Fans adore boy band
Source: Topics.com
By BETSY REASON
Special sections editor [email protected]
NOBLESVILLE, June 21, 2001 — Standing in line Wednesday at the souvenir stand, Becky Lee Naylor debated what Backstreet Boys items to buy.
"Should I get a Backstreet Boys' bear or a tour book?" the 17-year-old asked her mom and 11-year-old cousins, Alesha Daniels and Brianna Holler.
The Fishers resident chose the tour book for $25, along with a T-shirt for $30 and a bandanna for $15. Her cousins selected tank tops at $32 each.
Becky Lee's mom, Becky Naylor, pulled out her credit card and charged nearly $140 for the five items. She said her daughter would partially pay her back when they got home.
A few steps away, Becky Lee found six 8-by-10 photos of the band members at another vendor. Her mom bought her one each, at $5 a piece.
In the past three years her daughter has been a Backstreet Boys fan, the 42-year-old single mom has grown accustomed to spending big bucks on merchandise and tickets. Becky Lee has accumulated more than 200 Backstreet Boys items, for which she and her mom have spent between $5,000 and $7,000. The teen has 52 compact discs, including every single, many of which are imported. She has photos, books, posters, patches, calendars, folders, place mats, magazines, hats, jackets, T-shirts, a blanket and other items.
She's spent more than $1,000 on concert tickets, the most expensive of which was Wednesday's show at Verizon Wireless Music Center. It was the band's eighth stop on the summer leg of its Black & Blue World Tour, which wraps up in August after more than 100 shows.
Becky Lee was among 16,500 people in attendance at the show.
The Hamilton Southeastern High School junior tightly held onto her lower pavilion ticket she bought for $124.50 through the band's fan club.
Her mom said she would've paid up to $200 for her daughter to see the show. But she wouldn't have paid broker prices.
Mike Peduto, owner of Courtside Tickets, a ticket brokerage in Indianapolis, sold tickets in the first five rows of the center section for $500 each. He said other good seats in the lower pavilion started at $200 each.
Becky Lee's five family members, including Becky's aunts, Robin Holler, 36, and Kelly Daniels, 40, had $38.50 lawn seats. With a special deal at the show, they each spent $20 to upgrade to reserved upper pavilion.
They also spent $6 on two bags of cotton candy and $9 for popcorn and drinks. Becky Lee snagged another $8 from her mom for two red roses.
By the end of the night, the family shelled out $612.50, including their tickets, seat upgrades, merchandise and concession items.
"The more popular the group has gotten, the more expensive the items," Becky Lee's mom said. But she said it was worth it.
For Becky Lee, the entertainers are the be-all and end-all.
With her face painted in blue BSB letters, Becky Lee sported a Backstreet Boys T-shirt and painted her fingernails black and blue.
"Her whole world is The Backstreet Boys," said Robin Holler of Fishers.
Before the show, tears flowed down Becky Lee's cheeks as she watched the lights go down in anticipation of The Backstreet Boys' arrival on stage. She kept her eyes on the five-minute introduction of fireworks, explosions, smoke and fire.
"It was awesome. They were great," she said on her way home after the two-hour, nonstop show, which opened with "Everyone" and closed with an encore of "Shape of My Heart."
"We snuck up close to the front, five rows from the stage," she said with a giggle. "I'd do it again in a heartbeat."
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