How to Meet a Band (Evanescence, Or Any of Your Favorite Bands)

If you're a huge fan of Evanescence, or any bands for that matter, it must be a dream come true if you could meet them in person, take a picture and get their autographs, instead of just seeing them perform live.

But before we continue, I'd like to admit one thing:

I wasn't lucky enough to meet them when they came to my country, Indonesia, for the first time ever (after 9 years of waiting!). I was the closest only when I managed to get to the front row. But it was my first concert and I've learned so much from the experience, so I absolutely believe that I'd be able to meet them next time.

Now from what I've learned, here are some ways to get to meet Evanescence, or any other bands that you are a huge fan of:

1. Be the admin of your local fan base

When Evanescence came to the Philippines, three admins of the fan base in Manila were lucky enough to get backstage passes (although all the fans were also able to get to meet Amy Lee and get her autograph during the signing session). When they came to Indonesia, the admins of the Indonesian fan base also got a meet and greet chance, along with other fans who won meet and greet contests and quizzes (I wasn't lucky enough to win any of them).

But of course you can't just be the administrator of the fan base, because you have to help the promoter. For example, the fan base admins in Indonesia were trusted by the promoter to handle tickets for fan club members and also quizzes on twitter.

2. Stay tuned for contests

Like what we've discussed previously, lucky fans can have the chance to meet the band. You just have to be on the lookout for contests. Usually such contests are held on twitter by the promoter or concert sponsor, as well as radio stations.

Joining the official fan club of your favorite band, for Evanescence it's EvFanClub, may also help because they also offer a chance for a meet and greet. But for Evanescence, the official fan club usually only offer meet and greets for U.S. shows. Since I don’t live in the U.S., I don’t have the membership.

So you should follow the official twitter accounts of the promoter, concert sponsor, as well as your local fan base, or join your band's official fan club so you won’t miss out any contests. But in my case, I already entered every meet and greet contest/quiz, but didn’t win any of them (dang…!).

3. Wait at the airport

This was my mistake. I didn't come to the airport in Jakarta because I already booked my flight for the next day (I live in a very small town far, far away from Jakarta). You can actually meet the band, especially if they're not that huge in your country so not many people will come to the airport, or if they arrive on Monday or something when most people are busy. For example, you can watch this video on youtube showing that it's actually not that difficult to get their autographs at the airport in Singapore (that's after they performed in Jakarta). I should've done this *sigh*

4. Wait at the hotel

Find where the band is going to stay at. In my case, I was able to find out that they would stay at Hotel Sultan as the press conference before the concert was held at the hotel. Again, I was stupid enough by not going to the hotel because I thought I could just do the next step:

5. Wait at the venue or near the tour bus

From what I've read on EvThreads forum, fans can often meet the band after a concert if they are just willing to stay very late at the venue, wait and be patient. But sometimes this may not work if the band doesn’t want to come out. But if it works, usually not all band members come out. From what I've seen on youtube, usually it's just Amy Lee. But who knows, you may get lucky.

I actually tried this myself with two of my new friends I met at the concert, but I could't find the bus and my friends decided to leave the venue. I believe that we didn't stay there late enough.

Well, hopefully next time when they come back. Or maybe I can get to the other side of the world while they're still touring o_O

By the way, those are just the tips I've learned from my mistakes. I believe that there are still various other ways on how to meet a band. Maybe Free Backstage Passes by Ryan Even can help.