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ZZ Top Meet & Greet DISASTER - are they all this bad?

Myself and a couple buddies of mine went to the ZZ Top concert this past May in Englewood, NJ. In addition to our concert tickets, we each paid the additional $150 for the VIP Meet & Greet package. The VIP package was advertised as "Q&A Session with ZZ Top, Photograph with ZZ Top, ZZ Top poster, Commemorative VIP Laminate and Lanyard".

When we got to the VIP area prior to the Meet & Greet, tour manager Pablo Gamboa made his presence felt by announcing "NO AUTOGRAPHS, NO HANDSHAKES AND DON'T TALK TO THE BAND". The minute he opened his mouth I knew we were in for a big disappointment. What's the point of a Meet & Greet if you can't talk to the band or ask for an autograph? From there, we were rushed in, literally given about 5 seconds to stand behind the band and have a rushed picture taken and then immediately ushered out of the VIP area. It was by far the biggest waste of $150 I've ever spent ($450 total if you tally up all 3 of us). The concert was great but what a disaster and waste of money this so called "VIP" experience was...

Are all Meet & Greets this bad or did I just have a bad experience? Has anyone shared this pain with such a bad experience after paying good money and having high hopes for a Meet & Greet?

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Comment by Null on January 30, 2014 at 2:07pm: YIKES!

I went to two Blink 182 shows a few months back in LA. I paid $150 for "VIP experience" each show. The VIP package included a poster signed by the band, a tee shirt, and access to Soundcheck/Q&A.

The day of the first concert we walked up to the venue and saw this huge line and we were thinking "Hahaha we're VIPs we get to pass all these people!", then we found out that WAS the "VIP" line... LOL. I did not feel "very important". There were 500 "VIPs" each night.

BUT, the soundchecks were amazing, the band was taking requests/talking to the crowd. The Q/As were awesome, even got my question answered. And a few weeks later I got the tee-shirt/autographed posters in the mail. $150 well spent each night IMO. (Just wish the posters were different each night, as I had duplicates =/)

Comment by Jason D on January 30, 2014 at 2:24pm: Travis Barker is great with fans.

Comment by Rich on January 30, 2014 at 2:39pm: Sounds like a good way to lose fans.

I've never really paid for a meet and greet with musicians. There was a deal last year for one of my favorite bands where if you spent $30 at the merch stand, they'd give you a wrist band for a post show meet & greet. It was a nice deal, the band was friendly (always are), line was short, they'd sign whatever you want, talk to you a bit take pics, etc, but there was a time limit due to the fact that others were waiting in line. They nixed the formal meet and greets after a few weeks. Turns out they were more comfortable hanging out with fans by their tour bus or at a bar post show.

Comment by Mike Shepherd on January 30, 2014 at 2:47pm: The short answer to your question is that it depends on the popularity of the band.

Comment by Rich on January 30, 2014 at 2:50pm: Ah, one I have to share that I didn't personally experience: For the U2 360 Tour a few years back, the section on either side of the catwalk was called the Red Zone. These tickets were generally only available by bidding through Live Nation. Aside from the basic Red Zone option, there was a "backstage" version. Now Live Nation made no mention of meeting or seeing the band backstage, but that sort of seemed to be the assumption. Winning ticket bids were regularly into four figure territory. As far as I know, no one who purchased this so much as saw the band backstage.

Comment by Rich on January 30, 2014 at 2:58pm: This story came out a few weeks back. I guess the good news is that you only spent $150 instead of $2500.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/03/britney-spears-fans-2500-m...

Comment by Dan Gregory on January 30, 2014 at 3:10pm: I paid for my mother many years ago to do a meet and greet with Tina Turner. She was a delight, was only meant to be a couple of minutes but she spent almost 25 minutes with us, took photos, signed many items and was so friendly.

Comment by Dustin Jones on January 30, 2014 at 5:24pm: Thanks for sharing guys. Sounds like it's just a real crap shoot depending on the band. I can't believe anyone in their right frame of mind would spend $2,500 to meet Britney Spears... Maybe Paul McCartney, but Britney Spears?!?!

Comment by Josh Board on January 30, 2014 at 5:27pm: I only paid once, the $100 for Steppenwolf, and that is ONLY because it went to a charity. That's the way bands should do it (also, I'm a hardcore John Kay fan...and he's not the best signer, partly because he's legally blind). So, I did that, saw the soundcheck, and got a few things signed.