MEET & GREET

[RUSHian62]

Meet and greets must be uncomfortable for Alex and Geddy (they are tired from the road, etc.) , and meeting over enthusiastic fans I'm sure takes it's toll. But they are 'working', so it's different than meeting them in public.

I've never met the guys (on tour or off), but I did get to meet Tom Schultz

from Boston and an open mike coffee house, and I got to chat with him for a few minutes- a real down to earth guy. I told him how he inspired me and how much I loved his guitar playing. He asked me what guitar and amp I used and so on. I was too shy about asking for an autograph, but I'll always remember it!

[CMWriter]

A girl I know on DeviantART posted a journal saying that she got to go to a Meet & Greet at the most recent show. She said it was a really great experience and she was graciously thanked for the painting she gave Alex and Geddy.

I was jealous, but I congratulated her wholeheartedly. (: And she's around my age. How many teenage girls can say they've met RUSH?

 

Good luck everyone entering!

[Cosy Toes]

QUOTE (Todem @ Mar 30 2011, 05:19 PM)

QUOTE (GTIMANiac @ Mar 30 2011, 12:10 PM) As much as I am looking forward to "meeting" them, if you can call it that. I do not see them as celebrity. More of someone I have a great respect for and admire their work, similar to an author or researcher. Neil? Eh, he is so pretentious I have no desire to meet him. Surprised he has not locked himself away Howard Hughes style... I don't think Neil is pretentious. I think Neil is a true social hermet. He does not handle meeting strangers well at all and I respect him for not doing something he is very uncomfortable doing. It makes it a more pleasent experience for all of us. I would hate to get a cold shoulder from someone doing a meet and greet. That is more insulting to me than the guy just not being there.   I thought Neil explained it well in BLTS and really in Limelight. That song says it all. What's a hermet?   My daddy got cold-shouldered by Neil, and Daddy didn't even want to meet him. Neil should be locked away in a padded cell and only brought out for concerts. (Not for recording as Rush will never do any decent songs again)

[Todem]

QUOTE (Cosy Toes @ Apr 1 2011, 06:04 PM)

QUOTE (Todem @ Mar 30 2011, 05:19 PM) QUOTE (GTIMANiac @ Mar 30 2011, 12:10 PM) As much as I am looking forward to "meeting" them, if you can call it that. I do not see them as celebrity. More of someone I have a great respect for and admire their work, similar to an author or researcher. Neil? Eh, he is so pretentious I have no desire to meet him. Surprised he has not locked himself away Howard Hughes style... I don't think Neil is pretentious. I think Neil is a true social hermet. He does not handle meeting strangers well at all and I respect him for not doing something he is very uncomfortable doing. It makes it a more pleasent experience for all of us. I would hate to get a cold shoulder from someone doing a meet and greet. That is more insulting to me than the guy just not being there.   I thought Neil explained it well in BLTS and really in Limelight. That song says it all. What's a hermet?   My daddy got cold-shouldered by Neil, and Daddy didn't even want to meet him. Neil should be locked away in a padded cell and only brought out for concerts. (Not for recording as Rush will never do any decent songs again) Seriously?   Whatever man.

[Snyder80]

QUOTE (Cosy Toes @ Apr 1 2011, 06:04 PM)

QUOTE (Todem @ Mar 30 2011, 05:19 PM) QUOTE (GTIMANiac @ Mar 30 2011, 12:10 PM) As much as I am looking forward to "meeting" them, if you can call it that. I do not see them as celebrity. More of someone I have a great respect for and admire their work, similar to an author or researcher. Neil? Eh, he is so pretentious I have no desire to meet him. Surprised he has not locked himself away Howard Hughes style... I don't think Neil is pretentious. I think Neil is a true social hermet. He does not handle meeting strangers well at all and I respect him for not doing something he is very uncomfortable doing. It makes it a more pleasent experience for all of us. I would hate to get a cold shoulder from someone doing a meet and greet. That is more insulting to me than the guy just not being there.   I thought Neil explained it well in BLTS and really in Limelight. That song says it all. What's a hermet?   My daddy got cold-shouldered by Neil, and Daddy didn't even want to meet him. Neil should be locked away in a padded cell and only brought out for concerts. (Not for recording as Rush will never do any decent songs again) Anyone old enough to be posting on a relatively adult forum and still referring to their father as daddy, may be the one in need of a padded room. Grow up.

