A WEEKEND WITH O-TOWN
June 17, 2002
By Debra Braasch
Photos by Adrienne Quinn Washington and Debra Braasch

Our wonderful O-Weekend began on June 16, 2002 when Char and I attended Wango Tango with press credentials issued to us by KIIS FM in Los Angeles. It was a VERY hot day, but it was so wonderful to be in attendance at this event that we hardly even noticed the heat! We spent most of the day in the press tent, right along side of CNN, KTLA, E!, J-14, Reuters, etc.

I got to go into the photo pit for O-Town’s first 2 songs. Although the pit was a tough place from which to shoot (the stage was so high), it was wonderful to be that close. I got to watch Doris and JoJo (our local DJ) introduce O-Town!! Doris was nervous but did an awesome job! O-Town took the stage at 2:20 p.m. and played We Fit Together, Big Pimpin’, From the Damage and All or Nothing.

We spent the rest of the day in the press tent and I was able to get tons of photos of music celebrities (Jessica Simpson & Nick Lachey, Nick & Aaron Carter, Craig David, Gwen Stefani and Gavin, Michelle Branch, Paulina Rubio, Vanessa Carlton, Celine Dion, etc.). We also saw Jay Marose (remember him from Making the Band? He is Tiffany's publicist now and he was with her in the press tent).

In addition to shooting the first two O-Town songs in the photo pit, we also got to photograph them while they were doing all their interviews with other press, including Entertainment Tonight, Extra, KTLA (channel 5 in LA), Fox Family and Telemundo. The guys were awesome and despite the heat and their fatigue,

they gave interview after interview and kept their sparkling smiles and wonderful demeanor - they were charming as always.

Fifteen rolls of film later and the next morning, Char, Adrienne, Doris (Trevor Penick's mom), Val & Von (they run Kiss Me Trevor) and I started our road trip in the O-Van to Las Vegas, where it was even hotter than it had been in LA - hard to believe but true! After settling into our lovely rooms at the New York New York Hotel, we got to the venue and picked up our press passes. The KISS staff in Las Vegas was wonderful, accommodating and friendly.

After the show got started, we headed upstairs and then into the meet & greet. When we arrived, the guys were visiting with some little kids. It was just precious to watch them with their big smiles, hugs and autographs for each of the kids. Each of the guys spent time with every one of the children and their efforts never failed to bring a huge smile to the face of each one of the fans.

Due to the setup of the meet & greet, it was difficult for us to get photos of the guys. Andrew Berkowitz from J Records was there too - he saw our plight and right after the meet & greet, he pulled Char, Adrienne and I into a room with all 5 guys!!! Just the 9 of us in the room - door shut - my camera clicking away and Adrienne doing an interview. It was surreal. The guys were SO sweet and they gladly and thoughtfully answered each one of our questions. We seriously could not have asked for more. Continued on page 2