Tuesday 17 October 2017

Blogtober - Day 16

They say you should never meet your idols. As you don’t know them the picture in your head of them is always better than how they are in real life. But you know what, I disagree. 


I hate the word idol, as I don’t have anyone that I idolise as such. However, I do have favourite bands, actors etc that I absolutely love and have had the pleasure of meeting numerous times over the years so I feel like I’m qualified enough to write this blog post. 


Personally I’ve only ever had wonderful experiences with my favourite artists/actors. I mean I met one of my favourite band members on a train once and he invited me to sit with him and played me songs that he’d recorded and not released. The same person years ago, also invited fans (including myself) onto his tour bus to play card games. These days for me just show what genuinely nice people some people are, I would’ve been so happy with just getting a photo but instead I got one of the most memorable / amazing days of my life and I’m so very thankful to this day that he did both those things. Another great experience was when one of my favourite actors spent hours after his play signing autographs and taking photos with people who had seen his play. He genuinely took a minute with everyone who wanted to meet him despite the fact he’d been on stage for hours. I was one of the last to meet him and it was gone midnight so the fact he did this was so nice especially as you go to see the play and not for a meet and greet at the end.


On the other hand my friend met her favourite singer at a paid for meet and greet and was literally shoved in for a photo and shoved straight out again. As she was a huge fan she was still thrilled she got to meet her favourite singer but slightly disappointed it was so rushed and didn’t get to say anything she wanted to say. Years ago, I met a singer (who is now hugely successful!) and the same thing happened. The security at this event was just pushing people in and out for a photo and the singer barely uttered a world to anyone. If this person was my favourite artist I think I may have been a little unhappy with this experience. 


With the rise of paid for meet and greets perhaps there is now a culture where it turns more into a cattle market. You’re pushed in for a photo, then out to try rush as many people through as physically possible. Which is great I suppose as lots of people still get to meet their idols but on the other hand it’s that’s rushed are people really getting a good experience from it? Therefore proving the point that you should never meet your idols as they just look a bad person when they don’t have chance to say anything to the fan they’re meeting.


I first met my favourite band member at a cd signing which is ridiculously rushed and your not allowed photos. However, he told me he liked my tshirt, I burst out crying (I was 11 at the time ok...) and it was the best moment of my life for years. In that respect I suppose it’s what the person wants from an experience. For me, at the time just seeing my favourite celebrities in the flesh meant everything to me so even signings were just the most incredible experience for me. However, if you’re expecting to meet someone and have a full blown conversation with them perhaps your experience won’t be as good as this very rarely happens. You have so much you want to say to these people, to thank them for etc and sadly you just don’t get the time to in most circumstances.


I haven’t named names in this as I don’t want to label people who I think have been really nice and on the other hand I also didn’t want to slag anyone off either. Maybe I’d say if my friend had met her favourite artist randomly in the street it would’ve been a completely different experience to what she got at the paid for meet and greet so I really don’t want to judge anyone. Truthfully I love meeting my favourite musicians / actors, the buzz you get is indescribable. 


Has anyone else met anyone famous? Would love to hear how you felt the experience went.


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