As soon as The X Factor was over and the band had finished in third place, they were whisked off to LA by their record label. This was a huge deal because they were going to be recording with some of the best people in the record business. The boys had never expected things to go so fast – it’s a good job they all had passports, so could jump on a plane!
Sonny Takhar, the chief executive officer of Syco Records, explained to Music Week, ‘We started working with the band immediately after the show had finished – they went to LA and recorded with RedOne. Then, while the boys were out on The X Factor tour between February and April, we started finding and sourcing songs and creating situations where songs were written for the boys in preparation for them to record once they had finished.’
The boys love America. When Marie Morreale interviewed them for the Scholastic blog, she asked them what their first impressions of America were.
‘I really like it because it’s really hot over there and the people are actually really nice,’ Liam replied. ‘So when you go to a restaurant and stuff and you…’
‘Even people in the street,’ Harry interrupted.
‘Yeah, people in the street as well,’ Liam continued, ‘but in the restaurants, they’re always asking like…’
‘Hey, how you doing?’ Harry finished his sentence.
‘The common line in Florida after you finish your meal is, “Have a good day,” which is amazing, I think,’ said Liam. ‘You don’t really hear that in the UK.’
The boys never thought that they would break America; they just thought they would be big in the UK and Ireland, so when they found out that their record company wanted to take them to the States, they were blown away. Even established UK artists with lots of number-one singles under their belts have flopped in America, but this wasn’t going to happen to our favourite five lads. ‘We’re just five normal boys from the UK who’ve been given this opportunity,’ Harry confessed to The AP, ‘so we’re having a great time working very hard.’
Before the boys went over to America, their record company used social media to build a fan base and to get people talking about them. ‘Twitter, Facebook and YouTube have been a large percentage of the reason we’ve been known outside of the UK. We owe a massive thank you to the fans,’ Harry explained.
A website was set up called (www.bring1dtous.com) and fans had to compete to win a visit by One Direction to their city. The website stated, ‘Are you ready to bring 1D to your city? Visit www.Bring1DtoUS.com now to get started on the first challenge. Click on your city for directions about how you can earn points for your city. Each challenge will bring you one step closer to a special 1D event in your city!’
The winning city was Dallas in Texas and the boys arrived on 24 March 2012. Demand for wristbands for the event was so high that the venue had to change from Stonebriar Centre Mall to the much bigger Dr Pepper Ballpark, home of the Frisco RoughRiders baseball team. Fans could get a signed copy of Up All Night and watch One Direction perform.
On 21 March 2012, American Directioners found out the Up All Night Tour was going to be expanded to include 26 North American dates in May and June. The fans were thrilled and rushed out to get tickets as soon as they could. The band’s friend Olly Murs, who had been runner-up in the 2009 series of The X Factor, and Filipino-American singer Manika supported the boys.
While she was on tour with them, Manika admitted in an interview that the boys had taught her some British slang words and that Zayn liked to drive a mini-scooter from the boys’ dressing room to the canteen and back.
When the boys were embarking on their first tour of America, they invited Radio 1 to go with them. Harry, Niall, Louis, Liam and Zayn were supporting American band Big Time Rush at ten gigs in February 2012 before going on their own tour. Before their Nashville gig, the boys were staying at the Sheraton Hotel, Tennessee. ‘I’m sat in a hotel room at the moment, having my hair done because I have a lot of hair,’ Harry told the Radio 1 crew. ‘We’re doing today a Nickelodeon bit of promo, so a little bit of makeup never hurt anyone. Tonight we’re playing in Nashville. I think we’re meeting some country singers. We’re meeting Martina McBride and Faith Hill, who are coming to the show. They’re gonna bring their kids to a, like, meet and greet, so that should be fun.’
On a typical day on tour, the boys wake up somewhere new, catch up on a couple of hours’ sleep in a hotel room, have a shower, grab some breakfast and then jump on the tour bus. Then they get their hair/makeup done and head to a radio or television station for some interviews before going to the arena in which they will be performing that night. They might have a sound check, meet some fans, then have something to eat before heading on stage. After their performance, it is usually late and they have to jump back on the tour bus and be driven to a new city and a new hotel. They are literally on the go from the minute they get up in the morning until very late at night. They don’t usually arrive at their new hotel until the early hours of the morning, but they still take time out to chat to any fans that are waiting there to see them. Some days they work for 20 or more hours!
If Niall had to choose between sleeping in a posh hotel room or sleeping on the 1D tour bus, he would pick the tour bus every time. He doesn’t mind sleeping in his bus bunk and he can play computer games or Skype his brother Greg or friends at home in Ireland. When the boys stay in a hotel, they are only there for a couple of nights max because so many fans turn up to try and catch a glimpse of them. Sometimes when they arrive, their security team have to call the police to control the crowds and allow One Direction to get inside.
The tour bus the boys had for the Big Time Rush tour was really big but the boys didn’t keep it very clean. Many times the driver would have to pull over at fast-food restaurants because they were feeling peckish. They would order something and then take it back on the bus to eat. Sometimes they ended up having wrestling matches halfway through eating, so fries would end up everywhere. Niall thinks Louis is the messiest and is usually to blame for starting the wrestling matches.
For the boys it was really special when they performed some of their first gigs in the States and heard the girls in the audience singing their words back to them. They didn’t expect it at all, and they loved seeing banners that fans had made. It was clear that some of the banners had taken hours to make as they were very detailed and included sketches of each boy’s face, as well as the twitter names of the fans who had made them.
When the boys are touring they have to eat a lot more than they usually would because their shows are physically demanding (even though they don’t do big dance routines like some bands). They need to make sure they have loads of energy.
After the boys performed in Nashville, they had to tidy their tour bus and then catch a flight to New York at 5 a.m. They went to the Big Time Movie premiere and then the next day to Z100, the biggest radio station in New York, for an interview, to perform and to meet some fans. When they performed on The Today Show a few days later, they had to be up at 5 a.m. again. It was their first interview on USA TV. The boys arrived on a big red bus and so many fans turned up to see them. During their interview they said the thing they liked most about American girls is that they are loud.
Harry, Niall, Liam, Louis and Zayn performed on The Today Show again, in November 2012, and even more fans turned up. In fact, the presenter Matt Lauer said, ‘We have never, ever had a crowd this big. This one breaks all the records.’ More than 15,000 saw them perform their new single ‘Little Things’, as well as ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ and ‘Live While We’re Young’. Niall told them, ‘We are going to do our first ever movie and it’s going to be in 3D and it’s coming to cinemas near you on 30 August 2013.’ This made the fans scream even louder!
1D superfan Nikki was at the boys’ Today Show appearance and managed to meet Niall’s family. ‘We ended up very close to the stage and right next to the barrier across from where the boys exited and entered,’ she said. ‘After the sound check, we were all talking and a man in VIP asked my friend Erin who her favourite was. She showed him her sign: NIALL, I’M 100 PER CENT IRISH, and said, “Niall, of course!” He laughed and replied, “Oh, my nephew.” Then he pointed to the women beside him and said, “This is his mum.”
‘We were all a little shocked with everything, you could say. I looked at the woman and realised she’d taken a picture of my sign earlier. She took a few more pictures of our friends and our signs and then we talked to them. My friend Erin began talking to them about Ireland. I made a complete fool out of myself, dropping my sign a few times and asking Maura – Niall’s mom – if she knew Zayn’s mom. Out of all the questions I could have asked her, I asked if she knew Zayn’s mom. I guess it was because I wasn’t thinking clearly. But the whole time Niall’s family were very nice. You could tell they were very proud of Niall. Then the boys came out and performed and after that we said our goodbyes and left.’
Niall had a bad experience with a pigeon when he was younger: it flew through a window when he was on the toilet and he has been scared of them ever since. The Sun newspaper reported that the boys had extra security while they were touring the US to stop any pigeons from getting close to Niall.
Whenever the boys are in New York, Niall tries to catch up with his cousins who live there. One of his cousins is called Annie and he has two more, each called Katie. His cousins went to the boys’ first signing in the city, along with more than 1,000 fans. Their first album, Up All Night, was actually released in America while the boys were in New York. The album came out a week earlier than had been planned because they were so popular, with fans rushing out to buy it on 13 March 2012. Some fans at the signing bought multiple copies. On the day of its release, the deluxe version was number one and the standard version reached number two. The night before it came out, Niall received a well-done tweet from Katy Perry. He explained to Radio 1, ‘When I auditioned for The X Factor, Katy Perry was the guest judge and she was the last judge to put me through, and when she put me through, she said, “OK, don’t let me down,” and I said, “I won’t,” and then she tweeted me last night: “Congratulations you didn’t let me down.” I went crazy… not very often do you get a tweet from Katy Perry, so I was a bit excited.’
