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Blink 182 USA Tour 2017


AudioFranzzz

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So I am one of "those people" that loves to meet celebrities. Don't know why. It's always been that way. I go to the comic shows and pay the money for photos and autographs. There is something about it that is just cool.

So I am willing to pay. But anything above $100 and I get into buyers remorse territory. I sprang for the $350 Blink 182 VIP and although it was great, and as much as I liked meeting them, you can't help but walk away feeling ripped off. $350 is a lot of money for anyone, and after your 5 seconds is over its a bit of a letdown watching that money vanish.

I can't fathom $750. That to me is just insanity.

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I don't really get the point of it to be honest, fair enough if you like it but I just see it as a colossal waste of money.

Knowing they're only meeting because you've lined their pockets makes me more annoyed than anything. People think they're worth $750 of your money for a chat for a couple minutes and a photo? Jesus Christ, pull your head out of your arse.

I think Blink is maybe coming to an end in the next couple of years so they're trying to milk every last penny out of it to set them up for life, suppose I can't blame them too much for that. 

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1 hour ago, Osgod said:

I just lost so much respect for Blink when they started charging a shitload of money for fans to be able to meet them.

It brings ripping off fans to a new level. 

I mean, it's called being famous lol. Sports stars do it, comic book artists do it, actors do it. Of course you can meet random "celebs" by randomly running into them, or stalking their tour bus, but to have a guaranteed organized meeting it is much more worth it IMO. I would much rather pay $50 for someone's autograph at an organized signing as opposed to standing outside their hotel room waiting for 5 hours and having to awkwardly ask for it.

And yeah, for lower end "celebs" you can run into them and they'll be incredibly kind and ask you where Burger King is because no one knows who they are.

All bands do this to some extent, and most are very high priced. Yes, it is milking your hardcore fans, but if they are willing to spend it (and they are) then whatever. My ETGBF package was $400, I got to see soundcheck (I'd pay ~$50 for this), a professional photo with them (I'd pay ~$75ish for this), a signed poster (worth $100), a handful of merch/stickers (~$50 worth). So there's $275 alone...and then I essentially paid $125 to hang out with Blink-182 for half an hour and had them sign about 5-6 items. Since I collect autographs, and Blink, it was absolutely worth it for me and an experience I will never forget. Under no other circumstance would I be able to carry around 3 massive vinyl albums and have them signed perfectly. Much less have a conversation with them, and get some photos with them. I'd pay $30-$75 per autograph alone, so for me personally it was well worth it.

Like I said, $750 is pushing it, but it does include a dinner, and private tour of the stage with a crew member which is pretty cool. The people who complain about this stuff are usually ones who would never care about this sort of "meeting" or autographs to begin with, so obviously to them it sounds like a waste of money. But to plenty of people, it is well worth it. Of course your financial situation can be a factor as well, but to some people (especially in NY), $750 isn't shit. I came up with $400 in like 3 days selling shit on eBay, it's not that bad.

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When I paid $250 (including pit ticket) to meet them and go to soundcheck etc. it was completely worth it to me.

Before blink wouldn't meet fans at all. If you think it's a waste of money then don't do it.

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Kind of weird how long it took bands to figure out the entire "VIP meet and greet" thing or maybe they were just scared that something might happens. Like freaks or security issues (Famous Burrito)

But Blink have actually been charging for a long time to meet them, just on a very small scale. I remember in 2001, they had ebay M+G offers that went for $1200-$1400 at auction. But it was only like 4 tickets per show.

 

They do it because it makes money, the more money, the better, if they could sell them for $30K a ticket, they would. Trust me.  If people don't like it, don't buy. No way in hell I'd pay $750 to meet them and I am someone who likes to meet bands. I could go on a week long cruise for that money!

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2 minutes ago, _Kyle_ said:

To me it will never be "worth it". I guess paying somebody to meet me isn't very appealing.

I don't get it either, I'd pay extra to see the show from the side stage so I didn't have to be in a crowd of sweaty people but I don't care much about meeting the band 

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8 minutes ago, _Kyle_ said:

To me it will never be "worth it". I guess paying somebody to meet me isn't very appealing.

If you think of meeting a celebrity like meeting an acquaintance you are going about it all wrong; even if money isn't involved.

They don't want to meet you, let alone strike up a conversation. They have millions of people trying to get at them, they can't be bothered.

