Inspired by this story - fans drop four Franklins (£235, C$436, €287) to stand an arms length away from Avril Lavigne to have a photo taken backstage. The awkward results are indeed most amusing (my favourite is the guy with the thumbs-up). One assumes they got to say a brief ‘hi’ to her too.
Are there any celebrities around today who you would spend four hundred dollars or the equivalent for a similar experience - a quick meeting and photo (at arms length, mind)?
Nope. The exact opposite of that experience was when I saw Elvis Costello a couple years back. He would pull people out of the audience to sit on stage and have a cocktail while he performed. Some of he people were taking photos with him as he performed. It just cost the price of the ticket.
Nope. I’d buy 'em a drink. That’s probaly about it. I might donate to a charity to hang out with a celeb, if it was something I’d support anyway and I thought they were doing it in the right spirit.
I’d pay $400 to have my picture taken with John Lennon.
Gross.
While visiting San Francisco last year we adjusted our travel plans to see my gf’s favorite comedian, Jimmy Dore, the next town over. So we got a hotel there, spent a day, shushi and the whole nine- maybe it didn’t add up to a $400 leg of the vacation but it was getting there. We saw his stand up routine and hung out with him for a long time after the show- he even bought me a beer. Him and his team turned out to be very down-to-earth, likeable folks with a somehow old-fashioned “California” sense of what celebrity means, which was very interesting to us. And my gf got her picture taken with him. It made her happy, so mission accomplished.
But just to stand there for 10 seconds? I don’t know, maybe with Obama, maybe Elon Musk. One with the Queen of England would make a good heirloom even though I don’t really approve of royalty (people could ask, “Who’s that old lady standing next to Try2B Comprehensive?!?”). I can’t think of an actor I’d pay $400 for, “Say cheese! Okay, see ya!”
I like the dude enthusiastically throwin’ the horns while Avril gives a half-assed hand gesture herself.
No, I wouldn’t pay $400 for any photo of me with a celebrity. Unless maybe it was the sort of photo that ruins marriages and political careers but then the “photo” part would be pretty secondary. Be a nice keepsake though.
I remember seeing this story over the weekend, and it just goes to show how awful a lot of mainstream acts can be towards their fans.
I have been to probably 150 or so concerts, and I have paid extra exactly once to meet the musicians back stage, but considering I got a signed poster and was able to split the cost such it only worked out to about $20 and I was meeting Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, and Yngwie Malmsteen (all the stories about what a douche Yngwie is are true, Satch and Vai were really cool guys though), so I was okay with it.
Other than that, I’ve never paid a cent above ticket price to meet any musicians. In fact, even ones that have meet and greets organized by the venue and/or label will still usually come out and mingle with the fans. And, frankly, musicians that actively want to mingle end up being much more interesting experiences. If you do the whole meet and greet thing, you pay the money, you get to say hi, maybe have them sign something, then get a photo and move on. When they mingle, you can still do all of that, but you can just plain have a regular conversation with them. And, quite frankly, it’s a lot more interesting to relate to them as human beings than as musician/fanboy.
As a result, I’ve met many of my favorite musicians, and some I’ve even had lengthy conversations with. I have some distinct memories of just hanging out after a show and hearing funny touring stories or, especially for non-American bands touring the US, hearing about how it is back home or some of the things they find interesting about seeing the US. Hell, one band actually hung out and just chatted with me and one or two other people for about 3 hours after a show, if they hadn’t already been one of my favorites, it’s exactly that sort of experience that would have made them so. And besides that, I’ve had more than a few hour long or so conversations.
So, yeah, I will NEVER pay for a meet and greet again, much less as much as $400. If I get a chance to say hi and maybe get a picture, cool, if we can have a good conversation, awesome. But paying just to say hi and learning nothing about them and not even getting to shake their hand? Pass.
I wouldn’t pay anything. I wouldn’t pay to even have a picture taken with Paul McCartney, and I cherish the man.
Rihanna wins! Rihanna wins!
There are many celebrities I would love to work with, so I could get to know them on a professional and then perhaps a social level.
Brief fleeting glimpses are all very well, but not worth paying for.
I paid $20 extra dollars for a “VIP” ticket, which got me a signed tour poster, a CD and into a meet and greet with Richard Thompson. The dozen of us who were there did also get to take a photo with him.
He did not cup my boobs (which will only make sense if you follow AClockworkMelon’s link)
It was a wonderful concert, and the perks I got were well worth $20. As I typed that I wondered what the ticket price for the Avril Lavigne concert was. I paid $80 instead of $60 for a sweet seat and all the extras. What does an Avril Lavigne ticket go for? Then to pay $400 on top of that for an awkward photo?
For $400 I’d want the artist to give me a guitar lesson or dedicate the song I requested to me onstage. So I guess my answer to the OP is no, there isn’t anyone I’d pay $400 to stand sort of near to pose for one photo.
I would maybe pay $400 for some kind of sex act with a celeb, but for just a pic? Seems like a poor consumer choice.
Huh. Avril’s been around for a long time. I thought she was a has-been by now. But obviously there are people willing to pay for this. I’m not one of them, but I can’t hold it against her. Good old-fashioned capitalism at work.
Arm’s length? No way, even if I would pay to meet a celebrity no way I want to meet anyone who makes me stay an arm’s length away.
I would demand both…
I think I would value a $400 photo less than a $0 photo. If they’re charging you $400 just to be seen in the same room as you, that doesn’t sound like an experience you want to cherish.
My favorite is the girl with one eye closed and her tongue out. $400 for a pic taken while she was blinking. Ouch.
When Hugh Jackman was on Broadway doing his one man show, he did fundraising for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids and for $1000 you could get your photo with him on stage after the show.
There were lines through the house every night. He raised over $1 million.
Yeah, the pic should be included with the sex act, to be sure.