I met Jenny Lewis, a big name in the world of indie rock, after her performance as an opening act at Seattle’s Key Arena this Saturday. It took waiting around for an hour near the buses, waving her newest record, until she emerged from the bus and came over to talk to me. I mostly just blubbered the usual “I’m your greatest fan” stuff, but she did sign the record and it was incredibly cool to talk to her.
So how many of you out there have done the old “wait for the band to come out” thing? Did it work? Were your experiences good, and was it worth the effort?
At the last concert I went to, I really wanted to wait, but decided to just buy a tshirt and leave. I ended up buying a tshirt from Nardwuar, who I wasn’t even aware was actually present, and met one of the guys from Novillero and Immaculate Machine. I took away the idea that, for some reason, I should just go hang out at the merch counter and not the exit. Of course, YMMV.
When I went to see Incubus with some friends, we waited behind the arena to see them come out and get on the bus with about 50 other people. They went almost straight to the bus and pulled off though.
I know what you mean. I went to see Matchbox 20 and Sugar Ray a while back, but before either of them came out on stage, we watched some random opening band. They weren’t bad but I got there a little late and didn’t know who they were. After Sugar Ray was done, there was a break so they could reset the stage and everything, so we went to the bar in the upstairs of the arena area. Some guy kept buying us drinks and talking about “his band” and we thought he could be some blowhard. Turns out, he was the singer of the opening band. Also, he was good buddies with the other bands, and Mark McGrath came out to say hello to him and his band-mates. We got to meet all of them and Mark before going back inside, and a few months later I heard a familiar song on VH1. It was Maroon 5, the band we had met in the bar, about a month before they released their debut album…
Brendon
I often go talk to bands after their gigs, at least to offer the usual platitudes. I keep it brief. I usually only go to clubs to see bands, so that’s a lot easier to do. I wouldn’t go wait out by the bus to meet anybody; that’s a little too fanboyish for me.
This reminded me…I met O.A.R. after a show at the Gator in Athens. They signed cds and such, but I didn’t have a cd, so they gave me a t-shirt.
I’ve also met Carbonleaf after a show at Little Brothers in Columbus…
Brendon
Most shows I’ve seen in the last decade (in smaller clubs) or so have the musicians coming out either before or after the show to sign autographes. The biggest name I ever talked to after a show was Elvis Costello on the Imperial Bedroom tour. Tres cool.
As An Arky implied above, stay away from the fan-boy gushing, keep it brief, and things usually go pretty well. Others I’ve talked (that I can think of right now) to afterwards have been:
Will Owsley
Tracy Bonham
Ben Folds
Bobby Messano
Train
Johnette Napolitano (Concrete Blonde)
Matthew Sweet
Paul Westerberg
I know there are a lot more, but that’s all I can come up with.
As a musician myself I would never do this – in fact, people have asked me to get autographs from other, actually well-known musicians on bills I have played on, and I just can’t. Even when they’re nice. And I have met a lot of famous musicians under these circumstances, though, and they range from really truly personable (Joe Strummer, The Pixies) to the heights of awful (Juliana Hatfield stands out, and she wasn’t even famous then).
I’m not a fanboy, but I’m a record collector. I’ve got some records autographed by a few folks, mainly Canadian artists. Bill Henderson of Chilliwack, Kelly Jay of Crowbar, Murray McLauchlan, Tommy Chong, and Paul White, the Capitol Records of Canada A&R rep who signed The Beatles to Capitol in Canada a year before they were picked up in the US. He signed my copy of the “Long Tall Sally” album. And I got a Vanilla Fudge single autographed by Carmine Appice, who gave a drum clinic at a store in my city. I probably have a few others. I’m not otherwise an autograph hound; these opportunities just came up, and I took advantage of them.
Oh heck yes, I’ve done it often, that’s how I got most of the things signed on my egowall. I can’t remember ever having a bad experience, and there’s just something wonderful about personally meeting musicians I really admire. It’s great to be able to say “thank you” face to face.
Same here. An advantage of clubs is that you can often see and meet people who then go on to be better-known, sometimes even famous. I first saw/met Tori Amos in a small club in Chicago called Schubas. This place is tiny. Every time I saw her after that she’d always recognize me and talk to me. I’ve seen and met lots and lots and lots of wonderful people there. A list would be long (though most of the names would be obscure).
I missed it, but my husband saw Sarah McLachlan at Schubas on her very first US tour. He was the only person waiting to talk to her after the show and he had a nice long conversation with her. Most recently, I’ve seen Imogen Heap (the 2nd pic is for foot fetishists), and KT Tunstall at Schubas. I’ve been able to hang out with people like Kirsty MacColl, which I treasure since she’s not with us anymore.