You meet a celebrity for that "star struck" feeling. That's the entire point. You are getting an opportunity to meet your heros, , something that will never happen in your lifetime unless you paid the money. If you don't get "star struck" then of course it is 100% pointless. If your favorite celebrity walked up to you right now and it didn't leave you shitting yourself, then it is pretty obvious why you'd have no desire to do it.

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I didn't really want to "meet them" per se, no interest in some fake awkward conversation..I just wanted a pic with the band. 

Why? Not sure why. People spend money on all sorts of dumb shit.

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9 minutes ago, _Kyle_ said:

To me it will never be "worth it". I guess paying somebody to meet me isn't very appealing.

For me it's just cool to meet people you admire, even if they don't give a fuck, I still had a great conversation with Travis Barker/Matt Skiba/Mark Hoppus. Even if they hated every second of it, it was one of the best days of my life and I got some super sweet shit signed. (Again I collect autographs so this is a huge perk for me). You don't run into these people at McDonalds, so if you have to pay for an organized event, so be it. It's the same thing as me paying $100 for Reggie Jackson to sign a photo. (And I go to baseball signings all the time)

Stan Lee charges $100 to sign a comic and doesn't even look up at you, yet his line will go for hours and hours with people filing through. 

You have to set the price fairly high when only 8-10 are available. It also helps weed out the weirdos. 

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Well look, I met Max Bemis just last month after a show. I was walking to my car and he and his wife (Eisley's lead singer) were outside their hotel waiting for their credit card to arrive to check in. I was walking by, double-taked and stopped. I talked to them for 5-10 minutes and they were very nice and asked me questions and shook my hand and asked my name. Now I know he isn't uber famous or whatever, but I consider ....Is and Real Boy to be my favorite album. I told him that I loved that record, etc. That cost me nothing and I like knowing that. It felt genuine and special. I've seen SA like 10 times or something and I've never run into him until now.

Now paying $400 to meet Rivers Cuomo or whatever wouldn't be that special to me. Like Speedo said, they're just people and I don't think they're worth it in a way. It certainly doesn't make for the most interesting story.

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8 minutes ago, Speedo said:

They're just people.

They're just people who happen to be in a band that, despite you not liking them that much, have spent most of your life posting on message boards devoted them.

Just people

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1 minute ago, _Kyle_ said:

I think the community here is why I post here, because blink hasn't been all that interesting since the reunion...

Yeah, but you USED to really like the band, right?

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3 minutes ago, _Kyle_ said:

Well look, I met Max Bemis just last month after a show. I was walking to my car and he and his wife (Eisley's lead singer) were outside their hotel waiting for their credit card to arrive to check in. I was walking by, double-taked and stopped. I talked to them for 5-10 minutes and they were very nice and asked me questions and shook my hand and asked my name. Now I know he isn't uber famous or whatever, but I consider ....Is and Real Boy to be my favorite album. I told him that I loved that record, etc. That cost me nothing and I like knowing that. It felt genuine and special. I've seen SA like 10 times or something and I've never run into him until now.

Now paying $400 to meet Rivers Cuomo or whatever wouldn't be that special to me. Like Speedo said, they're just people and I don't think they're worth it in a way. It certainly doesn't make for the most interesting story.

That is cool you got to meet Bemis, I think he actually dislikes meeting fans and is very difficult to meet. I've heard numerous stories of it.

 

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They're just people who happen to be in a band that, despite you not liking them that much, have spent most of your life posting on message boards devoted them.
Just people

I like them fine, just fine. I just don't get my panties all wet meeting people in bands.

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

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3 minutes ago, _Kyle_ said:

Well look, I met Max Bemis just last month after a show. I was walking to my car and he and his wife (Eisley's lead singer) were outside their hotel waiting for their credit card to arrive to check in. I was walking by, double-taked and stopped. I talked to them for 5-10 minutes and they were very nice and asked me questions and shook my hand and asked my name. Now I know he isn't uber famous or whatever, but I consider ....Is and Real Boy to be my favorite album. I told him that I loved that record, etc. That cost me nothing and I like knowing that. It felt genuine and special. I've seen SA like 10 times or something and I've never run into him until now.

 

See I would much rather pay X amount to meet him in a setting where he is "working" as opposed to bothering him and his wife out in public. I don't even know who that is so I wouldn't know him if he was right next to me, but him asking your name and listening to your story is the same thing that happens in paid "meet and greets", and depending on the person they either genuinely care or don't give a fuck regardless of the setting.

Travis Barker and Mark Hoppus can't just walk around Walmart, but from what I've seen they are incredibly kind/genuine to people who approach them in public, which is exactly how I felt in our "organized meeting".

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