The album did even better in America than it did in the UK, taking the number-one spot on the Billboard 200 chart. The boys sold an incredible 176,000 copies in the first week alone, making them the first UK/Ireland group to achieve this with their debut album.
During the boys’ tour of America with Big Time Rush, they had B12 vitamin injections in their bottoms to help their immune systems and to give them energy. They were so in demand that they couldn’t afford to be ill and take days off. Harry told BBC Radio 1, ‘In the UK your biggest travel [between gigs] is 4 hours and here it’s 14 hours. It’s a bit strange, struggling to adapt but you know we’ll be all good.’
Niall found out that the album was number one in America when he was travelling in a cab. He admitted to CKO196.9 Radio, ‘I was in the back of a cab and I was going to Sony music to collect my tickets. I was going to a basketball game and I was with my friend, and my manager called me up and told me we were number one. And I went crazy, I screamed my head off and the taxi driver nearly kicked me out of the car. He was freaked out.’
Harry told MTV, ‘We simply cannot believe that we are number one in America! It’s beyond a dream come true for us. We want to thank each and every one of our fans in the US who bought our album and we would also like to thank the American public for being so supportive of us.’
Niall added, ‘We just found out that we are number one in America and as you can imagine, we are over the moon!’
The boys’ first single release from Up All Night was ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ and it was released in America on Valentine’s Day 2012. It was number four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It had been released in the UK and in Europe months earlier, on 11 September 2011. The video for ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ was the boys’ first proper music video as a band. It was filmed on a beach in Malibu, California. Liam’s dad Geoff told the Express & Star, ‘The lads went over to California in July. They were over there for two weeks while they shot the video. They spent three days on the beach shooting the scenes. It was tough work.
‘The days were 18 hours long. The first three days over there, they spent getting to know the girls in their video. They went to a funfair so that when they came to shoot, they would feel comfortable with each other.’
In the ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ video, the boys ride around in an orange camper van driven by Louis. The story of the video is that the boys are meeting up with three girls. They go to the beach and it is revealed that Harry has fallen for one of the girls, who doesn’t know she is beautiful. They have lots of fun on the beach and then when it gets dark, sit around a campfire. The actress chosen to play Harry’s love interest was called Madison and Louis teased Harry by saying that Harry had fallen for her.
The director of the video, John Urbano, loved working with Harry, Niall, Liam, Louis and Zayn and told the backstage cameras during filming, ‘The video’s been going great, it’s been a ton of fun. Working with the guys … they’re amazing. They work so well with each other, you know, it’s like they’ve been best friends for ever and that’s exactly what we’re looking for.’
Louis ended up being pulled over by cops twice because he was driving the camper van too slowly.
Wherever the boys are in the world, they get at least one day off a week so they don’t burn out. Some of their craziest days off have happened while they were in America. When they had a day off in New York Liam ended up being hit in the face and his shirt was ripped. ‘They couldn’t see where they were going and it was really, really dangerous,’ a source told the Mirror. ‘Nearby police had to calm the girls down. They are going to have to be more careful in the future and have at least a security guard each with them. It’s a shame for the boys because they appreciate their freedom.’
Liam and Niall were shaken by what happened and tweeted about being mobbed. Niall tweeted, ‘This is a complete joke … ridic … Day off, wana chill’. And Liam tweeted, ‘That wasn’t even funny.’
But Niall knew that only a few fans had ruined their day off. Back in the safety of their hotel, he tweeted to let the fans outside know that he could hear them singing.
On their days off the boys like to go the cinema if they can, or to local attractions like theme parks. When they were in California, they went fishing together and Liam managed to catch a baby tiger shark. Once everyone had seen it, and those who wanted to had given it a stroke, he released it back into the ocean.
Niall nearly missed a flight to America once because he was too busy eating Japanese food in an airport’s Wagamama restaurant with Liam. He is a huge fan and gets excited when 1D visit a city and he finds out they have a Wagamama.
The boys’ filmed their second music video in New York at the Plattsburgh campus of the State University of New York and at Lake Placid. ‘Gotta Be You’ was released in November 2011 in the UK, Ireland and Australia only. The video was filmed just a month before its release and shows the boys as students, leaving school and travelling to a lake to have a bonfire with some girls. Louis drives a Mini Cooper, Zayn goes by train, Liam drives a Beetle car and Harry travels there on a red scooter. Niall loved being able to play the guitar in this video. It finishes with a big fireworks display and a silhouette of Zayn walking towards his love interest and going to kiss her. To see a behind-the-scenes video, go to YouTube and type in ‘Gotta Be You Video Out Takes’. You’ll see the boys singing a funny song and Zayn serenading a big teddy bear.
The boys spent a lot of 2012 in America and Harry was even there for his 18th birthday on 1 February. His mum was gutted that she couldn’t be there with him and tweeted, ‘Happy Birthday darling! @Harry_Styles have a great day. you’re very loved!!’
She also tweeted a photo, which showed some of the presents she had received from fans to pass on to Harry when he was next home. The birthday gifts included Haribo sweets, Maltesers, a canvas, a mug with ‘I Love Girls’ written on it, a woolly hat, T-shirts, a teddy bear and loads of cards.
Harry told his followers, ‘I feel like I’ve woken up with suddenly more facial hair and a deeper voice … Thank you for all your lovely Birthday messages :D .xx’
Harry was pranked on his birthday. The other boys booked him a massage at the W Hotel in Los Angeles but halfway through they ran in with four buckets of cold water and threw the water all over him.
One Direction have had many highlights during their time in America. Here are some of their favourites:
Acting in iCarly. The boys loved having the opportunity to act in the hit Nickelodeon show iCarly alongside Miranda Cosgrove. When they arrived at the studio to film their episode, they were greeted by more than 500 fans. When it was shown on TV on 7 April, ‘iGo One Direction’ was watched by 3.9 million people.
Afterwards a rumour started circulating that the boys were going to be given their own series but Niall soon put the record straight, telling CKO196.9 Radio, ‘Since we said we were coming to America, Nickelodeon have been right with us from the start, y’know. They helped us out, y’know – we hosted their Saturday night TV shows for the whole month of March, we did an episode of iCarly, they’re giving us the biggest performance, the Kids Choice Awards, next week and us and Katy Perry are the only people performing, so it’s very much a big deal. Nickelodeon has been really good to us but there’s no TV show.’
The Baby Prank. When the boys were being interviewed by Nickelodeon, Louis and Zayn joined in a prank to make Harry, Liam and Niall think that the woman interviewing them was about to give birth. Harry completely fell for it and Louis even tried to ring his mum, who is a nurse. Harry admitted to the cameras, ‘I was thinking, this is going to be a great press story – “One Direction delivers child!”’
To see the video, search on YouTube for ‘One Direction Prank on Nickelodeon’.
The Up All Night Tour. It is impossible for the boys to agree on one favourite performance from the Up All Night Tour, but the last one at Fort Lauderdale, Florida was pretty special. Harry tweeted, ‘Last show of the tour tonight. Thanks to an amazing crew, and everyone involved for making it what it was. Tonight will be fun.’ It was the end of an era as they had finished a run of over 60 shows worldwide.
Niall tweeted after the concert, ‘Wow ft, lauderdale! Great way to finish our 1st headline US tour! #upallnight tour is done! Long six months but amazing! Thank you all so much.’
MTV Video Music Awards. The boys picked up three awards at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles and Niall even got a kiss from Katy Perry. Niall and Zayn were so thrilled to win that they stayed in America for a few more days rather than fly back home with the others.
Niall told Australian radio hosts Kyle and Jackie O, ‘Katy Perry had lovely purple lipstick on and I still haven’t washed it off, to be fair!’
He also sent a tweet to Katy with a picture of their kiss and the message, ‘@katyperry looks like its official … me and you pic.twitter.com/iYvge5Sb.’ Fans of both stars loved it and it was tweeted over 77,000 times. Katy replied, ‘I’ll be your Mrs Robinson.’ (Mrs Robinson is a character from the 1967 movie The Graduate, which saw a young graduate being seduced by an older woman.)
Saturday Night Live. Harry, Niall, Liam, Louis and Zayn were musical guests on the American hit comedy sketch show Saturday Night Live in April 2012, alongside Modern Family star Sofia Vergara, who was hosting the episode. More than 37 million people watch the show every week – so it was a lot bigger than the iCarly show.
The boys performed ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ and ‘One Thing’. They had to wear moustaches and wigs for The Manuel Ortiz Show sketch, which they found really fun to do. After the show Niall tweeted, ‘SNL tonight was amazing. Thanks to @nbcsnl for having us. Much appreciated!’
