Fri, Nov. 30, 2002
- The guys started the morning off very early - they were already at the ABC
studios in Times Square, NYC practicing "Craving" when I arrived
at 6:30am. They did look like they just rolled out of bed and to the studio
- Dan in his big grey sweatshirt & blue hat, Ashley's hair was unspiked
and gel-less and he had on a grey zip-up sweatshirt , Jacob was covered by
his jacket, Erik wrapped up in a black scarf and leather jacket with his head
covered in a hat, although Trevor, with his newly trimmed & blonder hair,
seemed to have been ready for hours - he had on a yellow button-down shirt
tucked in snake-belted jeans and black dress shoes. They seemed to be taking
their time rehearsing and talking with the band and GMA staff members. I even
snuck in a few smiles to the guys and did receive a few waves/glances back.
They left the stage a little before 7:00 AM, when the show started.
In the meantime, the GMA staff was busy trying to accommodate the over-booked
show. Unfortunately because they did not account for the size of the guys'
stage when giving out the tickets to the show, all those with reservations
could not even be allowed in. Nonetheless, a few O-Town fans were able to
get inside the actual studio because of the abrupt announcement of this appearance.
At about 7:20 the guys popped out again briefly to rehearse "These Are
the Days". They exchanged a few waves to the eager fans cheering them
on from outside the windows of the studio before leaving again.
About an hour later the guys came out as GMA was filming a segment with the
cook, Emeril, in the same studio. As they set up they also kept an eye on
what Emeril was doing - Jacob appeared to be keeping some mental notes on
"what he could do with his leftover turkey" as Trevor just about
had drool coming out of his mouth and Erik gave a few "Oh, that's interesting"
glances.
They must have spent their time backstage getting ready because they came
back out looking very spiffy! Ashley spiked his hair & got rid of the
sweatshirt, exposing his red & yellow "44" 3/4-sleeve shirt.
Dan lost the cap and had his hair neatly gelled with a black button-down shirt
with a red tee underneath and his usual jeans. Erik changed into a green jacket
with a white tee under & left his khaki pants on. Jacob had the look of
a lumber-jack with his orange plaid button-down shirtd to a white thermal
underneath, jeans, brown boots and hair tied back. Trevor put on a black shirt
and denim jacket on over it.
When they came back from commercial after the cooking segment, Charlie Gibson,
the GMA co-host, introduced the guys and mentioned their new album. He said
they were happy to have them on again and Dan confirmed that's it's become
like a tradition now. When asked how this album was different, Dan explained
that they have gotten more involved in it so that they can be sure they are
completely happy with the material. Charlie asked about them writing half
the songs on the album and Ashley told him said that they did and they kept
pushing the album back to make it "perfect". They then performed
"TATD".
During the break after their performance, they had a little time to interact
with the members in the front of the audience and signed a few autographs.
They then gave a special treat and performed "Craving" live on TV
for the first time with Jacob on electric guitar and Dan on acoustic guitar.
It was all over a little before 9:00 AM.
A few of the pictures I took that morning can be seen here.