I’ve only done that a couple of times, not because it’s too fanboy/girl, in my case-ish, but because if they’re big enough to have a bus, they’re usually too big to talk to. Chances are there’s some kind of schmoozefest going on after the show and you could be waiting there for hours, or else the artist/band were whisked off while people were still clapping before the lights came up, and the only people using the bus are roadies. It’s generally not worth it to wait for bigger artists, unless you know for sure they’ll be out, and out fairly soon. Even then, if there are a LOT of people waiting, forget it. I don’t like clamoring hordes because I like to have an intimate conversation with the artist, even if brief.
I’m shocked that Jenny Lewis made you wait so long installLSC. She kinda goes down a notch or so in my esteem (which doesn’t affect how much I like her music). Sometimes people can get too big for their britches and forget who put them where they are. I guess she’s had plenty of mainstream success with Rilo Kiley and still has that mindset even though she’s starting over as an indie.
NOTE: Not that I think that it’s an artist’s obligation to meet people. I know they’re often tired and hungry and sometimes sick (or rightly worried about getting sick) but if they’re big enough to have a bus, they almost certainly have an assistant/manager/someone with them. The proper thing to do would be to send that someone out to the people who are waiting and explain that it’s just not going to happen, sorry, all apologies, thanks for coming, hope to see you next time. No one should feel too let down if an artist can’t, for whatever reason, come out and meet’n’greet, but it’s polite to let the fans know if that’s not going to happen. If you’re an artist and you’re right there (she was already in the bus) don’t make people wait and wait and wait and wait and wave records before you deign to go speak to them.
I don’t blame anyone who wants to meet people who’ve made music (or any art) that’s touched their lives.
Mr. S and I go to quite a few small-venue folkie-type concerts, so when you’ve been sitting five feet from the performer all night, it’s kind of hard for them to snub you. 
It’s nice going to smaller events where, as people have said, you can give your praises personally. We have even made friends with a few musicians this way, eventually having them stay for overnight visits, getting invited to their houses for Christmas, and so on.
We’ve also done the meet-n-greet with people you might have heard of: Arlo Guthrie, the Smothers Brothers, Don McLean, A. J. Croce, Jeff Daniels (yes, performing as a musician; we even got invited up on stage to dance for one song!), Al Stewart, Karan Casey . . . hm, that’s all I’ve got at the moment, but I’m sure there have been more. Leon Redbone wouldn’t come out, but he agreed to sign an autograph for my friend’s mother.
Perhaps the most amusing NON-meet was before a Proclaimers concert in Milwaukee in (I think) 1994. A few dozen people were waiting out front (this was at the Rave) for the doors to open; the tour bus was already parked around the side. After a while the bus opens up and in through the front door goes the band, carrying their wardrobe and stuff. The kicker was one of the actual Proclaimers (which one? who can tell, they’re identical twins) carrying his ironing board, giving us all a friendly “how ya doin?” smile and nod as he went by. 
That was an awesome concert; it’s basically an open dance hall and we ended up standing up against the stage. We could have untied their shoelaces if our arms had been about a foot longer.)
Slight hijack -
This thread made me think of the time that my band played at my son’s elementary school on the last day of school. We were all dads of kids at the school, so it was a fun thing to do. But man it was hot in the gym - and humid as hell; I thought I was going to faint! Anyway, we played maybe 7 or 8 songs and the kids rocked out. As soon as it was done, I walked out of the gym and sat down just to get some air. Sure enough, about 10 little 8 and 9-year-old girls came up with pieces of paper - and CRAYONS! - asking me for my autograph! It was so cute and hilarious. I signed them “Jake’s Dad” and made sure I talked with each of them and asked them what kind of music they liked.
Oh, and I heard later than one kid was with their mom in the car later when a song we had played - What I Like About You - came on the radio and the kid got all excited and said “Mom!! That band played at our school!!” and the mom, who is a friend of ours, said “why yes - yes they did.” 
I’ve had my share of other fan situations, but that is by far the one I will remember the most…
sorry for the slight hijack!
That’s funny, WordMan! My kids think I’m a rock star. Which is flattering and all, but they basically think anyone who plays rock music is a rock star. So their friends come over to the house and see my guitars and ask about them and my kids just shrug and say “they’re my dad’s; he’s a rock star”. It’s kind of hard to explain (admit?) to them how far from rock stardom I actually am… :o