On many of their past tours, Van Halen have done "meet-and-greet" sessions backstage, prior to the show. Having particpated in a few of these, they are wonderful opportunities to meet the band and have a picture taken with them.

That said, it appears as if there will be no "meet-and-greets" this time around (nor were there any on the 2004 tour with Sammy).

My guess as to why, in both cases, is fairly simple: despite all of the talk about "new brother" and a "brotherhood like never before" and this being "a new band", when it's all said and done, these guys probably still don't like each other a whole lot (in particular, Ed and Dave; much like Ed and Sammy in 2004).

As was the case on the '04 tour, I'm guessing they will travel on seperate jets (in '04, Ed and Al travelled on one and Mike and Sammy on another). Possibly even stay in seperate hotels. In other words, keep their distance, so that all they have to do is get on stage with each other for 2 hours at a time, 3 or 4 times a week. And make millions in the process.

A meet-and-greet before each show would only add to the possible tension and stress. The less these guys see of each other off stage, the more likely they can make this work....

Maybe Its Because Thier not interesting In Getting MOBBED and Asked Questions By fanatical FANS like Myself:D

On many of their past tours, Van Halen have done "meet-and-greet" sessions backstage, prior to the show. Having particpated in a few of these, they are wonderful opportunities to meet the band and have a picture taken with them.

That said, it appears as if there will be no "meet-and-greets" this time around (nor were there any on the 2004 tour with Sammy).

My guess as to why, in both cases, is fairly simple: despite all of the talk about "new brother" and a "brotherhood like never before" and this being "a new band", when it's all said and done, these guys probably still don't like each other a whole lot (in particular, Ed and Dave; much like Ed and Sammy in 2004).

As was the case on the '04 tour, I'm guessing they will travel on seperate jets (in '04, Ed and Al travelled on one and Mike and Sammy on another). Possibly even stay in seperate hotels. In other words, keep their distance, so that all they have to do is get on stage with each other for 2 hours at a time, 3 or 4 times a week. And make millions in the process.

A meet-and-greet before each show would only add to the possible tension and stress. The less these guys see of each other off stage, the more likely they can make this work....


Holy shit, that's a lot of guess work there.

Did ya drum up that theory all by yourself?

Holy shit, that's a lot of guess work there.

Did ya drum up that theory all by yourself?

you can shit on that dude's theory...but deep down in the lower regions of your consciousness, you know he's right.

you can shit on that dude's theory...but deep down in the lower regions of your consciousness, you know he's right.

Shut the fuck up, junior.

I didn't ask you.

Shut the fuck up, junior.

I didn't ask you.

wow..really articulate...wouldn't expect anything else from a rothtard like yourself...maybe dave'll let you fluff him before the show...nah...that's your chick's job

Shut the fuck up, junior.

I didn't ask you.

and 1 other thing...this isn't the roth army...take your ghey attitude back there

Nah. Ed never liked meet and greets, he's a shy bastard. He barely tolerated soundchecks in '04, and often times didn't, according to scattered reports, my own included. Sure, he's appreciative for the kudos, he's not that walled off, but it surely gets old.

Those greets during FUCK and Balance and III were kewl n' all, but you can bet Ed would rather have not been there. Alex too, probably.

Dave, Sam, and Mike are the hands-on folk.

I never liked the idea of meet n' greets. Tempting to be sure, but just seems a little fanatical. Maybe for free, like Brett did, if you didn't have to PAY money to meet someone. It's one thing to run into one of them, like at the Hard Rock in Vegas at the pool shooting the shit while tossing back margaritas, or talking surfcat at Dana Point or playing poker at Morongo's middle stakes tables, or sizing up Glocks side by side in an Encino gun shop and sharing Shooter's Bible pointers. It's another thing entirely to have forced awkward pix taken in a cattle call lineup. Too fanboy for my tastes. How many times does Ed want to hear 'You are my hero.' 'You changed my life.' 'Thanks for all the music.' 'Tell Val I said hi.' 'Are you ever going to release Oakland '81?' "Will you play at my kid's birthday party?' And so on.

