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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 Brian Burger on February 1, 2014 at 5:29pm: The meet and great I totally agree depends on the band Motley Crue who is doing their "Final Tour" charges a lot of money for the meet and all you get to greet is Vince, Nikki, and Mick. No Tommy and it's been that way for the past several tours.

Comment by Sidney Fields on February 2, 2014 at 3:19pm: Wow...that ZZ Top behavior isn't just wrong...It sounds like it comes pretty close to fraud.

Did this happen at the Bergen PAC in Englewood?

Comment by Null on February 3, 2014 at 9:46am: I forgot I got to meet Rob Zombie at a rock festival, people were also at top of the line yelling "no photos" but Rob really was one of the coolest dudes I've ever met. I'm a HUGE fan of the Halloween series, and I told him I really enjoyed his vision of his Halloween films. I told him that I was a film major, and he asked about my schooling and chatted with me about it for 2-3 minutes. Very cool guy, also at the time he was touring with John 5 who reached out TO ME to shake my hand, that's something I will always remember. It's almost as if he was more excited to meet the fans than they were to meet him!

Comment by Mark Janovec on February 3, 2014 at 12:29pm: If the meet and greet didn't include the advertised goods, I wouldn't hesitate to demand a refund. If a band has no interest in interacting with their fans, they should not be collecting $150/head just to disappoint them.

Comment by Dustin Jones on February 4, 2014 at 1:34pm: Jerome - It seems like after hearing your experience and then adding mine to it that ZZ Top is simply awful nowadays with their Meet & Greet packages. How on earth to they have the audacity to send you a fake autographed poster of the band? They shouldn't have sent anything at all if they were going to send a worthless forgery!

Sidney - Yes, it was the Bergen PAC.

Ryan - Thanks for sharing your experiences. From the sounds of it, Rob Zombie is one cool cat. Wish they could all be as nice and accommodating as he was with you.

Mark - I've pretty much chalked it up. Their tour manager (Pablo Gamboa) was a complete P.O.S. and could care less what anyone thought once they got their money. It's just bad business and an awful fan experience.

Comment by Rich on February 4, 2014 at 1:51pm: Wow, this just sheds a whole new light on this band after reading this. Other than being a negative experience and a huge ripoff, isn't this just about the worst PR? I'm assuming the people paying for these meet & greets are among their biggest fans, so what do they think they're doing to their fan base by aggressively crapping on these diehards?

Comment by Dustin Jones on February 4, 2014 at 3:51pm: Couldn't agree more, Rich. It was an absolute turnoff and I'll never attend another ZZ concert in the future.

Comment by Eric Hayden on February 5, 2014 at 8:44pm: Was the poster autographed?

Comment by roger epperson on February 6, 2014 at 3:51am: Dustin,

It was when they opened up for Aerosmith so I would guess it was 5 years ago.

Comment by Peter C. on February 8, 2014 at 12:28pm: My friend was at similar ZZ Top meet&greet and at the end of it, they got signed concert posters...

Are these signs authentic?