98 degrees: the fan reviews

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Good Mornimg America (9/22/00) New York, NY

a review and personal experience by Adopt-a-Star team member, Lindi

I was able to attend "Good Morning America" on September 22, 2000, four days before the release of 98 degrees' brand new album Revelation. I arrived in Times Square at 7:15. There were 30-40 people inside the studio who got there at 3am. I found myself a spot outside behind the gate. I had a great view of the studio, so I settled on being outside. 98 degrees first came out to do a soundcheck. When they entered the room, the fans started screaming. I had brought my promotional starburst-shaped sign from Walmart (with the Revelation cover on it) to hold up. Nick was putting on his microphone, and as he did that, he scanned the crowd and caught his eye on my sign. I saw him read it, and then he looked down at me, smiled and waved!!! Of course, I was too much in shock to wave or smile back, but everyone in the audience with me looked at me (so I know he was waving to me!) Drew was standing around, and I heard him say "Is my mic on?" The guys went on the stage and warmed up their voice to an a cappella version of "Invisible man" (my favorite song of all time). Jeff was really warming up his voice when he sang his verse and his voice got really high. Then, the guys sang the first verse of "Give me just one night (Una Noche)" and the crowd went crazy. After the soundcheck, the guys left. When 98 degrees came out again, it was about 8:25 and they did another soundcheck, singing "Una Noche" again. (only about two lines of the song). After the song, they signed autographs for the people selected to be inside. The security guard took people's papers behind the gate to get signed, but when I asked for my big sign to get autographed, he said "I can't." Justin was only about five feet away from me, and I got great pics of all the guys during their performance and signing autographs. At 8:45, the guys came on to sing live. They did "Una Noche" with their four dancers-one for each guy. I took several pics of the guys dancing. They sounded wonderful as always. After the song, they were on their way, but Drew stayed behind to sign some more autographs. After they left, I saw several of the ABC news anchors including Charlie Gibson and Antonio Mora. But, the real stars of the show were gone and they left behind a day this 98 degrees fan will not soon forget. Thank goodness for fathers that go into work late to take their daughter's to see their musical idols. 98 degrees rocks!