Dave, Sam, and Mike are the hands-on folk.


While Dave is extremely extroverted and loves to be in front of a camera (or behind a mic), I've heard he really doesn't do meet & greets and doesn't interact with fans much.

If I were them I wouldn't want the meet and greets either.

"Eddie, I can't believe I'm meeting you. Can you write "to my best friend ____ "on the autograph...Oh my, I can't believe what is happening...Can I take my photo with you?"

OK. Next in line.

"Eddie, I can't believe I'm meeting you. Can you write "to my best friend ____" on the autograph...Oh my, I can't believe what is happening...Can I take my photo with you?"

Etc. etc. etc. I'm sure some guitarists will tell him that he was their inspiration, blah blah blah. I am vomiting just thinking about it. I can't imagine how stagnant it would be to the group.

It's not the meet 'n greet people are gonna miss, it's the soundcheck. We got our autographs there.

It's also a pain in the ass and added expense for security and venue staff.
I bet they like the idea of just touring and playing without having to put their camera-friendly smiles on backstage.

I never thought meet & greets were up Dave's alley. I have the impression that he would rather maintain more of that distant, untouchable rock-star mystique, and I don't mean that in a bad way at all.

maybe it's because they don't deem it necessary to do a meet and greet.

Wait a second, I thought the 5 Star package included getting to meet the band and get a picture/autograph? Correct me if I'm wrong, because I haven't done the 5 Star thing before, but why else would you pay that kind of money?

Wait a second, I thought the 5 Star package included getting to meet the band and get a picture/autograph? Correct me if I'm wrong, because I haven't done the 5 Star thing before, but why else would you pay that kind of money?

consider yourself corrected

Wait a second, I thought the 5 Star package included getting to meet the band and get a picture/autograph? Correct me if I'm wrong, because I haven't done the 5 Star thing before, but why else would you pay that kind of money?

this is exactly the point that people were making before...read the ILAA website...no soundcheck/no meet and greet/no band interaction...

Wait a second, I thought the 5 Star package included getting to meet the band and get a picture/autograph? Correct me if I'm wrong, because I haven't done the 5 Star thing before, but why else would you pay that kind of money?

It clearly states that there will be no 'meet & greet' on this tour. I paid that kinda money to get the best seats I could right away... the backstage tour and pre-party is cool too.

Wait a second, I thought the 5 Star package included getting to meet the band and get a picture/autograph? Correct me if I'm wrong, because I haven't done the 5 Star thing before, but why else would you pay that kind of money?

Read my posts about it here:

http://www.vhlinks.com/vbforums/charlotte-four-and-five-start-sold-out-in-5-minutes-t39391.html

Nah. Ed never liked meet and greets, he's a shy bastard. He barely tolerated soundchecks in '04, and often times didn't, according to scattered reports, my own included. Sure, he's appreciative for the kudos, he's not that walled off, but it surely gets old.

Those greets during FUCK and Balance and III were kewl n' all, but you can bet Ed would rather have not been there. Alex too, probably.

Dave, Sam, and Mike are the hands-on folk.

I never liked the idea of meet n' greets. Tempting to be sure, but just seems a little fanatical. Maybe for free, like Brett did, if you didn't have to PAY money to meet someone. It's one thing to run into one of them, like at the Hard Rock in Vegas at the pool shooting the shit while tossing back margaritas, or talking surfcat at Dana Point or playing poker at Morongo's middle stakes tables, or sizing up Glocks side by side in an Encino gun shop and sharing Shooter's Bible pointers. It's another thing entirely to have forced awkward pix taken in a cattle call lineup. Too fanboy for my tastes. How many times does Ed want to hear 'You are my hero.' 'You changed my life.' 'Thanks for all the music.' 'Tell Val I said hi.' 'Are you ever going to release Oakland '81?' "Will you play at my kid's birthday party?' And so on.

