If you’d be happy with a hello/handshake/autograph then you could try hanging around the backstage exit before or after the show. This is difficult at large venues (there may be multiple exits) and requires a lot of standing around and waiting with a change of nothing to show for it, but if you’re patient it can work. I’ve only attempted this at small clubs, but I know people who’ve done it at stadiums and come away with a nice story.
There will be a lot of other people hanging around too though, so it’s possible that even if Sting does come past and decides to stop and chat you won’t be able to get near him.
A friend of mine met Sting backstage at a show he did in LA last year.
My friend said it was a little pathetic because Sting was basically crying about how the tabloits keep talking about his ability to have all-night sex but, the reality is that he’s impotent.
As others have noted, a “backstage pass” often isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. I used to win free concert tickets from local radio trivia contests on a semi-regular basis, and several times, the tickets came with “backstage passes.” The first time that happened, I was really psyched! I’d won Rush tickets, and had this idiotic notion I’d be hanging out and shooting the breeze with Geddy and Alex before the show. No such luck! Instead, I was quarantined backstage room with about 20 or 30 other nobodies (who were equally thrilled to be hanging out with ME, I’m sure!). None of the band members ever showed up (in fairness, nobody at the radio station ever promised they would).
Interesting anecdote: in the book “The Love You Make,” I read that backstage passes were invented by the Beatles back in 1964, and that the purpose of these passes was to keep people AWAY from the band! The whole idea was, keep all the fans and reporters stashed away, munching on cheap hors d’oeuvres, FAR from the dressing rooms where the band members REALLY are!
I don’t know if that’s true, but based on my experience, it’s quite plausible. It’s fun to win concert tickets, and it’s a thrill to win backstage passes for the first time. But don’t get too excited.
P.S. Lest you get too discouraged, I DID get to meet a performer backstage once. Once. But it wasn’t a rock star, it was Bill Cosby. Now, Bill was as nice as he COULD have been under the circumstances, but he just didn’t have TIME to do more than sign an autograph and turn away from me. Face it, a performer has a lot to think about and a lot to do, right before a concert. Most likely, the last thing he wants to do is make small talk with fans, at that point.
I’d be happy to give you the hook-up here, BBJ, if not for the fact that my floor seat/backstage powers only extend to Madison Square Garden. Even if Sting were playing the Garden this tour (which his is not), I don’t know if you’d be willing to fly 1,500 miles to meet the man.
