Last night, November 6, 2009, Hot Topic put on a free promotional event for the New Moon Sequel to Twilight for all the fans out there lucky enough to know about it.  The whole event was in the outside courtyard of the Hollywood and Highland Mall next to the Graumann's Chinese Theater.

Some of the lesser-known co-stars including Ashley Greene signed autographs inside Hot Topic for lucky wristband receivers while several bands from the New Moon Movie Soundtrack played in the courtyard. Tickets to receive wristbands were given out a week ago to get to meet the actors. Some people camped out over night, some arrived about 3am and didn't get their wristbands till after 5am. The people with wrist bands were given pens and posters and were allowed in the area right in front of the stage exclusively.

People lined up along the sides of the terraces to watch the bands and get a glimpse of the actors that would arrive right after the final band, Death Cab for Cutie, played only TWO songs! No one could believe it. They took over an hour to get on stage and then only played 2 songs and quickly exited. Not sure if that was their fault or not, but those of us standing watching thought it was a joke, that they would come back on stage, but they didn't. During the down time while Death Cab for Cutie wasn't playing, someone named Stryker gave out prizes to lucky young women who came on stage to answer Twilight trivia, some successfully to win tickets to see New Moon.  

Then the big surprise... Taylor Lautner, Kristen Stewart and Robert Patinson came on stage  (in that order with anticipation in between) to the excitement of hundreds, maybe thousands. The screams of fans reverberated off the surrounding buildings in the mall, deafening innocent bystanders. Taylor and Robert had been across the street at Jimmy Kimmels taping an episode earlier that night so didn't do the meet and greet but did show up for the grand finale! The three main stars introduced the rest of the cast who were met with excited squeals, and when they were all on stage, the three main stars stayed briefly for questions, then handed it all over to the co-stars who answered questions for about 45 minutes as temperatures went down to 62 degrees in Hollywood.  Cold for here!

Overall, the Hot Topic Free Promo Event was enjoyed by everyone.  Definitely a success!  The unexpected stars showing up was the highlight of the evening, and most the bands played long and hard for almost 2 hours before the main event.  If you missed it, enjoy the pictures and pretend you were there. If you were there and didn't get pictures, enjoy! Thank you Hot Topic!!!