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Music

Fun, free and so Fergalicious

A crowd of 300 fans braves the rain for a Fergie mini concert outside a strip mall.

By DEMORRIS A. LEE
Published June 2, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: Joseph Garnett, Jr.] Fergie performs Friday at the Verizon Wireless store on Gulf to Bay Boulevard in Clearwater.

CLEARWATER - At 3:10 p.m. Friday, the 300-strong crowd started its chant: "Fergie! Fergie! Fergie!"

Ten minutes later, the object of its affection emerged and walked to a small makeshift stage sandwiched between two oak trees outside a strip mall on Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard.

"Clearwater!" one of America's best known pop princesses said into a wireless microphone as she crowded on stage with two guitar players, a keyboard player, a drummer and two dancers, before launching into her hit "Glamorous."

Even Friday's rain couldn't dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd -- mostly diehard fans who had heard of the pop diva's free show via the radio, the Internet or a placard that Verizon Wireless employees waved for hours Friday outside the company's store on Gulf-to-Bay just east of the U.S, 19 overpass.

Wide-eyed little girls and their parents, who were just as wide-eyed, mixed with male fans such as Shane Foster, who said he was "eager to see if she was as fine in person as she was on those videos."

Apparently, the crowd thought she was.

Fergie, born Stacy Ann Ferguson, didn't disappoint. She sang three songs smoothly and effortlessly. The breakout artist from the band the Black Eyed Peas was dressed in a pair of pin-striped stretch pants accented by black patent leather ankle boots and a thin lavender scarf around her neck.

Fergie was scheduled to take a bigger stage later Friday at Ruth Eckerd Hall for a concert that, like the parking lot gig, was a product of her marketing contract with Verizon. Tickets to the evening concert were also free to fans who qualified because they had bought ring tones, phone wallpaper or any other "Fergalicious" gear.

"This is a way for us to partner with a popular artist and at the same time showcase our technology," said Chuck Hamby, Verizon Wireless spokesman for the Florida region. "You get the marriage of technology and artist."

Fergie didn't cause a traffic hazard along Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard, one of Clearwater's central east-west corridors, thanks to a small security force hired by Verizon to keep traffic flowing.

Foster and his girlfriend, Kylie Webster, both 18 and from Palm Harbor, were on their way to a late lunch when they saw the placard saying Fergie was coming to the Verizon store.

"We had to skip the food. I'd rather see Fergie than eat any day," Webster said.

After singing the popular Glamorous, Fergie, her long blond locks dangling below her shoulders, slowed it down with her newest release, Big Girls Don't Cry. With the base drum thumping so diligently that it made your head bob, she then launched into her final song, Fergalicious.

The rain-soaked crowd jumped to the beat, often singing the lyrics as loudly as Fergie's crisp voice.

After the three-song treat, the crowd, wet hair and clothes and all, stood in line for autographs.

Asked whether it was worth it, Elizabeth Lurie of Clearwater said, "Absolutely. I loved it," after getting an autograph. On her way to work, she had seen the placard saying Fergie was going to perform in the parking lot. She left work early, went home and got her 10-year-old daughter, Jessica.

What was the best part about Fergie's performance?

"That she was here," beamed Jessica, as she hung on to her autographed poster.

Demorris A. Lee can be reached at 445-4174 or dalee@sptimes.com.

[Last modified June 2, 2007, 07:49:30]