VS, what was your experience at the soundcheck with Ed? The old thread was erased during the hack, or I would have looked it up there.

On many of their past tours, Van Halen have done "meet-and-greet" sessions backstage, prior to the show. Having particpated in a few of these, they are wonderful opportunities to meet the band and have a picture taken with them.

That said, it appears as if there will be no "meet-and-greets" this time around (nor were there any on the 2004 tour with Sammy).

My guess as to why, in both cases, is fairly simple: despite all of the talk about "new brother" and a "brotherhood like never before" and this being "a new band", when it's all said and done, these guys probably still don't like each other a whole lot (in particular, Ed and Dave; much like Ed and Sammy in 2004).

As was the case on the '04 tour, I'm guessing they will travel on seperate jets (in '04, Ed and Al travelled on one and Mike and Sammy on another). Possibly even stay in seperate hotels. In other words, keep their distance, so that all they have to do is get on stage with each other for 2 hours at a time, 3 or 4 times a week. And make millions in the process.

A meet-and-greet before each show would only add to the possible tension and stress. The less these guys see of each other off stage, the more likely they can make this work....

Maybe, lol, but what about a sound-check session?

For the past 10 years, about once a year, I have a reoccurring dream/nightmare that I finally get to meet Ed at a meet and greet and he's a complete ass to me, which would actually destroy me, so I don't care if he NEVER does another M&G. :smokin:

I've had some interaction with him while in the first row.....he stopped playing Unchained long enough to check out my tattoo, smile, and give me a big thumbs up before launching back into the song....that's good enough for me.

While Dave is extremely extroverted and loves to be in front of a camera (or behind a mic), I've heard he really doesn't do meet & greets and doesn't interact with fans much.

Dave clearly has a robotic switch...ON camera...Diamond Dave....OFF camera, leave me the fuck alone pal, go buy a ticket to tomorrows show and purchase a tshirt as well.

Wait a second, I thought the 5 Star package included getting to meet the band and get a picture/autograph? Correct me if I'm wrong, because I haven't done the 5 Star thing before, but why else would you pay that kind of money?

to get chicken wings backstage and not run into anyone... oh, and there's the crowd-free merch shopping... :rolleyes:

given that apparently the brokers are buying up most, if not all, of the vip packages, it would seem that the price of the packages without a meet and greet are being justified to the vh camp... a couple of years ago, kiss did their $1000 packages and had the meet and greet with photo as part of the deal, and you were only getting two original members... motley crue did it at less than half that on the reunion tour... i wouldn't pay those kinds of prices just to meet any of these guys, but that's me...

what would really win fans over is a free scheduled meet and greet that's limited to a certain number based on say, first 50 to respond to something, or with some kind of lottery system... that way, it stays "special," it's a manageable number, and even those who didn't qualify at least felt like they had a shot at it and will maybe make it through the next time... attaching a price to it does put it into two categories: that stalking, fan-boy and the rich, elite who want to buy their way in into anything, even if they're not entirely into it

in my mind, doing this is like free p.r. for the band and fosters a good rep to be spread among fans

for bands like vh, they have more money than they'll ever need, so they don't necessarily care about going the extra mile... i'm not slagging them, i'm just the incentive for them to put in the extra effort just isn't there...

too much thinking on this subject.

I think that SMOKING LOON was the biggest part of the failure of the 2004 reunion, this time around I think they are doing things the right way.
On 2004 I feel it was all hurried up, insted of getting along first, this time they have been rehearsing since October which I think is alot of time for this band.

I do think this time THEY ARE ALL HAPPY AND MATURE.

Because apparently they can sell out all the VIP packages at crazy prices anyways.

Seriously, I doubt one of those guys really would want to get out there and do it. Not to mention some of the inevitable questions they'd want to avoid.

