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The Pros and Cons of Meet-and-Greets

It’s about time I tackle this subject. I must admit, though…I’m doing so with lots of second-hand stories and editorializing. It’s also after midnight (no Clapton reference intended). I’m a little tired and just typing off the top of me head!

A few of the late night shows did a comparison between the meet-and-greets that were happening at Avril Lavigne’s concert recently. She was charging $400 for the meet-and-greet, but you couldn’t touch her. That created a series of pictures that were…really funny to look at. Fans were standing two feet from her.

A few days later, there were photos of Rhianna’s meet-and-greet. I’m not sure what she was charging, but one thing for sure. She was getting up close and personal. She’d have her arms around you. She’d let you grab her a**. She’d do wacky photos, if that’s what you wanted. And it really seems that if you’re spending the big bucks for the meet-and-greet, that’s the way a celebrity should be with the fans.

Now, this leads to the autograph collector. Since I worked for five years at a classic rock radio station, I had been backstage many times. This was before meet-and-greets were so common – unless it was put on by the radio station or some other promotion. There was never a price attached to attend them (ah, the good ol’ days!)

The first time I had the opportunity to spend money for one, was to have dinner with Paul McCartney for $5,000. I was on the fence about it. Only 20 people were being allowed to attend. When I called a few days later, they told me only two people had signed up. I was thrilled. There might only be a few of us. I told my friend he was the only Beatle I needed to complete a set, but I still wasn’t comfortable spending that much money. He and I came up with a good plan, though. I’d bring 20 albums. Have him sign those, and sell 10, to help shoulder the cost. Now, selling autographs goes against everything I feel about this hobby, but if it meant I got into an event cheaper, I was considering it. I said, “There’s no way he’s going to sign 20 albums for me.” My friend replied, “There’s no way he’s not going to. You paid five grand to get in! He owes it to you.”

I ended up not going, because I figured the most he’d sign for me was five. Thankfully, I eventually got his signature another way.

Now, fast forward 18 years. I met a guy that DID go to that same dinner. He told me he brought eight items for Sir Paul to sign. McCartney sighed, and signed two. Paul then looked over at a big guy in a suit, who promptly came over and said, “Paul isn’t here to sign a bunch of stuff.”

McCartney said, “I’ll sign one more for you, but that’s it.”

The guy got three items signed for his $5,000 (which went to a vegetarian charity he was promoting). I won’t do the math, but…that’s a lot to spend for 3 items that aren’t worth that much. I was happy I opted not to do it.

My friend is a locksmith, and he was re-keying a concert hall that Bonnie Raitt was playing at. She had turned me down for an autograph years ago, but when she did a benefit my sister was involved in, she helped me snag a signature. Raitt was charging around $500 for a backstage meet-and-greet, that included eating with her. Yet all the money she charged went to charity. That certainly makes it more palatable.

My biggest fear about these M&Gs is that the autograph collector is the most likely to be disappointed. The fans that want the wacky photos for Facebook are set. That’s because most bands are probably willing to sign a few items, but not many more. So you have to decide – is $500 or more – worth one or two items signed, and some photos? Yet the more I hear and read about M&Gs, the more I’m finding out that bands aren’t willing to sign.

I spent $100 for a meet-and-greet with Steppenwolf, because it’s a band I love, and the money went to an animal rescue charity (and included watching the sound check performance). Singer/songwriter John Kay snapped at me when I slid a third item on the table for him to sign. This is a guy that is legally blind!!! Yet he noticed, after we were all told “two items each,” I had a 3^rd thing in there.

I’ve been writing the Kiss Kronikles, and a few have talked about how much they charge at the meet-and-greets. Well, I read an interview with former Metallica member Jason Newsted. He said Metallica always wanted them to do M&G’s, because Kiss made so much money. He said that it’s ridiculous to pay to meet Gene Simmons. He wouldn’t have a problem paying a few hundred to meet his favorite players from the 1970s Baltimore Orioles, but not rock stars. He said when you meet them in person, they should always sign autographs, and he’s never charged for an autograph until the website went up. He figures if fans want to order a CD or 8x10 signed on the website, they can pay, but never in person. Now that’s the attitude I want to see.

I’ve talked to a few friends that have paid for the M&Gs for “30 Seconds to Mars,” and they were told no photos. That bothered them.

There was controversy on the Godsmack website, when a fan talked about paying for the VIP package (which included a M&G). It wasn’t until after the purchase was made, that the band put on their Facebook page, “No autographs or photos.”