Harry also tweeted, saying, ‘Thank you so much to @nbcsnl for having us. That was a lot of fun and we’ll never forget it.’
Radio City Hall performance in New York. On 3 September 2012, the boys performed at New York’s prestigious Radio City Hall. Louis told MTV, ‘It was absolutely incredible to play Radio City Hall. That place has got a lot of history and it was just such an honour to play in front of that crowd.’
At the time, the Radio City Hall performance was the loudest show they had ever done. When they went to leave after the performance, fans surrounded their van, banging on the windows and jumping on the van’s back bumper. It was so crazy that their security team had to force the fans back so the boys could leave without anyone getting hurt. Afterwards the boys went to a bowling alley, but they managed to break the lane machinery when they threw three bowling balls down a single lane.
Madison Square Garden. Three months later Harry, Niall, Liam, Louis and Zayn performed a headline gig at Madison Square Garden in New York. Before the night itself, Niall told the media, ‘We are so happy to be playing Madison Square Garden. To be headlining our OWN show in a venue that has played host to countless legendary acts that we have grown up listening to and adore is obviously a dream come true for us all. We can’t wait to play for our fans on 3 December.’
One of the downsides to One Direction being a worldwide success is the awful jetlag they get when they travel from continent to continent. Niall really hates being jetlagged and tweeted on 2 September 2012, ‘I dont like jet lag! He’s evil! He just threw a bucket of water over me to wake me up at 6 am!oh no that was a glass of water I spilt #wee’.
In many interviews, the boys are asked what makes American girls different from British girls. Liam thinks that American girls are very confident and Harry likes to say that British girls wear more coats. They are also often asked about their individual style. In an interview the boys did with Teen Vogue, Zayn described Liam’s style as ‘American Casual’. He described his own style as ‘more urban, more street. Nike trainers, varsity jacket. Louis is a bit more “fashion”. More staples: stripes, braces, really tight trousers. Harry is quite preppy.’ Louis added, ‘Niall is quite casual, do you think?’
When the boys were ready to start working on their second album, Take Me Home, they went to Los Angeles to work with record producers there. Rather than be chauffeured around every day, Harry decided to rent a luxury car – a black Ferrari California convertible. He had only passed his driving test six months earlier. To hire the car for a single day is roughly £1,400, so Harry spent quite a lot of money on renting the car during his stay.
Harry loves luxury cars and owns a Range Rover Sport and an Audi R8 Coupe. His car insurance is really high because of his age; when he bought his Range Rover Sport, it was reported that his insurance alone was £15,000. In the week leading up to his 19th birthday, he was spotted with a classic white Ford Capri.
Jennifer is 18 and from New York. She has met One Direction lots of times, along with her best friend Gemma. The first time they met the band was Friday, 9 March 2012. They queued for hours outside the radio station Z100 and were photographed by the paparazzi carrying a yellow homemade poster bearing the words ONE THING, ONE DREAM, 100 PER CENT DIRECTIONER. (A photo of them by One Direction’s van actually appeared in the Mirror newspaper in the UK.) It was really cold but they wrapped up warm.
The girls missed seeing the boys go into the radio station because there were so many fans there but they did see them when they were leaving. ‘Although we just saw them through a car window, it was totally worth it,’ Jennifer says. ‘I saw One Direction. Finally, after all this time, after supporting them for a year and a half. Harry was the one I saw the most and I was against Zayn’s window while he was making funny faces at me. Niall even pointed at our poster and laughed. He gave it the thumbs up.
‘I’m not going to lie, I did chase down the car for a little while, but eventually we stopped because we had a concert to attend. That day One Direction was opening up for Big Time Rush at Radio City Music Hall. I’d never seen them perform live before, so I basically cried for the whole time they sang. After the concert, we went straight to where they were coming out. Being as short as I am, I couldn’t see anything, but I chased the car again. I had to at least see them one more time because I didn’t know the next time I’d see them again.’
It turned out that Jennifer and Gemma wouldn’t have long to wait at all: the boys were doing a CD signing three days later. The first 1,000 people to line up would get to meet them, so the girls camped out from 6pm the night before. They were first in line so they were really excited, waiting with the friends they had made outside Z100. They stayed up all night writing letters to Harry, Louis, Zayn, Liam and Niall.
‘It’s not like I would have slept anyway,’ Jennifer says. ‘I was too excited and the cold was unbearable. We got up at seven to walk in and get our wristbands. The anticipation was killer. When I finally bought my CD and got my wristband, I said, “I think I’m going to cry.” It wasn’t real. This couldn’t be happening. They finally came around 2pm; we all screamed and cried. We were close to the beginning of the line, so Niall was the first one we met. We weren’t allowed to bring in cameras or anything, but it was still amazing.
‘No one understands how much these boys have affected my life, and meeting them, even if it was for a second, was incredible. I promised myself I wouldn’t cry in front of them, but considering that Niall was first (since he is my favourite), I thought I was going to lose it. I just stood there star struck in front of Niall not knowing what to say. No matter how many things I had planned in my head, nothing would come out of my mouth. Security had to ask me if my card was for him. I finally said that it was and said hi to him and asked how he was. He said, “Hi” back, and that he was good. Then he looked me in the eyes and he smiled. And then I died and told him I loved him about a million times. Then I asked for a high-five (because, unfortunately, hugs weren’t allowed) and he gave me one. Security kept pushing us along.
‘Next up was Zayn, then Liam. I said hello to both, they said it back, and then I got high-fives. Then I got to Louis. He said hello, but the conversation ended there because he turned to Harry and said, “Well, I guess we made it big in America.” Harry smiled at him. Although I wish I got to say more to Louis, I was glad that I was the only one who witnessed that moment. They seemed really happy and proud of how far they had come. Next up was Harry. I must have said hi about 20 times, and he gave me a high-five and smiled. His eyes were so much prettier than I could have even imagined and his hands were huge. I just told him how proud I was of them and that I would always support them. He was so appreciative.’
Jennifer and Gemma also met the boys on 25 May before the performance at the Izod Center in New Jersey and the next day they saw Louis and his girlfriend Eleanor as well as the other boys. They were in the front row at their 3 December show at Madison Square Garden. All in all, they met the boys five times in 2012 – quite an achievement!
Tiffani is a One Direction fan from Boston. Tiffani and her friends Lexi, Jaki and Jordan were the first East Coast USA fans the boys ever met, and they have met ten times so far!
The first time they met, the boys had been filming their ‘Gotta Be You’ video on 27 September 2011. The band hadn’t launched themselves in America yet but Tiffani had seen their X Factor performances on the Internet thanks to her friend Jaki and had been following them on Twitter. The boys had posted a picture on Facebook of them eating at a restaurant and Jaki recognised it as a place they had been to before in upstate New York. She checked and it was, so together they decided to go to New York. Tiffani drove for six hours to get them to Lake Placid, a village in Essex County, New York, but on the way to a petrol station ended up crashing the car into a ditch. Thankfully, after a half-hour wait they were back on the road again. Tiffani takes up the story…
‘We were just pulling into the hotel when a van pulled in and one of my friends in the car was like, “Uhmm. I think that’s them,” so I made Jaki, Jordan and Lexi jump out while I parked. Turns out it was them just getting back from the video shoot. We were able to catch Harry and Liam and took a group photo. We chatted for a bit before Harry said, “Well, it was lovely to meet you but we’re knackered and want to go to bed.” So we said goodnight. Paul [their tour manager] came over to talk to us and told us to come back in the morning and he’d make sure we got proper time with the boys and to please not say anything about their whereabouts. So we went back the next morning.’
The boys had to leave the hotel really early the next day, so Tiffani and her friends had to be back for 5.45 a.m. – ouch. The boys were supposed to be leaving at 6.15 a.m. but they were running late. Harry and Liam were the first to come outside, followed by Niall and Zayn. Niall and Zayn were really tired; they’re not morning people, as Tiffani can confirm.
‘My friends called Niall over and he came over rubbing his eyes,’ she recalls. ‘Zayn kept walking, my friends had to call him three times before he realised he was being called. We took photos with the two of them. I asked Niall if he was tired and he said yes. The two of them are really not morning people and barely talked. So now we were just waiting to see Louis. Well, we overheard Paul talking about how late Louis was and that they’d just have to come back for him since he wasn’t in the first few shots. As the van with the other four boys left, Louis finally strolled out and we called out to him and asked for a photo. He said, “Yeah, sure!” but Paul made him get into the other car that was waiting because he was that late. So we were disappointed we didn’t get to speak to Louis.
