Paid meets and greets – Would you? Should you? Could you? 

In these days of austerity, independent artists and a lack of record company advances, many of your favourite bands may have turned to these as a way of generating a little extra cash. Experiences vary from a quick photo to a full backstage experience and prices vary from a couple of quid to thousands of your hard-earned money, but are they worth it? 

As I look at the socials of yet another friend who has paid a weeks wages to spend less than thirty seconds with his idol, I have to wonder. Said idol sits with the same dead-eyed stare in every encounter. There is no warmth, no interest in my friend. My friend doesn’t get to speak to him, or ask questions. There’s a photo, and maybe a quick signature on an album, then the conveyor belt moves on and the idol looks into the camera vacantly for the next punter. It’s a production line, nothing more.  

That said, not all events are this soulless. Maybe you would like to enter the venue early, get a special t-shirt and watch the soundcheck? Well in the immortal words of the Comic Strip’s creepy venue manager to would-be groupie Dawn French in 1982’s “Bad News” – “Soundchecks are very boring love you don’t wanna do that…….” So if you’re paying more than the price of the special tshirt for this level of encounter are you getting value for money? 

Of course that’s a subjective question. If you are the sort of person who would sell your granny just to breathe the same air as Steve Harris you’re probably not even listening to me. But back in the day you could have had a bit of a kickabout with Steve and the band before the show, then done their washing up, in exchange for a tour of the backstage and a couple of beers with them. True story, it happened to my brother. 

Long before we had social media and corporate practice, if you wanted to meet a band you went to the venue (or if you could find it the hotel they were staying in) and waited. Some bands were happy to meet and chat, some not so much which is fair enough. But back then the only thing you paid with was your time. Many a day I would rock up at the Manchester Apollo at 9am and wait there until showtime just in case. Krokus once took us into their tour bus and made us hot chocolate cos it was so bloody cold. With Marshmallows! Francis Rossi had to be manhandled out of the pub by his people because he should have been on stage and not having beers with us. Diamond Head’s bass player asked me out on a date. It was unscripted, unrehearsed, unpredictable, and bloody marvellous.  

I still do some festival-style events where you are likely to meet your favourite guitarist at the bar or watching other bands before or after the show. Lots of up-and-coming bands spend hours at the merch table talking to their fans, as do some of the bigger names. I’ve eaten Steve Conte’s sandwiches, patted Ginger Wildheart’s dog, taken the last cookie from under Josh Todd’s searching fingers in recent years. All natural conversations, with no money being exchanged. No forced smiles, no vacant expressions, just laughter and respect. 

So my opinion is, there’s probably a place for meet and greets if you can afford them. But if you want to meet your hero(es) weigh it up carefully. If it’s likely to be the only way you will ever meet that person in the flesh then maybe it’s worth it to you at any cost. But at the end of the day even rock heroes are human and sometimes they go to the pub, or to watch a show themselves, and maybe they would prefer a quick hello how are you thanks for everything encounter too.