``I think it's weak,'' moaned 14-year-old Amy Lusas of Melrose, who waited more than 2 hours in the hot sun for the 17-year-old diva yesterday.
Her friend, Laura Dailey, also 14, of Melrose, was even more fired up. ``It's wicked bad,'' Dailey said. ``I think she's going to lose a lot of Boston fans.''
As we told you yesterday, Spears arrived in Boston at 2 a.m. Tuesday on a tour bus from Vermont with her 17-year-old S.O. Timberlake in tow.
The teen heartthrobs checked into the Swissotel, spent the night in a suite under an assumed name, then left later that morning for Jackson, Miss., where 'N Sync had a gig. Britney and Justin apparently left Mississippi after the show and traveled to 'N Sync's next stop, Memphis. Where they probably engaged in more conduct unbecoming ex-Mouseketeers. Word is, Britney planned to fly commercial from Memphis to Boston yesterday in time for her Filene's appearance, but never made it. Her flight reportedly was canceled due to mechanical difficulties. Hmmmmm.
``She has no idea about what it takes to travel around in this country,'' said one mighty miffed event organizer.
Apparently not. Because at about noon Britney realized she wasn't going to get to her gig, and she called the Tommy Hilfiger people who were sponsoring the autograph session, crying for help.
``We tried very, very hard to get her here via a private plane but were unable to work it out,'' said Filene's spokesgal Robin Reibel.
Meanwhile, fans - some of whom had been camped out since 9:30 Tuesday night waiting for one of the 250 wristbands that would allow them to get up close and personal with Britney - were steamed.
``We're very angry,'' said Lauren Hakala, 16, of Hanover.
And fans weren't the only ones wanting to hit Britney Baby One More Time. Filene's was livid that their big Britney promotion turned into a public relations nightmare and the Hilfiger people, who suffered a similar Spears stunt at an autograph gig in Texas, were also irate, sources said. Tommy Jeans PR gal Cheryl Calegari said the company would have no comment about Britney's Boston brouhaha. But Calegari said the Texas in-store appearance was canceled because Britney was suffering from heat exhaustion. Which was unrelated to Justin.
Anyway, the crowd downtown got the bad news at about 2:30 p.m., after Boston Police sent in reinforcements in case the situation got ugly. Hilfiger's Anitze Reynolds apologized to the fans and Filene's promised to send CDs and merchandise to the 250 wristband holders. After some anxious moments, promoter Don Law's people were able to issue a statement yesterday afternoon assuring ticketholders that the teen diva would arrive back in town in time for her sold-out show at the BankBoston Pavilion last night. Word is, Spears went directly from the airport to the show.