‘As the car was driving away, Louis rolled down the window and yelled, “I’m really sorry, girls! I’m really late! I’m really sorry!” So we couldn’t be upset for that. We went to get breakfast and in the parking lot – my car had completely died! We were supposed to be heading home. I had to call for help, wait for my car to be fixed, so we booked another night at our hotel. We went back to the hotel, started talking about our experiences online. Somehow, our car accident when we crashed into the ditch got misconstrued and the story became that they were in a car accident and Harry died! So yes, my friends and I accidently started the rumour that the boys died on their way to the second video shoot!’
That night the girls went back to the hotel because they really wanted to see Louis properly. The boys arrived back at 8.30pm; they’d had such a long day’s filming. They still had time to speak to Tiffani and her friends, and the girls could take lots of photos. Zayn liked Lexi’s tattoos and he talked to her about his tattoos, and then Liam started talking but he was talking in the third person. The girls asked him why and he replied, ‘When Liam’s tired, Liam starts talking about himself in the third person.’
The next time Tiffani and her friends met the boys, it was totally unexpected. It was Tuesday, 28 February 2012: the boys were on the Big Time Rush tour. Tiffani and her friends had tickets to three of the shows and the first one was in Albany, New York. The girls had booked into the Hilton, not knowing that the boys would be there. ‘We didn’t know until the next morning,’ Tiffani reveals. ‘Apparently, they showed up in the middle of the night. So when we got up and headed to the lobby, they were just checking in. We said hi to Harry as he walked in – poor thing was so tired he almost got in the “down” elevator instead of the “up” one. We also said a quick hello to Liam and Louis before they went to their rooms. Since breakfast wasn’t for a while, my friends and I decided to go relax in the hot tub. While we were there, Liam had gone to the gym and some girls were creepily watching him work out so he left. Later, Paul came down and Jaki and Jordan went over to say hi while Lexi and I stayed in the hot tub. He said hello and told them, “I know you! How do I know you?” And they responded that we had met them in Lake Placid and he said, “Right! And I said I wouldn’t forget you, and I didn’t!”
‘Later, when Lexi and I were leaving the hot tub area, we couldn’t find Jaki and Jordan so we went upstairs (dripping wet, wrapped in towels) but still couldn’t find them. So we had to go back to our room. Lexi literally almost head-butted Liam as he was coming off the elevator and we were getting on. Throughout the morning, we kept seeing Liam on the elevator. He kept saying that’d he’d see us again later. Meanwhile, the group of girls forming in the lobby, having figured out One Direction were there, thought we were actually with the boys due to Liam having told my friends he’d see them later!
‘When we came down for breakfast, Liam and Niall were seated right across from us. We decided to just leave them alone and let them eat and not say anything to them. We know they were eavesdropping in on our conversation because every time we would joke with each other or playfully make fun of one another, we heard laughter coming from their table. They’d also say something to each other, then stare over at our table, but we made as if we didn’t see. Finally, at the end, all of my friends were like, “Urgh, I’m so full,” and I replied, “I’m hungry, I’m eating,” and Niall, from his table, joined in and said, “I’m STILL hungry!” At this point we figured it was OK to talk to him since he talked to us first. So I replied, “Well, there are free pancakes at IHOP today!” and he responded, “I know! I just saw that on Twitter!” I also said, “By the way, when you guys are in Boston, there’s Wagamama [Niall’s favourite restaurant chain] there.” His head snapped back towards us, and he said in shock, “There’s not?” and Jaki responded that yes, there was, and he looked at Liam and said, “We know where we’re eating!” and then high-fived. He thanked us for letting him know, and Liam yet again said he’d see us later.
‘Well, we left the hotel to meet up with our friend Marissa. While we were out, Niall tweeted about us, saying, “Someone told me today there’s Wagamama in Boston, Can’t wait!” so that was pretty awesome. When we got back, Liam came down to the lobby and took pictures with people, so we got pictures as well. We had missed Harry doing the same thing when we went outside for a bit. My friends and I saw all of the boys when they left the hotel to go do press. The ending to a great day was seeing them perform live for the first time as the openers at the Big Time Rush show.’
Tiffani and her friends next met the boys on 1 March; they had gone to Connecticut for the band’s tour date and had won a meet and greet. The girls were feeling sad because an announcement had just been made that there had been a death in Zayn’s family and he had rushed back to England. They felt so sorry for him. While they were waiting outside a room to meet Harry, Liam, Louis and Niall, the friends heard the boys recording their acoustic set and were interviewed for the boys’ tour documentary. When they actually spoke to the boys, Niall remembered that Tiffani had been the one to tell him about Wagamama and he hugged her.
A couple of days later the girls went to the Kiss108 studio in Boston as the boys were doing an interview there, but they only managed to chat to Paul. ‘The boys waved at us but it was really rushed there,’ Tiffani explains. ‘We checked into our hotel and went out for the day. We saw the show and when we got back to our hotel, there was a tour bus parked outside. My friends and I looked at each other like, “Seriously?” Our luck was amazing during this tour. We were at the hotel for two days and saw Liam, Harry and Louis during those two days.
‘We were up late one of the nights and spoke to Liam for ages at 2 a.m. We asked about stopping for fans. “We want to!” he explained. “Just sometimes it’s not up to us, whether we want to or not. It’s all up to, like, local police and stuff if we’re allowed to stop or not. If they say we can’t stop, we just can’t and it’s upsetting for us too.”
‘He went on to say how he never thought they’d be where they are and he couldn’t believe the kind of reception they were getting. We told him about seeing him in Lake Placid and Albany and how we’d never get that time with him again, and he joked around, saying, “And yet here we are.” We explained it was just dumb luck. He responded that he was sure we’d get lucky and see him again. After about 15 minutes of just chatting, he said goodnight and went to bed. We asked if before they left in the morning he would stop so we could get one last photo with him and he agreed.’
Tiffani and her friends have met the boys so many times that we couldn’t include all their meetings in this book. They met Liam in New York on 11 March and, the next day when the boys were performing on The Today Show, they were right at the front and Louis held Tiffani’s hand as they performed ‘More Than This’. When the girls were driving to Fort Lauderdale in June 2012, they pulled over at a service station and found out the boys were at the same one!
‘We got out of the car and went to wait in line,’ Tiffani says. ‘We heard some squealing coming from the convenience store that was attached to the McDonald’s, so we got out of line and went to see what the screaming was. We didn’t see anything so we went to get back in line. When we got back in line, Josh [their drummer] was in front of us ordering food for the whole bus. A few minutes later, Liam walked in wearing only socks and no shoes. He kept glancing at us a bit as if he was trying to remember where he knew us from. A few seconds later, Louis came running out of nowhere dressed in his pyjamas and jumped on Liam. Poor Liam shouted, “Louis! Dangerous! Dangerous!” as he started to topple over. I chuckled a bit at that. Louis asked, “’Scuse me, do you happen to serve McFlurries at this time of night?” When the woman replied no, he said, “Oh, well, that’s unfortunate.” He joked with Liam, telling him to order a Whopper as well. My friends and I finally ordered, so we asked our friend Marissa to wait for the food while Jaki and I got us bottled drinks from the convenient store. When we were going up to pay, Liam and Louis were paying as well so we stood back. Liam did a double take at Jaki and me and said, “Hi, girls! How come you haven’t come over to say hi yet?” So we looked at each other and said, “Well, you’re paying, we didn’t want to be rude.” The security guard they were with put his hand out as if to block us but then Liam called us over, saying, “No, that’s alright! Come chat!” So Jaki and I went over to him. Louis poked his head round Liam and said, “Hi, loves!” Liam asked if we’d been to any shows yet. We told him we were at the show that night, we were going to Fort Lauderdale, and that we had been front row in North Carolina. And this is how the conversation went:
‘Liam: “You were front row? I didn’t see you.”
‘Jaki: “Really? ’Cause you were looking right at my camera in a picture I have of you.”
‘Jaki: “Did you really? Or are you just saying that?”
‘Louis: “No, I really saw you!”
‘Me: “Really? Then what was she wearing?”
‘Louis: “Erm, I dunno, something with white in it?”
‘Jaki: “Uh, yeah, actually, I was wearing blue and white.”
‘Louis: “See, I know!”
‘Liam: “See, he got this! He got this!”
‘Then the security guard said they had to go. Liam gave us each a hug and said it was great to see us again. As Louis was walking out the door, he said, “Bye, loves!” Unfortunately, we didn’t get any photos with the two of them this time around. It just wasn’t an appropriate time to even ask for a photo, with Liam not wearing shoes and Louis being in his pyjamas.’