Dave clearly has a robotic switch...ON camera...Diamond Dave....OFF camera, leave me the fuck alone pal, go buy a ticket to tomorrows show and purchase a tshirt as well.

I agree with VS about Sam, Dave, and MIke being hands on and Ed and Al aren't. Have you met DLR before? We see what we see of him and hear what we know from accounts with band members. I do know on alot of tours in his solo tenure all the backstage passes were only given to women.

I met Dave in 94' at a rock station event with 20 bands and he was there to sign autographs. He was cool and agreed to do it beforehand and it was advertised he would be there for signing autographs. I had a positive experience meeting him, and he has done things like this over the years.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Vinnie Velvet
Shut the fuck up, junior.

I didn't ask you.

wow..really articulate...wouldn't expect anything else from a rothtard like yourself...maybe dave'll let you fluff him before the show...nah...that's your chick's job
__________________
let's be real...EVH was GOD

check out my cover band at
http://www.mhzrock.com



Runnin' might put too much focus on the fact that there's a little kid on bass - knuck


---------------------------------------------------------

You sure about that?????:sssh:

Dave clearly has a robotic switch...ON camera...Diamond Dave....OFF camera, leave me the fuck alone pal, go buy a ticket to tomorrows show and purchase a tshirt as well.

Did this happen to you with Dave?

I suspect it's cause they wanna avoid hostile questions about Mike.
Granted if you're paying $700 for the privelege, you're prolly gonna
behave, but too much room for ugly scenes once they have a bad show,
and Ed doesn't wanna leave his kid open to that, much less himself.
Secondly, I don't think they really give a fuck about you or how much
you spent to see their dressing room. Sucker.

I don't think they really give a fuck about you or how much
you spent to see their dressing room. Sucker.

The door to their dressing room.

VS, what was your experience at the soundcheck with Ed? The old thread was erased during the hack, or I would have looked it up there.

LOL, I've told that story a lot. Suffice it to say, Ed was not a happy camper by any means at our soundcheck. However, others in different cities had a better experience. It was hit and miss depending on his mood.

As far as Dave not being fan-friendly, I've heard that's entirely hit and miss as well. Sometimes he'll blow right by fans, like at Morongo, sometimes he'll hang out, take pix, and shoot the shit and sign stuff, like in Santa Cruz. Another mood-dependent kinda guy. And I've seen Sam in not-so-great a mood either around a mob of fans. Celebrities are human just like us.

Ed and Dave and Sam moody fellas? Who'da thunk it. :)

They are not doing meet and greets for a couple reasons.

1. Because they do not like their die hard fans.
2. Wolfie will be puking before, during and after the show. (good luck 5-star people!) hahahaaaa!!!

Anyone who would pay $700 to eat tortilla chips and stare at my dressing room door is not a person I'd want to meet.

Anyone who would pay $700 to eat tortilla chips and stare at my dressing room door is not a person I'd want to meet.

Every once in a while.....someone comes along and makes more sense than any tome you could ever write. :thumb:

Anyone who would pay $700 to eat tortilla chips and stare at my dressing room door is not a person I'd want to meet.

LMFAO

Anyone who would pay $700 to eat tortilla chips and stare at my dressing room door is not a person I'd want to meet.

:funny:

Sig worthy. Holy shit.

Anyone who would pay $700 to eat tortilla chips and stare at my dressing room door is not a person I'd want to meet.That was too funny! :funny:

Going to a meet and greet is fanboyish but posting over 12000 times in a fan site isn't? You go man lol

Nah. Ed never liked meet and greets, he's a shy bastard. He barely tolerated soundchecks in '04, and often times didn't, according to scattered reports, my own included. Sure, he's appreciative for the kudos, he's not that walled off, but it surely gets old.

Those greets during FUCK and Balance and III were kewl n' all, but you can bet Ed would rather have not been there. Alex too, probably.

Dave, Sam, and Mike are the hands-on folk.