A woman was furious (and rightly so). She posted, “If they’re going to do this, they should state those rules on the page where we are paying for these tickets.”

Other people later posted that the band usually does sign, but only one item per person, and only if they have time. They will usually take photos, but with their photographer (which is a common practice for bands now). You then go to their website and download it.

I have been hearing horror stories regarding ZZ Top and how they handle M&Gs. This didn’t surprise me, because a stagehand I know, told me that’s the only band that ever refused to sign an autograph for him as he was working on the stage (and he only had one photo he would ask to have signed).

On the ZZ Top website, a man wrote a blog about how he was a big fan and paid $300 for the M&G. He was told by the bands manager that there would be no autographs and no photos. It would be a Q&A with the band, but that only 4 of the 20 people with their hands raised had questions answered. He was furious about spending the money for what was basically a cattle call.

Another woman wrote of a similar experience, saying she paid for this for her husband. It was enough money to feed them for a week, but she wanted to splurge for him. He came back to the hotel room rather upset. He said it was a quick three minutes and he didn’t get to say a word to the band.

So the conclusion I’ve come to is – do your research before dropping big bucks for the meet-and-greets. You might get an item signed, and a photo – but you might not. If it’s your favorite band or the money goes to charity – go for it. You’ll probably never get the chance again.

I just prefer bands to do what Def Leppard told me in an interview. They said they finally started charging for their autographs. They make everyone pay $5 and they give 100% of that to charity.

That’s affordable for everyone, and some charity gets a nice chunk of change.

Comment by michael bartow on June 25, 2014 at 8:25pm: on the topic of meet and greets. Being a nascar fan some drivers have fan appriaction days were if your a member of that persons fan club you can go to their outing and have a meet and greet kind of day were you can get an autograph or 2. Now onto Jeff Gordon. Recently I saw I think on jayski Jeff Gordon is having a Meet/Greet at all the tracks this yr for a limited number of people per race weekend. I have read the description and you will get a hero card signed, some q/a time with him and I guess maybe another item signed maybe 2. Now here is the kicker. the fee per person is $600.00. Now for some people that is alot but I guess if your like the guy who is a big ZZ top fan and the wife got it for you I can see what your talking about. for me and not tooting my horn here the wife and i spend about 1500-1700 a yr on race tickets. the ones at pocono cost $500 but the thing is your sitting in victory lane and you might get some hats from the team when the team does the hat dance.

Comment by michael bartow on June 25, 2014 at 8:29pm: and as for carlos, opinions are like your b*******. everyone has one but some are bigger then others and I guess he fit into that one.

Comment by Xwiesy on July 27, 2014 at 11:37am: Okay, so I went through the Def Leppard meet and greet and wanted to share some thoughts.

First of all, I thought it was well done, well organized, and totally worth it.

About 50 or so people paid for this experience. We all went to a tent and our host went over the rules (no hugs, kisses, they can't sign anything, and please do not shake Vivian Campbell's hand as he is going through chemotherapy).

Def Leppard were in the tent next to us- one by one we were to walk through, say a little something and get our photo taken with the band.

Now- I had prepared myself for this for months. I knew I would have just a few seconds with each member, so I came up with something to say for each one. They are my favorite band, and I didn't want to blow this.

When it was my turn to go in, not going to liee, the nerves hit.

Rick savage was the first one lined up. He grabbed my hand and said "Thanks so much for coming." I was not expecting someone so warm, not going to lie. I kept thinking, "Oh sure, thank God I'm here, Sav." I told him how much I appreciated the opportunity, not what I had planned to say at all.

Vivian Campbell was next. Now, they told us beforehand that just because we couldn't touch him that we should not ignore him. So I told him how much I enjoyed his Facebook page- he is a very articualte and passionate guy, especially with politics and I let him know this. He was actually surprised and appreciative.

Joe Elliott was next. I shook his hand and said "Thank you so much for your kind words on Phil Everly's passing." Swear to God he took a step back, his face lit up and he said, "You are very welcome."

I then told Phil Collen how much I liked the videos he made regarding Steve Clark and I told Rick Allen how awesome his artwork was. Both shook my hand and again, were appreciative of my words.

And then here's where it got cool, for me at least.

So I stepped back from Rick Allen to pose for the picture. I got between Phil Collen and Joe Elliott. And as the photographer was setting up, Joe put his hand on my shoulder and starts to talk to me.