If you would like to follow Tiffani on Twitter, her account is @tiffani_paige.
Kristen is 14 and from Long Island, New York. She met Harry, Zayn, Niall, Louis and Liam at a mall signing on 11 March 2012.
‘I waited five hours in the cold to get the album and wristband to meet them,’ she explains. ‘I got there early but way more people turned up than the organisers had expected. The first 1,000 people were supposed to get a wristband but in the end they extended it to 2,000. My advice for fans hoping to go to a signing is get there really early so you don’t miss out. If they hadn’t added those extra 1,000 wristbands that day, a lot of fans would have been disappointed.’
Kayla is 14 and from Blackstone, Massachusetts. She met the boys on 4 March 2012. Her advice for fans who are trying to get wristbands for an event is to stay in line, even if they say all the wristbands have gone, because you might still get in. When she went to the Natick Mall in Boston, she queued up from 5.30 a.m. and then when she was just five feet away from the front of the queue, she was told there were no wristbands left. ‘Nobody moved,’ she says. ‘Not a single person budged. We waited 20 more minutes until a 1Derful woman came out and announced they were giving out 100 more wristbands. I was number 99. It was so overwhelming. My now BDFFs (Best Directioner Friends Forever) and I stood there and cried tears of joy.’
After meeting the boys and getting their autographs in her yearbook, Kayla was overcome with emotion. ‘Once they gave me my yearbook, I ran,’ she confesses. ‘I have no clue why. I just flat-out sprinted. Most girls cried but I was so hyped up and had such an adrenaline rush I could’ve run around the whole mall. And Natick mall is huge. All of a sudden, the volume rose so high I thought I was going to go deaf. I later learned that Liam and Louis had asked my best friend Sammy (who was behind me in the line) which drawing she had liked better out of the ones they’d drawn on the table. People had kept picking Louis’ but Sammy froze and just pointed at the first one she saw – Liam’s. He was so excited he threw his hands up in the air and screamed, “YESSS!” The crowd went wild.’
If you want to follow Kayla on Twitter, her account is @1Band_1Brit_1D.
Anna Lee is 15 and from Grant, Alabama. She has been a 1D fan since 2010 and her favourite song is ‘Moments’. She explains it’s ‘because it’s so deep and personal and raw, like you can hear what’s meant to be said and how the boys put their heart and soul into their music’. She wants to be an author one day and currently writes One Direction fan fiction in her spare time. To read one of Anna Lee’s fan fictions, search for ‘Can’t Be Moved’ on Wattpad.com. She also sketches and prints amazing pictures of the boys that look just like them. Her sketch of Zayn took approximately three hours for her to draw, shade and add detail. She believes the easiest way to do a drawing is from a photograph, but she can also do it from a video or life. Her advice to fans thinking of sketching the boys is to ‘give it a go, you’ll really enjoy it and you never know one day you could give it to the boys. They love it when fans give them drawings.’ She hasn’t managed to give one of her drawings to the boys personally but has posted a few to them. Anna says, ‘I have just been offered a place at an exclusive international arts boarding school in Michigan, and my portfolio consisted of lots of drawings of them. I don’t think I would have ever realised that I wanted to be an artist without them. They inspire me every day. I hope that maybe one day I could be their very own personal artist.’
If you want to follow Anna Lee on Twitter, her Twitter name is @AnnaLeeMurphyx.
Teriann is 16 and from Dallas. She took part in the ‘Bring 1D to US’ challenges in which US states had to compete with each other to win the chance of meeting the five boys. It lasted four months, and Teriann admits, ‘Those challenges drained us all. One involved staying up until 4 a.m. signing “twititions”, which affected my grades at school. I was so happy when I found out that my city had won and that the boys would be coming to Dallas on 24 March 2012.’
To get to meet the boys, Teriann had to queue up for a wristband on 13 March. Only 1,000 wristbands were going to be up for grabs but thousands of fans turned up and so 2,000 wristbands were made available. This still wasn’t enough though. The security at the shopping mall struggled to control the crowds and the police were called. Six people were treated by the Frisco Fire Department for minor conditions and one person was taken to hospital.
Several fans were interviewed by reporters from TV station CBS DFW. Superfan Gillian Devout told them, ‘There was, like, people getting trampled or people on the floor crying, people hurt, people in ambulances.’
Another fan, Taylor Burkhalter, added, ‘My friend and I were the first people at the gate. My face got pushed into the wall, slammed into the wall. Falling down on the floor. It was bad.’
Thankfully, Teriann didn’t injure herself that day and managed to get a wristband for the event at the Dr Pepper Ball Park. She was blown away by the boys’ performance of ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ and getting to meet them as they signed her copy of Up All Night was something she will never forget. The boys loved every moment too, with Liam telling NBC, ‘We’re just grateful that all our fans showed their support on Twitter and got us over here.’
Christina is 17 and from Ridgewood, New Jersey. She waited more than 18 hours to see Harry, Niall, Liam, Louis and Zayn in New York. ‘After hours of waiting, when the boys finally arrived, it was chaos,’ she says. ‘When it was finally our turn, all I could do was high-five each of them. I gave each of them a letter on colourful paper in the hope of them reading it and maybe finding me on Twitter. Even though it was only about 61 seconds with them, it was amazing. I’m so grateful that I was given the opportunity and was able to meet them! It’s a moment I’ll never ever forget!’
If you want to follow Christina on Twitter, her account is @CBones705.
Samantha is 13 and from Shreveport, Louisiana. She was lucky enough to meet the boys after their Madison Square Garden show. She wore a T-shirt she’d made with their faces on it and the boys said that they loved it. ‘They thought it was so funny,’ she recalls. ‘It was amazing standing there, having the opportunity to talk to my favourite member, Niall (and the others, of course). Niall’s accent is adorable and he is so cute in person.’
Harleigh is 16 and from Tulsa, Oklahoma. ‘When I met 1D, I swear I had a panic attack!’ she admits. ‘It was at Bring 1D To Me in Dallas, Texas. I cried a lot, but it was worth it! I even met Baby Lux, the boys’ stylist’s baby at the airport. Lou let me play with her while they checked the baggage stuff.
‘I was going down the line to meet the boys and Louis hugged me, he smelled so good! He called me babe, even! Liam and Harry kissed my cheek and told me they loved me; they even followed me on Twitter! Harry was wearing a cream see-through shirt and looked so gorgeous. Then Niall … Oh, Niall … he was wearing jeans and a white T-shirt with a red snapback hat. He said he’d marry me, and I asked for a snog. He said yes! We didn’t end up snogging but he tweeted me and said, “Love u!” I was crying! Zayn was really nice too, he called me “love” and I touched his hair, he said he loved me as well. He was wearing a white shirt with a funny face drawing on the front. They were really nice and I couldn’t ask for a better experience!’
Farah is 18 and from Queens, New York. She had never been into music until she heard ‘What Makes You Beautiful’. A few weeks later she decided to set up a Twitter account and started following One Direction and making friends with other Directioners. She was thrilled when she received a tweet from Zayn saying that she should enjoy school while it lasted.
Her favourite member of the band is Liam, so when she went to see their performance on The Today Show, she was thrilled when he waved at her. She couldn’t get tickets to their performance at Madison Square Garden but decided to go to their hotel the next day to see if she could see them. She was the first there but soon there were more Directioners and they shared some chips [crisps] Farah had brought with her. She didn’t get to see the boys but she saw their pianist Jon and guitarist Dan.
The next day, she decided to go back to the hotel and ended up seeing Niall. He was wearing sunglasses and a beanie, and happily posed for a photo with Farah. She was so happy that she decided to return one more time just in case she could see the others – and she was lucky. ‘Day three was my golden day,’ she explains. ‘After going to buy hot chocolate twice for me and my friends, I heard the boys would be signing autographs at the studio. They were rehearsing for the Late Show with David Letterman and I was waiting outside with a friend I’d just made. As the boys came out one by one taking pictures, I took a large breath and repeated to myself, “This isn’t a dream.”
‘I got a picture with four out of five of them and I couldn’t have been happier. I had a simple conversation with Louis: “How are you, Louis?” “I’m good, how are you?” I felt my whole life flashing through my eyes. The video diaries, the interviews, and the Twitcams all flashing through my eyes, and I finally was able to prove to myself that sweet and loving boys do exist and they are called One Direction. I just wish all the fans who support the boys, even though they know they don’t have a chance to meet them, will get to see these amazing lads! My day of meeting them was unforgettable.’