I never liked the idea of meet n' greets. Tempting to be sure, but just seems a little fanatical. Maybe for free, like Brett did, if you didn't have to PAY money to meet someone. It's one thing to run into one of them, like at the Hard Rock in Vegas at the pool shooting the shit while tossing back margaritas, or talking surfcat at Dana Point or playing poker at Morongo's middle stakes tables, or sizing up Glocks side by side in an Encino gun shop and sharing Shooter's Bible pointers. It's another thing entirely to have forced awkward pix taken in a cattle call lineup. Too fanboy for my tastes. How many times does Ed want to hear 'You are my hero.' 'You changed my life.' 'Thanks for all the music.' 'Tell Val I said hi.' 'Are you ever going to release Oakland '81?' "Will you play at my kid's birthday party?' And so on.

LOL, I've told that story a lot. Suffice it to say, Ed was not a happy camper by any means at our soundcheck. However, others in different cities had a better experience. It was hit and miss depending on his mood.

As far as Dave not being fan-friendly, I've heard that's entirely hit and miss as well. Sometimes he'll blow right by fans, like at Morongo, sometimes he'll hang out, take pix, and shoot the shit and sign stuff, like in Santa Cruz. Another mood-dependent kinda guy. And I've seen Sam in not-so-great a mood either around a mob of fans. Celebrities are human just like us.

Ed and Dave and Sam moody fellas? Who'da thunk it. :)

This is how I felt when I met Hulk Hogan when I was a kid around 11 or 12 years old, and thought wrestling was the shit. (Well, it still is sometimes!) Hogan was a complete douche bag, but I am sure he was nice to another little Hulkamaniac in another town. I think back now and even with my lame example, VS is right again, these folks are humans too. Even the coolest celebs who are nice on a regular basis must have days where they just want to be away from fans and the attention. This is the price they pay for wanting our adulation, time, support, and money I guess.

2 words for an actor who is also a tool even at a fan event- John Saxon. He was in the origninal Nightmare On Elm Street and Enter the Dragon. He was even a villain on the Six MIllion Dollar Man show. ( I loved that fucking show!) We went to a horror movie expo a few weeks ago in Rosemont, IL and most of the original cast of the 1st Nightmare on Elm Street movie were there. Even Robert Englund. JOhnny Depp was the only absentee for obvious reasons. My friend Brian wanted Saxon's autogrpah and he looked at us like we had some kind of disease. This was at an event where he was there to meet people and he still was a crotchety old fuck!

I did,; however get to meet Beth from Better Off Dead. That was a highlight.

This is how I felt when I met Hulk Hogan when I was a kid around 11 or 12 years old, and thought wrestling was the shit. (Well, it still is sometimes!) Hogan was a complete douche bag, but I am sure he was nice to another little Hulkamaniac in another town. I think back now and even with my lame example, VS is right again, these folks are humans too. Even the coolest celebs who are nice on a regular basis must have days where they just want to be away from fans and the attention. This is the price they pay for wanting our adulation, time, support, and money I guess.

2 words for an actor who is also a tool even at a fan event- John Saxon. He was in the origninal Nightmare On Elm Street and Enter the Dragon. He was even a villain on the Six MIllion Dollar Man show. ( I loved that fucking show!) We went to a horror movie expo a few weeks ago in Rosemont, IL and most of the original cast of the 1st Nightmare on Elm Street movie were there. Even Robert Englund. JOhnny Depp was the only absentee for obvious reasons. My friend Brian wanted Saxon's autogrpah and he looked at us like we had some kind of disease. This was at an event where he was there to meet people and he still was a crotchety old fuck!

I did,; however get to meet Beth from Better Off Dead. That was a highlight.