You know how you are having your picture taken but you are trying to talk without letting it show in the pic?

He was doing that, right in my ear.

"You know Phil Everly came to one of our shows a few years ago."

He said this proud as a peacock.

It's a surreal feeling having a rock star that you love talking with you about another rock star you love and I just kind of rolled with it.

"It just seemed like nobody said much when he died, and it was really awesome of you to take the time to do that."

At this point they were movng me along to get out of the area. It didn't stop Joe.

"Well you are very welcome, and I hope you enjoy tonight and enjoy the (signed) photo."

Just cloud nine.

Comment by Micko on July 27, 2014 at 1:56pm: The Leppard lads are the best. Nicest most down to earth blokes in the biz

Comment by Josh Board on July 27, 2014 at 10:08pm: Def Lep are cool. Not the biggest fan of them as a band (lost interest after wearing out the Pyromania album in 8th grade). But...met the drummer at NAMM in L.A. and he was talking to a woman, but super sweet to anybody that came up to him. I still think it's a bit lame that they wouldn't sign anything. If they give you a signed photo, I guess that works. But to say "one item per person" should be doable, and it weeds out ANY dealer.

Comment by Xwiesy on July 28, 2014 at 3:54am: Josh- the problem is there are 50 people there. You say one item and people bring guitars, all this stuff when it's 95 degrees outside and we sit around waiting while you just know someone brings five items for their brother....it isn't Def Leppard's fault people don't think rules apply to them. To your point, it does sort of suck that some dude can sit out by the bus and get one while I paid money and I can't, but honestly they list the details before I buy. I used to agree with you but after seeing what people were bringing to the events I get it.

Comment by Patrick Batson on October 14, 2016 at 9:17am: Anyone have any recent information on ZZ Top meet and greets?

Comment by Patrick Batson on November 3, 2016 at 5:23am: I lost a lot of respect for ZZ Top after their show here. Saw Billy around noon the day of the show and he was a total jerk. I told him, "I'll see you tonight"
At the meet and greet, after we were told not to speak to them or ask for autographs etc. I stood next to Billy smiling and told him what I thought about it all... the BS Q&A etc. Nobody knew what I was saying except for Billy. I said, " do you remember the guy that spoke to you in the parking lot? And you walked right by him and ignored him? That was me. A fan. A former fan."
He told me to wait until after the lingering and they would speak to me. Of course, he walked right away. HA!
Honestly, that was the best part of the whole meet and greet. It felt good to get that off my chest. I was really disappointed.

Comment by Joe W. on November 3, 2016 at 9:33am: You would think ZZ Top would show more respect for their fans. Great band in their day although not the headliners they once were. Still, would love to own their autographs.

Comment by Josh Board on November 3, 2016 at 9:56am: X -- you're wrong. If you do a meet-and-greet, you sign autographs. It's what fans want. It's easy to say no to instruments, because those are often sold online. The fans want albums and CDs signed.

And Patrick Batson -- you rock, my friend. I wish others would say that, too.

The first story I ever wrote for Autograph (back when it was a magazine on newsstands), was "David Crosby Flipped me the Byrd." There were 10 of us waiting. He came off the bus, told us we were autograph dealers, and we wouldn't get any autographs. I told him he should be more worried about his continued drug use, especially since he just got a new liver transplant. He turned around. flipped me off, and walked away...with his middle finger behind his back so I could see it.

The crazy thing is...NOT ONE of those fans was an autograph dealer. I was talking to them for 30 minutes before the bus arrived. They were all fans. One had an album, another just had his ticket stub. A few others...didn't even have anything to sign, just wanted to meet him. And that's what they got.

It's hard to think of something to say at that moment, or people feel like it will be rude. Then later you think about it...and you're mad.

I did a $100 meet-and-greet with Steppenwolf. I had gotten their signatures before, but I think John Kay is one of the underrated 60s singers/songwriters. The money went to some wild life charity. And, I had 3 things for him to sign. He snapped at me "It's a 2 item limit!" So, I sneakily (so I thought) handed one item to the woman behind me. Later he came up and said something like "That's the person that snuck an extra item in!" Seriously....WHO is making money of a signed Steppenwolf CD ? (that only has one original band member, besides???). Yet I didn't have the nerve to tell him that, or to say that I didn't even want to give them $100 but I did. And, I'm glad I didn't. I was at a party later that evening where he was, and we had a little chat, which was kind of nice.