Greyson is 16 and from Allentown, Pennsylvania. She met the boys at their Camden, New Jersey show on 28 May 2012 along with her friend Lana. They had paid hundreds of dollars for two ultimate VIP tickets and arrived at the venue four hours early so they could get a good spot. As soon as the doors opened at 2pm, everyone started pushing, but Greyson was the first inside and so was given the first seat for a sound check, in the front row. She found out that she’d also been given front row for the concert. She couldn’t have asked for better seats.
Greyson explains what happened next: ‘We all got in line and when everyone was ready, I started to have a panic attack because I thought the girls were going to attack me to get inside, knowing they would be extremely feisty, but security helped me in and I got to sit down first. I was so grateful to the security because I was freaking out so much, and I get horrible panic attacks.
‘So when we sat down for sound check, the band [Josh Devine, Sandy Beales, Jon Shone and Dan Richards, who play guitars, keys and drums for 1D] were already on stage and they played us random tunes. Sandy offered me some of the fruits that he was eating and it felt like a mini-party. Honestly, I didn’t even feel like a crazy fan, just a friend. So then the boys came out and I FREAKED (but I held it in, I got good at that over the course of the day) and they started to sing covers of a few songs. And then they sang “Moments” and, since Harry was right in front of me, he looked down at me and started singing it to me, and I freaked and cried, since it was my absolute favourite song, and the song was emotional – the only time I cried the whole day! – and he was so perfect … and then he winked!’
Greyson noticed that Liam wasn’t wearing any shoes so shouted over to him, ‘Liam, where’s your shoes?’ The music was so loud that Greyson couldn’t understand what he was saying but when he came off stage a few minutes later, he explained to her that he had broken his toe. He’d actually broken it by dropping a MacBook Pro on it. Liam chatted to Greyson for quite a while, signing her VIP pass and signing things for other people while he was talking to her. She loved it when he gave her a high-five. She also said hi to Louis and Zayn, but Harry and Niall were talking to girls on the other side of the room so she didn’t get a chance to speak to them.
Later on the boys had to do meet and greets and Greyson got to meet them again. ‘Everyone was freaking out while I was (weirdly) calm,’ she says. ‘I was like, “Hey, Liam, how’s your toe?” but nobody knew what I was talking about because I was the only one other than the boys and their management who knew he had broken it until he announced it on The Today Show, like, two weeks later as “something nobody knows about him”.’
Liam told Greyson that it was OK and that he would be wearing shoes for the show. Harry couldn’t resist pretending to stomp on his foot. This was one of the best moments of the day for Greyson because they were joking around. She also enjoyed having a hug with Harry and being surrounded by Niall, Zayn, Liam, Louis and Harry when they had a group hug. She loved having her photo taken with them too: ‘Harry stood next to me with Zayn on my other side. Harry had his arm around me and squeezed my waist and it was just the best feeling ever. Then when the photo was over, Harry went, “Thanks, babe,” and then the meet and greet was over! Ahhhhh, it was amazing.’
When it was time for the concert itself, Greyson was really excited and made sure she had her phone ready to film the boys performing. ‘During the first and last song I filmed videos of Harry singing to me and waving. During the entire show my friend was even like, “Why does Harry keep staring at you …?” It was CRAZY, and sounds almost unbelievable. All the boys waved and, during “One Thing”, where they throw “snowballs” into the crowd. Liam handed one to me! I also got the chance to have another conversation with Liam while Niall was making a speech. It was an amazing concert and literally the best day of my life.’
You can follow Greyson on Twitter if you like. Her Twitter account is @GreysonAsmus.
Caitlin is 15 and from Charleston. She says of her life before she discovered 1D, ‘I used to get bullied big time before I discovered them and now I feel like a girl, and the hateful words slip off my back. Life as a Directioner is amazing! They make me smile more and more every day! They make their fans feel like equals. I truly believe they really do love their fans. They’re genuinely sweet boys and I’m here until the end. I’m in love with them, and all their little things.’
Lauren is 15 and from Mercer County, New Jersey. She met the boys on 17 March at the Up All Night signing at Somerdale’s Walmart. To make an entrance, Harry, Niall, Liam, Louis, and Zayn arrived wearing all green because it was St Patrick’s Day. They were sat on top of a fire truck and looked down at the 2,000 plus fans that had been waiting for hours to meet them. When the signing officially started, people were moved into the greenhouse area where the boys were. Liam, Louis, Niall, Zayn, and Harry were sitting at a table as they squirted silly string at the fans waiting in line.
Lauren says, ‘When it was finally my turn to meet them, I was in shock! I couldn’t believe that they were sitting right in front of me! I had written letters to give to the boys about how much they meant to me. When I walked past Liam, I handed him his letter and he winked at me! Then when I approached Louis, I gave him his letter and he said, “Thanks, love” to me! Niall was next but he was very busy signing CDs, so I gave him his letter and he said thanks. I walked over to Zayn and gave him his letter and he said thank you. Harry was last, and my friend and I gave him an icebox, since he had tweeted a few days earlier that he had lost his. I high-fived him and his hand was massive!’
Storm is 17 and from Birmingham, Alabama. She became a huge fan of 1D when her best friend Abigail played her some of their music. They decided to save up lots of money so they could fly to England to try and meet them during their spring break. They did garage sales, babysitting, chores for people, and even got Saturday jobs so they could pay for their airfares. They worked so hard but by the December they realised that were still a long way off raising the money they needed, so had almost given up hope. Then it was announced that 1D would be opening for Big Time Rush in America, so not all was lost! As soon as the tickets went on sale, Storm bought the VIP ones in the hope of meeting them at the meet and greet in Nashville, Tennessee.
On the day of the concert, Abigail’s grandparents drove them to Nashville and the girls checked into their hotel as it would be too late for them to go home by the time the concert finished. A short while after arriving, Storm got a call from one of their Twitter friends to say that she had heard the boys were staying at the Sheraton hotel down the road from the arena. Storm takes up the story.
‘Abigail and I had to be at the arena by about 3.30 for our meet and greet stuff so we had a couple of hours to spare and decided it was worth heading down there. We threw on our concert attire (dresses and cowboy boots) grabbed our posters, and ran about 10 blocks from our hotel to One Direction’s hotel. When we arrived, there were only about 30 girls inside waiting for them. After waiting for an hour, Harry, Liam, Niall, Zayn and Louis started coming out of their rooms and were walking around their floor messing with us and trying to get us excited! Then they finally got in the clear glass elevator, came down and walked past us but they couldn’t stop for autographs because they were running late to a radio interview.
‘I reached my hand out and touched Louis, and Abigail managed to touch Harry and Louis. As soon as they got into their van, we had to take off running because it was almost 3.30 and we were 10 blocks away. At the meet and greet, we didn’t get to meet 1D but we were second row at the concert. I had a poster that said PROM? on it and Niall looked at me and mouthed, “Yeah, I’ll go with you!” and gave me a thumbs-up! Later on, during their performance of “What Makes You Beautiful”, Harry and Liam sang directly into my camera! It was amazing!’
The second time Storm met 1D was on 25 June 2012. The boys were performing in Atlanta the next night and she had tickets to the concert. Storm and Abigail decided to head to Atlanta a day early to try and find the boys. They searched everywhere and couldn’t see any sign of them until they were near a mall in the Buckhead neighbourhood. ‘We were walking on the sidewalk towards the mall,’ Storm says. ‘I had the sense to turn around. When I turned around, I noticed three REALLY big buff men and they all had accents. I told Abigail to slow down and as they got a little closer to us, I could tell that it was Paul, Andy and Preston, the boys’ bodyguards.
‘Abigail wasn’t sure so we played stupid and asked them how to get into the mall, and when they answered us with their accents, we lit up! We were about to walk into the mall when we decided to turn back and ask them if they were One Direction’s bodyguards. They smirked and joked around with us and let us take a picture of them.’
The girls tried to follow Paul, Andy and Preston but they lost them. As they were walking, someone told Storm that Harry was at a restaurant, so the girls decided to drive past it. They thought it looked dodgy and that Harry wouldn’t be in there. Five minutes later, they found out they were wrong. ‘Harry tweeted a picture of the sign of the restaurant and about how he had just finished eating, and I was SO upset!! We could have met Harry Styles!’ Storm says.
Later on the girls managed to see Niall for a few seconds. ‘We were by a hotel and I heard a bunch of girls screaming,’ she remembers. ‘I looked up and Niall Horan was in the back of a taxi with his window down. He waved to us and I screamed and freaked out! We went back to the hotel the next day and saw all the boys get into their tour bus and drive off for a radio interview. We decided to head to the arena early and waited for three hours. We saw Eleanor Calder [Louis’ girlfriend], Perrie Edwards [Zayn’s girlfriend], Louis, Josh Devine [drummer] and Olly Murs, all from the parking deck of the arena because you could see the tour buses from there. Also, Niall was in the building; he ran across the glass windows and waved to everyone. We met Olly Murs’ photographer, who took a picture of us and said he would show it to all of One Direction when he got the chance.’