I failed to mention that Saxon and the others were charging from $15 to $25 for autographs too. Englund was $25, Saxon charged $20, and Amanda Wyss (Beth from Better Off Dead and she was Tina in Nightmare on Elm Street) charged $20. I only paid for Beth's autograph. My buddy he must have laid down over $125 to get autographs. I couldn't see paying that much for signatures. Plus in the case of Saxon he paid for the guy to be rude!!!

I think most ILAA customers are paying primarily to get a good seat...not to stare at a closed dressing room door. The way the stage is configured for this tour, if you are in the first row on the floor (center), it looks like you'll be 50-60 feet away from the stage.

paying $700.00 to sit in the first couple rows is rediculous.

paying $700.00 to sit in the first couple rows is rediculous.


Not if you look at the prices on that scalper site at the top of this forum.............$2300/per for section A front row in Philly.

Wait a second, I thought the 5 Star package included getting to meet the band and get a picture/autograph? Correct me if I'm wrong, because I haven't done the 5 Star thing before, but why else would you pay that kind of money?

Nope, no meet and greet, no soundcheck. Some promise of an exclusive gift, whatever that is. I did the 5 star in '04 in Atlantic City, best part was the soundcheck, worth the price just for that. This time around, nothing offered makes me want to pay for it. But to each his own.

Nope, no meet and greet, no soundcheck. Some promise of an exclusive gift, whatever that is.

Maybe it's an Oakland 81' DVD .:D

We went to Jacksonville, FLorida in 2004. Had 5 star. We lucked out!!!!
We got front row, RIGHT IN FRONT OF EVH.

Just like the Am/Ex commericals, it was freaking priceless. The sound check was really cool (lights on), Ed is shy, like I'd be, and you could tell he still can't believe people are so in love with his work.

Can imagine how awesome he's going to be now (if, for real) he's straight!

For every one of you that think 5 star isn't worth it; I've know countless others that hope, indeed, that you don't purchase. Let us real fans have them.

CRAZY DAVE, where are you? do you remeber Jeff & Lori in Memphis for the CABOS!!!!ON STAGE BABY!

HOW ABOUT OUR JAX Friends. Anyone up for STL?

We went to Jacksonville, FLorida in 2004. Had 5 star. We lucked out!!!!
We got front row, RIGHT IN FRONT OF EVH.

Just like the Am/Ex commericals, it was freaking priceless. The sound check was really cool (lights on), Ed is shy, like I'd be, and you could tell he still can't believe people are so in love with his work.

Can imagine how awesome he's going to be now (if, for real) he's straight!

For every one of you that think 5 star isn't worth it; I've know countless others that hope, indeed, that you don't purchase. Let us real fans have them.

CRAZY DAVE, where are you? do you remeber Jeff & Lori in Memphis for the CABOS!!!!ON STAGE BABY!

HOW ABOUT OUR JAX Friends. Anyone up for STL?


Oh shit..... The press conference has even brought out the Gator fans !:brickwall

God I hate you all !:D :thumb:

Go Buckeyes !!:devil:

Prices will vary from city to city. So far the range has been from $550
to $695 for the 5 star and from $300 to $350 for the 4 star.
per ILAA.

If you don't know who they are, you're' SOL.

Sorry, I posted in wrong forum earlier; doa!

For every one of you that think 5 star isn't worth it; I've know countless others that hope, indeed, that you don't purchase. Let us real fans have them.




There's no sound check this time around....so tell them to enjoy their $700 nachos.:smokin:

I have a magic rock that keeps tigers away, and I'm willing to sell it for $5000.

Before the show starts, I'll walk down from the nosebleeds and look for a buyer in the 5-star section. I don't think I'll have too much trouble finding one.

I might even bring two rocks...

I have a magic rock that keeps tigers away, and I'm willing to sell it for $5000.

Before the show starts, I'll walk down from the nosebleeds and look for a buyer in the 5-star section. I don't think I'll have too much trouble finding one.

I might even bring two rocks...
:funny: :funny: :funny:

Hmm... maybe... let me guess... coz they have become pussies? :D