[30kwpa]

QUOTE (Snyder80 @ Apr 3 2011, 09:05 AM)

QUOTE (Cosy Toes @ Apr 1 2011, 06:04 PM) QUOTE (Todem @ Mar 30 2011, 05:19 PM) QUOTE (GTIMANiac @ Mar 30 2011, 12:10 PM) As much as I am looking forward to "meeting" them, if you can call it that. I do not see them as celebrity. More of someone I have a great respect for and admire their work, similar to an author or researcher. Neil? Eh, he is so pretentious I have no desire to meet him. Surprised he has not locked himself away Howard Hughes style... I don't think Neil is pretentious. I think Neil is a true social hermet. He does not handle meeting strangers well at all and I respect him for not doing something he is very uncomfortable doing. It makes it a more pleasent experience for all of us. I would hate to get a cold shoulder from someone doing a meet and greet. That is more insulting to me than the guy just not being there.   I thought Neil explained it well in BLTS and really in Limelight. That song says it all. What's a hermet?   My daddy got cold-shouldered by Neil, and Daddy didn't even want to meet him. Neil should be locked away in a padded cell and only brought out for concerts. (Not for recording as Rush will never do any decent songs again) Anyone old enough to be posting on a relatively adult forum and still referring to their father as daddy, may be the one in need of a padded room. Grow up. You. No you. Huh uh, you. I know ya are but what am I? You're a bigger one. My daddy can beat your daddy.... C'mon people, please. Don't we ALL need a padded room from time to time? My wife is 44 and calls her daddy, daddy. I call him Pa (like Opie Taylor called Andy) and he ain't even my daddy. Gee wiz.... I think the meet & greet dealio is just fine. If they didn't wanna do it, they wouldn't. I met Geddy at The Agora Ballroom the night before RUSH were to play The Omni here in Atlanta 1983. A friends very "blond" date for the evening used her "appearance" to get us past security stating she was "with the band". The upper level was roped off for guests of Polygram Recs. She continued to "speak" and I knew it was done. She turns and asked Geddy "so like, who are you, what do you do... Geddy replied... um, I'm like IN THE BAND. Oh cool. So like where are you from? Like uummm... Canada. Slight awkward pause... not sure she knew what Canada was. I closed my eyes, covered my face with my hands and slowly peaked out through my fingers. Geddy saw this and knew I felt my chance to say Hello was quickly diminishing. He turned and said Hi. I replied Hello Sir... ummm. I'm a big fan of y'all's and I know you hear this crap all the time, like I got all your records, and bootlegs (which I do) and you guys are awesome (which you are) and blah, blah so I just wanna say thanks, man... it's an honor. He said no, it's ok, thanks for that and asked what I thought about the band (Golden Earring was performing) and I said they're doing pretty good. I came to see Scandal cuz I think Patty Smyth is a hot little number. He nodded with raised eyebrows like, yeah man, whatever. (Going somehwere? Going somewhere. OOooK... yeah, that look ) He then politely leaned in, shook my hand and said he had to get going. I said thanks man. He said no, thank you. We appreciate the support and we'll see ya tomorrow yes? I said yes sir, I'll be there. I got crappy seats so you won't see me, but I'll definitely see you. He said fair enough and nice meeting you. I said yes sir, right back atcha. That was that. I was of course very pleased to meet someone I respected and "looked up" to even though he's considerably shorter than me, but was very impressed that he took a bit of his time and spent it with me. Just cuz I dig what he does. I know Alex (who was not present at that moment) is the same way. They do respect their fans and reach out to US best they can. As for Neil? None of the bad tragic stuff happened yet and no he wasn't there. So he doesn't like all that stuff. Big whoop. I might not agree with it completely but who am I? He and I are similar in that when I had my framing crew/company, I was the coolest guy all except for during work. Then I was a totally different person. A real asshole for sure. But soon as the tools are put up, I'm cool guy again. He shows up, does his job and goes about his business, that's it. I got semi-snubbed by Bill Russell one time. I asked him to sign my game program for that day and he said sorry, don't do autographs. I apologized and was about to leave when he asked what I thought about the game so far? We talked for maybe two minutes and shook hands and done. He just doesn't sign stuff but was really cool. So, sometimes ya never know. Sometimes it's great and sometimes ya get yer little feelers hurt. If you are over sensitive and might not can handle any disappointments, it may be best to avoid those situations completely. And keep in mind that one, they have been doing this for decades, they don't have to acknowledge you or me or anyone at all, ever. Two, there are a lot of whacked-out people out there. You / they have to be real careful cuz anything can happen...

[garbo]

I get Neil's perception on people and completely agree with him (despite the fact that I would love to discuss books with him, but whatever. I also have friends for that).

 

I know so many people who have met celebrities and truly believe they are friends with those celebrities. They then follow them around with this insane belief in their head and it's terrifying. Neil is there to do his job and I think he's in the right when he puts up those boundaries between himself and people that have the potential to be insane. Not saying everyone is, but there are crazies out there.

 

Would I want to have a meet and greet with Geddy and Alex? I don't know. I've meet some celebrities from doing films when I lived in Austin and sometimes it's fun; when they're working it's not so much (mainly because they're busy and you're just an "extra"). This would be a different experience, fast paced, and what not. I'm fine with just seeing them play live.

 

But yeah... I'm very big into boundaries. I don't think there's anything wrong with Neil's stand about fans. If anything, I agree with him.