If you want to see some videos of Storm’s experiences, check out her YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/user/ThundaStorm62.
You can also follow her on Twitter: @iKidrauhlStyles.
Ellen is 16 and from Los Angeles. She saw the boys on 9 November 2012. Ellen is a huge fan and when she found out the boys would be appearing on the hit chat show The Ellen Show, she knew she had to be there. She managed to get an audience ticket and had a blast, watching Ellen ask Harry about his bird tattoos and the boys taking part in a feel-up game with three fans. The fans were blindfolded and had to figure out who was who from the band by just using their hands. Liam was easy to pick out – because of his shaved head.
On her way home with her friends Shelbie and Sereen, Ellen was feeling peckish so stopped off at an In-N-Out Burger restaurant on Sunset Boulevard. ‘We walked in and stood in line,’ she reveals. ‘I was aimlessly looking at the menu when I heard my friends gasp. I looked up and saw Harry Styles standing there waiting for his food. After it had sunk in, I looked around and realised that Liam, Niall and Andy Samuels [Andy is Liam’s best friend] were also there. I did my best to keep calm and, after I ordered, went over and talked to Niall and Liam (Harry had left). It was, hands down, one of the best moments of my life. I never in a million years imagined meeting them, let alone inside of an In-N-Out!’
Daria is 15 and from Middlesex, New Jersey. She has met Harry, Niall, Zayn, Louis and Liam lots of times. The first time was on 12 March 2012 when the boys were appearing on The Today Show. Despite there being hundreds of people there, Daria was one of the lucky few who ended up being seen on TV because of her sign. She explains, ‘There was a cameraman in the middle of the crowd in front of us, really high up. When they were showing signs, my friend’s sign that I was holding was shown. It said: NOTICE THIS SIGN BECAUSE IT IS DIFFERENT.’
Five days later the boys were doing a signing, but when Daria went to get a wristband for it, she found that there were so many people queuing that they would run out of wristbands before they got to her. Afterwards she looked on eBay for one but they were too expensive. However, she managed to buy one from a fan who was ill and couldn’t go.
‘Saturday was a blur,’ Daria says. ‘I remember getting there early and getting in line; it was cold. I talked to so many people around me. It was so much fun. Slowly it got hotter, and I could tell I was getting sick from the sun because that happens a lot to me. Luckily, the boys came soon and we got to go in, and I felt better. I can’t even remember what they said to the crowd because I was at standing an angle where I couldn’t really see or hear them. I do remember Paul [their tour manager] coming through, and all the cameras everywhere.
‘When I went in, I nearly fainted. I’d promised myself I wouldn’t scream or cry, so I tried to hold it in. Every time I glimpsed one of them, I couldn’t believe it was real. When I was somewhere in the second row, Harry started spraying silly string at the crowd. I yelled, “Harry!” and he looked over at me. I remember going up to the line, and Liam was first. It was all a blur, I don’t even remember what happened. I completely blanked out and I still regret it. I couldn’t say anything. I remember they all looked so big, and Louis’s biceps were huge!’
Daria saw them perform in concert on 25 May but her favourite 1D experience happened on 3 December 2012 at their concert at Madison Square Garden. Daria and her friends decided to move seats to get a better view, so went where there was a big empty section – the security guards didn’t see them so they were OK. Daria takes up the story.
‘We’d just sat down when Liam’s friend Andy walked by. I was the first person to notice him; he looks like a lion. We followed him for a while but then he left. Then we noticed Zayn’s girlfriend Perrie. She was in the row right behind us, just a few seats to the side. She wouldn’t take pictures but we just kind of stood there next to her. Then Andy came back and he was giving chips to a bunch of people and I realised this might be where friends sit. The row behind us was full of older people.
‘Then this man and a girl came and they had the seats we were in, so we had to move. But there were three empty seats and the man said we could stay. I then realised he had an Irish accent and looked exactly like Niall. I didn’t know what to do with myself. I just have to say, I have never met anyone nicer and more proud of his son. He asked us if we were excited and we talked with him and asked him the same type of stuff; we couldn’t really hear properly as Ed Sheeran was performing right in front of us. We talked about Ed too. Then Ed left and the lights came on. Mr Horan was telling every single person that he was Niall’s dad. It was so amazing! He was also pointing out all the family members to us. I can’t thank him enough. Everyone else was shying away from pictures and didn’t want to be recognised. He was the opposite, and I can’t believe we got so lucky.
‘We met Anne, Harry’s mum, Louis’ uncle and aunt, Niall’s grandparents, friends and a lot of his distant family. We were talking to Anne when we saw two people walk into our seats and sit down. I realised it was Greg [Niall’s brother] and his girlfriend; we had taken their seats, I couldn’t believe it. Niall’s brother was funny and signed his name huge on my chart. I also got a picture with the Horan clan. We had to go back to our seats though, because the show was starting. The way it worked was that there was a raised platform at the back of the stage. Our seats were as left as you get, and they were perfectly aligned with that platform. Sometimes the boys would go up there and wave straight at our section and us. Niall laughed at us and Harry blew us a kiss. The most amazing part was when I pointed the flash from my camera on us, and Harry waved straight at us, not even our section. I still can’t believe it.’
Daria will always remember that night and hopes that one day she will meet Niall’s family again because they were lovely. ‘I don’t only love this band,’ she adds, ‘but I love all the people I’ve met and all the experiences I’ve had. I have a second family now. My best friends are in the “New Jersey Directions Facebook Group” (NJDFBG). We all met online and talked for months before meeting up in person. Now we hang out all the time, whenever we can. We might even be together for New Year’s. I love them and everything One Direction has done for me.’
Melissa is 17 and from Atlanta, Georgia. She is a member of the group Directioners ATL on Facebook, which started out as a group of approximately 60 girls from around Atlanta. It was set up initially when the very first Bring ID To US competition launched. Melissa explains, ‘We didn’t win the contest but we continued the group and started posting anything that had to do with the boys. In the group, there are about eight girls who go to my school, which made me more comfortable getting to know people I just met on the Internet. Now we are all best friends and I don’t know what I would do without them. In May 2012, One Direction held an Up All Night house party competition. Again, we didn’t win, but we held our own and it was the first time we had all met in person. We had a DJ and watched the Up All Night tour DVD on a big blow-up screen by the pool. We also set up a Twitter account for the group at @DirectionersATL. At first we didn’t think the Twitter would be anything big but now we have over 7,000 followers and a couple of us have been recognised at the mall or in random places. Natalie, another girl from the group, got stopped in a Forever 21 store just last week … it’s really weird because people are like, “You guys are so funny,” “We love you guys,” and we are just like, “Why? We are the weirdest group of people.” It makes no sense to me, but oh well.
‘When the boys came to Atlanta in June 2012 for their Up All Night Tour, we all got together and spent two entire days running around Atlanta trying to find the boys. The day before the concert, about six of us met Paul and Andy at a Brookstone store in the mall across from the hotel. We decided to go to the hotel afterwards and managed to see Niall and Andy on their way to the mall. Niall gave us a wave but he didn’t have time to stop for pictures.
‘The next day, we went back to the hotel and saw all the boys before they got into their tour bus. I managed to get a good photo of Niall and Liam. It was a bit manic because there were lots of fans there. After the boys left, Zayn instagrammed a MacDonald’s and some of the girls in our group recognised it so they managed to find the recording studio the boys were going to. I didn’t manage to make it there in time due to traffic but a couple of our girls did. They ended up meeting all the boys except Liam and got to go into the recording studio, sound booth and everything. My friend Claire told me after that when the boys came out, Niall went straight to Olivia and hugged her without her saying or doing anything. Getting to hear the stories from Marissa, Tressa, Olivia and Claire really guts me that I missed out but I am so glad they got to meet them! They really deserve it. This makes me all the more determined to meet the boys next year.’
Jenna is 17 and from Ottawa in Canada but she also met One Direction in New York. She had tickets to see them at the Jingle Ball and had figured out that the boys would be staying at the Trump International Hotel the night before. She thought it would be fun to stay in the same hotel as them. ‘The hotel lobby is really small so I thought I would have the best chance of seeing them if I waited there,’ Jenna explains. ‘So I waited there from 4pm to midnight, just sitting on the couch waiting. I made some friends while sitting there – other Directioners – and it was really nice because I got to know these complete strangers in a hotel lobby all because of One Direction. All of a sudden, at around 8pm, I heard screaming behind me and I turned around and saw so many paparazzi flashes. There was a black van pulled up in front of the entrance, and out walked the boys. I was shaking and so nervous.