Heat It Up Tour (8/26/99) Hunter Mountain, NY

a little review and personal experience by Adopt-a-Star team member, Lindi

Today was my first 98 degrees concert. The gates at Hunter Mountain were opening at 3:00. My sister and I arrived at 3:30 to see a huge line of people waiting to get into the tent. We decided not to wait in this line and found another way to go in..it's a good thing because we saved a lot of time. Ok, so we searched for the best seats we could find. We ended up getting pretty good seats. I bought a Heat It Up Tour Book and then we sat down. At 5:00, the opening act, The Refrigerators came out. They are from Albany and they really worked the crowd with covers of "Livin' la Vida loca", "The Impression that I get" and even some swing. They were done at 6:00. At about 6:30, everyone started standing up and screaming. We saw a green bus pull up and the crowd assumed it was 98 degrees. I thought I saw them a couple times but you couldn't see over the MOBS of people. The girls next to us had a sign and they said they saw Drew. Anyway,at 6:45, The Refrigerators came back out and sang some more dance songs. They told us 98 degrees would be out at quarter after. SO at 7:15, the crowd was chanting 98 degrees, 98 degrees. Everyone was on their feet. Nothing happend. We waited and waited while the stage crew cleared the drums and other instrument equipment. At around 7:45, two guys came out. They looked very similar to Nick and Jeff, so the crowd went crazy. It wasn't them! It was another group called Duo. They sang a few songs but my sister and I weren't too crazy about them. Finally, they were done and everyone was standing on their seats. I felt like I was going to fall but if I wanted to see, I had no choice. Then at last four coffin-likeboxes appeared. Four guys came out of the boxes. They were in all white and had masks on. They moved slowly to the sound of the drums and finally took of their masks, revealing their faces. Everyone cheered when they finally saw Nick, Drew, Jeff and Justin. They guys then came out in camouflage pants and black vests. Nick and Drew had on backwards baseball caps and Jeff and Justin were hatless. They sang "Heat it Up" and the audience was jumping. The next song on the line-up was "Fly with me." 98 degrees did a great job dancing to this one, especially Jeff. He danced on his own and then began to flap his arms like he was flying. It was pretty funny. Next, Jeff got to crowd going with their cover for The Offspring's "Pretty Fly(for a white guy)." After that, they sang Eminem's "My name is"except they changed the lyrics to fit themselves. I personally liked it. Justin was going crazy! They also sand "1999" by Prince. Then, Nick split the audience in half. Him and Jeff took one side. Their side was told to chant "Party" and our side with Drew and Justin chanted "All night". Drew put his finger to his lip when it was the other side's turn to yell. It was adorable. After they finished singing, it was time for an outfit change. It was quick and they came back out to the music of "Invisible man." The crowd went wild. They were wearing silk button-down shirts with black pants. Nick, in red, started the chorus to the song. I have to say this was one of my favorites live..maybe because I've never heard them sing it live before. After this, they thanked the fans for voting for "I do" on MTV and preceded by singing it. They sang sitting in chairs and rotated every once in a while. It sounded great as well. Next, they came back in their camouflage outfits and Drew said the first time they came to Hunter Mountain, they were learning how to snowboard. I thought that was pretty cool. Then he asked his famous question "Do you wanna dance?" The crowd screamed and they sang the song of course. The two girl dancers were pretty good in this song. Justin's solo sounded good too. I guess it was time to change their clothes again, so they left one at a time after they introduced the musicians, who did solos. Justin was the first to come back and he wanted to finally introduce the band. But before that, he had played a harmonica solo that was pretty neat. SO, he introduced Mr. Drew Lachey who came out in a sleevless jersey and adidas pants looking really hot. Drew then introduced Jeff who got a big applause..he's a fan favorite I think. Jeff introduced "The guy with the Golden voice" Nick Lachey. Nick was wearing a Cincinatti shirt and adidas windbreaker pants. Drew then said that 98 degrees and rising is almost triple platimun. Wow, that was fast! Then Nick thanked the fans for coming down to the TRL studio to support them. Justin introduced the next song, "True to your heart." They sounded great once again and the audience loved it too. Jeff did a excellent job filling in for Stevie Wonder. The next song was their tribute to their old record company, Motown. Nick said they can't sing anymore fast song because he's out of shape(yeah right Nick! You look in shape to me!) They sang "I can't get next to you" by the Temptations. The adults of the crowd loved this one. OK, so it's now about 9:30 and the concert is nearing then end. Drew says this next song is for all the fans out there who supported us from the beginning. 98 degrees sings "Because of you." I think this is the best song they sing live. They do a really good job with it. Everyone in the crowd knew the lyrics and was singing along with it. I like how they danced with the microphone stands too. So, then Justin introduces the last song of the night "The Hardest Thing." Nick sounded a little different then normal but it still sounded really great. The whole crowd was singing to it too. Let me just say, Jeff's voice can get really high. OK, the song was getting close to over but Drew hadn't done his "bye bye, baby bye bye" yet(which my sister and I absolutely LOVE). He did it and everyone cheered like crazy. The concert was over :( and we saw the guys RUNNING off the stage. I guess they had to go! So, overall the concert was GREAT. I loved almost everything about it. If I got to sit, it would have been better but I'm not complaining. 98 degrees is really talented and if you have a chance, I would recommend checking them out..they sound fantastic live and the put on a pretty good show. Going to their concert is a must-do for any 98 degrees fan!

the Howie Mandel Show (aired1/12/99)

a little review and personal experience by Nydia

I had soooooooooooooooo much fun yesterday. The guys were real sweet and and extremely sexy. Okay... I'm gonna start from the beginning: I was smart and had called a week in advance to get tix, so we were on the guest list and just had to get there early. It was me, and my best friends Irma and Valerie. The funny thing is Irma didn't even like them (AT FIRST TILL SHE SAW NICK LACHEY). I had no clue that the first guest was none other than Dawson's Creek's, James Van Der Beek!! He's much cuter in person and so's his brother Jared who was there too. We ended up being seated in the third row which was like three feet away the band and the stage. The guys came out and sang "Because of You", but most of us couldn't hear them that well from all the screaming (especially yours truly). I waited till it got quiet to scream "I love you Drew!". I was freaking out 'cause he saw me each time I would call (or in this case, scream till my throat strained) for him. Jeff would blow kisses at Valerie and Nick smiled at Irma. I brought their cd with me and a small poster of them. The funny thing about the poster was I folded it so that Drew was by himself and I had written on the bottom of it with a black Sharpie, "My love Drew". I'd kiss it and Jeff pointed out to Drew what I was doing. I know I sound like a total weirdo, but it was worth it. The best part was that I got on camera!!!! I couldn't say what I was taped doing because I did pretty much all I could to get their attention. It'll be aired Tuesday, Jan 12th (The Howie Mandel Show on CBS @ 4:00), watch for me!