Swooning teenage fans bask in glory of all-male pop band

By LOGAN NEILL

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 1, 2000

NEW PORT RICHEY -- For hours they waited, with their special greeting lovingly painted in fluorescent letters on three huge poster boards: "We Love Rich."

The message, intended for LFO singer Rich Cronin, was flashed intensely Saturday by teenage fans Erica Embry, Heather Bell and Megan Kinnison every time the pop star looked their way.

"Hopefully, he saw it," said 13-year-old Megan. "I don't know, a lot of people had signs."

Of course, whether Cronin or his cohorts, Devin Lima and Brad Fischetti, paid notice was of no consequence to the girls, who showed up at Sims Park to watch their favorite band. Just being there together seemed to be enough.

"We're all big fans. We were waiting all week to come," said Erica. In fact, she and her fellow classmates from Fellowship Baptist School spent the morning making posters and decorating her mom's van with slogans.

LFO, short for Lyte Funkie Ones, hit the stage at the afternoon concert dubbed Rally by the River with energy to spare. The trio from Orlando cranked out about 50 minutes of favorites for their fans.

"I've never been here before, but this seems like a cool town," said Lima as he surveyed the audience of mostly teenage girls that filled the riverfront park.

Jumping from song to song, the teen band paced its performance well, mixing uptempo radio favorites such as the R&B/hip-hop flavored I Will Show You Mine with heartfelt ballads such as Forever.

To their fans' delight, the band members strutted back and forth across the stage, all the while drinking in the immense adulation of their young fans. While not quite on the par of the current crop of super teen groups such as the Backstreet Boys, 'N Sync and 98 Degrees, LFO, which recently toured with pop singer Britney Spears, seemed happy to be making fans in a more intimate setting.

They occasionally paused for some light-hearted banter with the audience. At one point, the trio launched into a rather impromptu version of a new tune they titled The Twinkie Song. Stumbling a little through the unfamiliar lyrics, they seemed more thrilled at the prospect of heaving armfuls of packaged snack cakes to the throng before them.

While most fans got to hear what they wanted, including a spirited run-through of LFO's chart-topper, Summer Girls, the brevity of the concert was a disappointment to some.

"It kinda stunk they didn't play a little longer," said Kelli Dunnick, 14, who came from Citrus County with her mother. "A lot of people waited a long time to see them. They should have had some other songs."

Also appearing at the show was the Hillsborough County girl pop trio PYT, which regaled the crowd with versions of familiar tunes such as Down For Whatever and Somewhere More Beautiful.

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