guys headed to the bus. Then we busted a move to the car. Danielle stood up through the moon roof of my car and took video footage of the bus taking off. It too got stuck in traffic like we did. But we eventually followed it to the Bay Bridge. As we pulled up alongside the bus, my chicas waved to the bus driver. He waved back. Then the bus was trying to lose us. It changed lanes right before the interchange, but I guess the bus driver felt sorry for me (I was straight freaking out!) so he waved for me to get in front of him! But I couldn't coz he was going too fast. There were 2 other cars following the bus. So we followed them to the 680/24 interchange. Prolly 100 meters from the exits, the bus abruptly changed lanes--we almost crashed trying to follow it--into 680 headed to Concord. When it passed the exit for the venue, we knew that they were headed to a hotel! Then it exited on Willow Pass Rd. & we knew they were headed to the Concord Hilton--and they did!

So we parked the car and ran to the front of the hotel. Tommy (the security guard) was already there and telling the 6 or so other fans to stay behind a certain point. While we were waiting to see the guys, we noticed that there was a green tour bus there too. (98°'s bus was a deep crimson, almost black.) So the guys unboarded the bus. We were like 10 feet away! So my friends took really good pictures and we even video taped the whole thing! It was such a rush...it felt so unreal. A little bit after the guys went into the hotel, we saw Tommy again and started talking to him. He told Danielle that she looked familiar. She told him about meeting him at Benihana with the rest of us & he was all like "oh yeah...". So we took pictures with him. He looked at Dani's (Danielle) scrapbook and was surprised by our enthusiasm.

As we walked to the parking lot, we were like "what are we gonna do now?" So Danielle was all "let's get a room at the Hilton". At first we were all "Oh hell no, that's hecka crazy!" But we went to a pay phone & she called the front desk. She made up this story about me & her being sisters & how we were supposed to stay with our aunt, but we couldn't find her. The lady said she had an executive suite for something like $140.00. At first I said "no way!" but Danielle said she'd pay for it (that crazy girl!)! So we booked that room and headed back to the hotel.

At the Concord Hilton

So we went back to the Hilton. Danielle and I went in only coz that was the price for only 2 guests! We checked in and we got Room #909. When were at the front desk, this African American guy came up and started whispering to the lady. I tried to listen, but I didn't hear it all. All I heard was something about him working for 98°, and how he needed the piano after 10PM that night. Dani & I were straight screaming inside!

We went up to our room on the 9th floor. It was really quiet up there. We put our bags in the room. We were going crazy in that room 909! We couldn't believe this was all happening. We knew we had to go back downstairs to the car coz Arlene, Jen, & Yan were waiting. We had to head to the concert. It was already 6:00. As Dani & I walked back to the elevator, we passed by Room 912 and we heard some music & some people singing. We were like "omg!" Of course we put our ears near the door and listened closely! I didn't know what song it was. It sounded like a tape with music & some guys singing to it. Dani was like "OH MY GOD THAT'S NO AUTHORITY!" in a loud whisper. Since I didn't really know about NA at the time, I was like "ok?!?" We turned around and we saw that guy that asked to use the piano for 98° coming down the hall, so we hightailed it to the elevator...but now we knew that 98° was on that floor too!

So we went to the car & headed to the concert...since a lot of you have gone or are going to an ALL THAT concert, I'll spare you the details. We saw Monica & 98°. We were just really excited about going back to the hotel, so we left during the last song..."The Hardest Thing". So we jammed back to the hotel. It was kinda early, so not many other fans were there yet, but some were milling around the lobby. Yan & Arlene went up with Danielle first. Then me & Jen went to the elevators to go upstairs. An elevator opened up and guess who it was? EYC! So as David passed in front of me, I said "Hi!" He barely grunted a hi back and walked right past me with the other guys. Me & Jen went into the elevator. As I was about to tell Jen who that was, I hear the EYC guys go up to the 12 year olds by the elevator. Those girls were all like "who are you?" The guys said "We're EYC!" and stopped to talk to them. OOOOHHH I WAS SOOOO PISSED & DISSED! I actually knew who they were & they totally ignored me! So as of then, I'm boycotting EYC!

We went up to our room. We didn't wanna be all walking around the floor stalking the guys, so we just chilled for a while. But these stupid teeny boppers came in droves and started walking down the hall, trying to find out where 98° were. The five of us took turns looking through the peep hole. And we could hear some conversation inside the room next door, 907. Well, I don't wanna spill all the beans, coz I could get in trouble, but I'll share a few details, ok?

Nick and Drew were seen in the hall near our room. Drew and Tommy were seen going into the room 907.
Voices were heard on the opposite end of the hall that sounded like 98°
The people in 907 thought we were the buggin' teenyboppers so they tried to call us, but we didn't answer the phone.
We heard a lot of doors opening and closing & saw people switching rooms.
I heard that Jeff didn't come in till like 1:15 coz he went to a local club.
We saw some scantlessly dressed hoochies trying to kick it with the band downstairs by the piano.

Shoreline 07.31.99 & Sacramento 08.03.99

So we checked out of the hotel the next morning. Nothing else really happened. We went to the show at Shoreline. Me, Arlene, & Yan had Section 101 Row F. Danielle didn't have any tickets at the time. Jen had to work so she didn't go. Danielle somehow (lots o' money!) got herself 2nd row tickets on the side (it's closer than the center). I got to sneak down and sit with her during No Authority (oohhh those guys can shake their thangs!). All of thing happened with No Authority, but I'll tell you that on my NA site. During 98° I was at my own seat, but as everyone rushed the stage, I tried to sit with Danielle again. Unfortunately, me & Yan got kicked back, so we went to like row E or something near the stairs. Arlene got to stay. They were soooo close & they had super zoom cameras. Let's just say they have bomb @$$ pictures (if you interested in buying some from us, let me know!). Danielle had my rubber ducky (signed by all of us) so she saw Justin & threw it to him. He missed, and it landed near the band. I don't know if he ever got it. It was kinda cool for me to just kick back and enjoy the show instead of freakin' out & taking loads of pics. But I've seen that same show (in diff. versions) sooo many times, I wasn't all that excited. Don't get me wrong though. I love 98° to death!

Sacramento was the same story. We had tickets on the floor. Like 10th row or something. Jen & Dani had like 3rd or 4th row. We went outside to see NA again, but when we headed back to the seats, it turned out that Dani had lost her ticket. So bein' her tight buddy, I stuck with her & stayed in the concourse. (hey we're the double d's in DDJAY Productions!) Jen, Yan, & Arlene went back to their seats. It's not like I haven't seen the concert before. But we got to see 98° from the stairs. We even went to the sections in the back & we had a bird's eye view of the back of the stage. We could see the 2 dancers and Tommy in the back. But we got caught and had to hightail it outta there.

That's about it for the 98° part of my ALL THAT adventure. But we got to have a bomb time with No Authority! So if you wanna know what happened click here! I guess that was my last time to see 98° this year. Let me say that I totally enjoyed seeing them rise to the top & I will continue to love them as long as they're making music!