‘I knew there was a good possibility that the boys wouldn’t be able to stop, or they would just ignore us. (There was just me and the other two fans I met waiting in the lobby for them.) The boys walked through the doors and I was trying my best to stay calm and stop shaking because I was in such awe. They were all dressed up in their fancy clothes, with their hair all done up, because they had just come back from filming David Letterman and they hadn’t changed yet. They looked like proper pop stars. Liam started moonwalking for us, and Louis called us “babe”, and it was all so exciting. I didn’t have much time, so I took advantage of the opportunity and ran up to Harry to ask for a picture. The security was telling me that he had to go, but Harry didn’t listen and he told me to come over to take a picture. I was shaking so much; I couldn’t get my camera working and seconds felt like hours. I said sorry because I was taking so long, and he said, “That’s alright,” and smiled. We took the picture and the boys left to go upstairs.
‘I stayed in the lobby in case one of the boys would leave again and sure enough, about half an hour later, Harry came out of the elevator. This time there were a few more people in the lobby so there was more commotion. He stopped to talk to a businessman, took his business card and shook his hand. He was so nice, said hi to people and was very sincere. The next morning I got up early because I knew Harry was out and he would come back to the hotel soon. I waited in the lobby again and, finally, a black car pulled up and out walked Harry. He walked inside the hotel and said good morning to us (me and the girls I met the day before).’
That day Jenna also had the pleasure of hanging out for two hours with Niall’s family – his mum, grandma, stepdad and aunt – baby Lux and her dad, Tom Atkin. ‘I played with Lux for a bit and she was so cute. She kept taking my phone and pretended to make calls (haha).
‘Niall’s family was very nice. I was talking to them about everything the boys had been up to lately. Niall’s mom, Maura was telling me about how she filmed some bits for the movie with Harry’s mom, and that she’s looking forward to seeing it when it comes out. I asked her if she had seen the famous One Direction “Mum Song” on YouTube, and she said yes and that she thought it was very funny. At one point, a lady sitting on the couch with us had asked me if I was Niall’s cousin, because I was talking to Niall’s family and, when I told her I was just a fan, Niall’s grandma told me that the fans were very important and their dedication is what got the boys where they are today. It was really sweet of her to say those things, and I’ll never forget it.
‘At one point, Niall’s grandma signed an autograph for a woman who approached her, because her daughter is a big One Direction fan. In the two hours that I spent with his family, we discussed different things from the movie, the Madison Square Garden show, what it’s like in Ireland, the general craziness, and the dedication of the fans. They were all so sincere and appreciative of the fan support and were concerned for the girls waiting outside because it was so cold out. What stuck with me that day is how close everyone in the One Direction team is and how nice and lovely they all are. I’m very appreciative of how inclusive they were and the time they spent talking to me when they could have been doing anything else.’
Jenna thought the whole experience was completely worth the travel from Canada.
When 18-year-old Sarah from New York met One Direction with her cousin Eva, she impressed Zayn with a drawing she had sketched of him. He was being interviewed at the time but noticed the picture Sarah was holding and told her it was ‘very good’. Sarah was thrilled and gave it to him to keep. Zayn and the other boys love receiving art from fans and appreciate the time and effort they have taken to create the drawings and paintings.
If you want to follow Sarah on Twitter and see some of her artwork, her Twitter account is @longliveoneD.
Jessie is 20 and from Orlando. She met the boys on 30 June 2012 in Orlando, the day of their Tampa concert. Jessie saw them at their hotel and then followed them. ‘As me and my friends pulled into the parking lot, we saw this train of, like, 20 cars going around the roundabout and at the front of it was the tour bus!!!’ Jessie remembers. ‘So naturally, we joined the chain of fan girls’ cars following this bus. It was the craziest 30 minutes of my life. Everyone wanted to be next to the bus so they could see Harry eating his banana and waving out the window, but they also wanted to be behind the bus in case it decided to turn at the last minute to try and lose us. So after 30 minutes of chasing this bus through a very busy part of Orlando, we turned off of the main road on to a side street. By this time, we had lost the majority of the girls to red lights and traffic, so at this point there were only eight cars with the bus.
‘Then the bus stopped on the side of a small side road. We were all so confused because we didn’t think there was anything in this area for them to go to. We didn’t know it then but Harry was the only one on the bus. After the bus stopped, one of the security guys got off the bus and told us we needed to leave (sorry, buddy, not going to happen), so we went to pull around the bus and into a parking lot and, as we pulled around the bus, there was Harry, literally hanging out of the bus window trying to get out without being caught by his security. He landed on the ground on both feet and my friend jumped out of the moving car just so she could meet him. As soon as security saw Harry out of the bus, he screamed, “Harry, get back on that bus! Now!” Harry messed around for a couple more seconds then got back on the bus.
‘We pulled into the side parking lot with a couple of other cars and waited to see what would happen. The bus backed all the way into a parking lot of a very sketchy [dodgy] strip mall. We were so confused until we realised the very back office of the building was a recording studio. There were about 30 of us waiting across the street from the strip mall because it was private property and only the owner could make us leave. Occasionally, security would come out and tell us the boys wouldn’t be able to come meet us because they were too busy, but we didn’t care; we just watched the boys run back and forth from the studio to the bus (occasionally shirtless). We slowly began creeping closer and closer to the bus. Mainly to get to some shade. This was June in central Florida, the heat index was probably at least 100°F and we had no water. After two hours, a lady who worked at one of the other businesses in the strip mall came out and asked us what we were doing. We explained to her that we were waiting for One Direction, as they were in a studio a couple offices down. She then invited us into their office to get some water and use the bathroom. She also asked us to send her any pictures we got because her daughter was a big fan, so we got her number, thanked her and went back outside to wait for the boys. In the meantime, the 30 of us spent our time bonding over our love of 1D and many other things that brought us all together: some of us are still friends even now six months later. It was one of the greatest afternoons ever.
The fans waited for about three hours in the Florida heat. ‘Andy [one of their bodyguards] came out and told us we needed to go back across the street,’ Jessie continues, ‘so we did and he came with us. We spent the next 10 minutes talking to him about his life, his new baby boy and what he thought about the boys. He was so nice. He even told us that it was a good thing Paul wasn’t there because he never would have let Andy talk with us the way he did. He also said that he really didn’t think the boys would be able to come out, so we said that was fine and we all took pictures with him, thinking he was as close as we were going to get. That’s when Preston [another of the bodyguards] walked out and said that Niall really wanted to come see us so we just had to be really calm and stay on the sidewalk.
And then Niall walked out of the bus. He looked just as good in person as [in] the pictures, with his Ray-Bans and Captain America shirt. Then he laughed. Oh, geez, that laugh. Everyone talks about how much they love his laugh but you don’t really understand it until you hear it in person. He was so great. We talked to him for a little bit then one of my friends decided to be the brave one and asked if we could all get a picture with him. He said, “Yeah! Sure!” So he started at one end of our very organised line and began making his way along, taking pictures and talking with all of us.
After about a minute went by, Harry and Liam started walking our way. It took every ounce of restraint we had to keep from looking like the crazy fan girls we were. We talked to them and then they started taking pictures with us. Liam said, “Oh, geez, I just woke up. I don’t know what I look like right now.” So he went up to my friend and said, “Hey, can you put your phone on the little front-facing camera so I can see what I look like.” He legitimately thought he might not look cute. Is that even possible? So Liam and Harry began making their way through the crowd. Niall finally got to my friends and me. He smelled so I good I just wanted to stand there with his arm around me for the rest of my life … He also told my friends and me that he wished all fans were as calm as we were. I was so in awe of the whole situation I don’t think I did anything other than say hi and smile like a complete freak. Then Liam got to us. He was seriously one of the nicest people I’ve ever met, he was so down-to-earth, and you never would have thought he was this super-famous pop star. He was carrying a can of Coke, wearing a T-shirt and basketball shorts. I didn’t get a picture with Harry but my friend did and she said he was a pretty funny guy. He was wearing a white shirt, black pants rolled up into capris and black Nike trainers.
‘After the boys finished taking pictures, Preston said they had to get back and do some recording, so they all said goodbye and left, and we thanked them. About 30 minutes later, they started getting back into the bus, but not the way you expected. I think it was Louis who started it first: he would get a running start and jump up into the bus from the window, then, of course, Harry, Niall and Liam followed, but Zayn just used the door like a cool kid. Once they were all in the bus, it began pulling out of the parking lot and, just like that, the boys were gone, with a trail of fan girls following.’