Quote:
Originally Posted by bryce5.23.88
I met Damien after a Swell Season show at the El Rey in Los Angeles (probably 2007?). I had gone to the show by myself. Glen and Mar played a beautiful show, and they surprised the crowd by bringing Damien out to play a song towards the end of the show. I was fairly close to the front and had gotten a few pictures on my point and shoot camera.
Afterward, a gentleman approached me and said he was from the LA Weekly and wanted to use my pictures for his write up of the show ( http://www.laweekly.com/music/live-i...season-2405935). He said that he couldn't offer payment for the pictures, but I could use his VIP bracelet to get into the afterparty upstairs. I said yes, of course. I put on the bracelet, walked upstairs, and Damien Rice was the first person I saw. He was talking to someone so I hung back for a minute, rather awkwardly... I wasn't yet 21 so I didn't want to try to get a drink at the bar. But I basically approached Damien and just told him that I loved his music and blah blah blah. It was awkward. He shook my hand. I think I asked about a new album that he had said he was working on at the time ... Not sure if anyone around here remembers, but he mentioned in an interview around this time (2006-2007) that he was working on some kind of environmental benefit record with some friends of his. He told me that he hadn't really started work on it. I remember saying something about the irony of meeting him at Glen and Marketa's show because I had just met Glen and Marketa at one of his shows a few months earlier. Then we walked downstairs and headed outside. We shook hands again at the door and I left, just as the crowd outside noticed him and began a mild swarm.
I left this interaction with the sense that I don't want to go out of my way to meet people I admire in the future. If it happens, great, but no more waiting around after shows. He was nice enough, but I felt a little guilty for bothering him, knowing how conflicted he is about his fame.
I did get Lisa's autograph on a couple of polaroids (yay instant film development!) from her show at the Troubadour after Sea Sew came out. I didn't meet her though. I recognized Una after the show and asked her if she could have Lisa sign them. She excitedly agreed. |
Hi there, I just wanted to say... I totally understand why you feel the way you do about not really wanting to meet people you admire in the future, but I think you handled that situation really really well. If he kept talking to you and walked out with you/at the same time as you, I'd say he was totally fine with how you handled yourself. Don't feel bad!
I also think where and how you meet people you admire can make a big difference. There's only so much interaction you can have after a show behind a venue with a lot of other people clamoring to meet the same person. Not to say I don't get why people do that - I totally totally do get it. But I do think it can make for a weird memory, and I understand why you're turned off of it. That said though, if there are ever other ways to meet people you admire (book signings, run-ins, friends of friends), I hope you won't avoid it. I've had some amazing experiences meeting people I admired, and very very few bad ones (and honestly, even my bad ones were really amusing in many ways).
So next time someone hands you a VIP pass, I hope you'll still use it!
