2018 was a pretty good year for me meeting some of my favorite bands. I went to a total of five meet and greets this year and I am so thankful for the opportunities. I had met all of them except for one band in full in previous years and I can tell you that it never gets old. Meeting your music idols feels like a dream every time. My mom always says to me when I mention a meet and greet I want to go to, “But you’ve already met them, you don’t need to meet them again.” She somewhat has a point. Although I have met some bands before, each time is a different experience. For example – I will be very honest – the first couple of times I met Sleeping With Sirens I was not a huge fan of Kellin Quinn because of how he was acting. Then the last I met them (you can read below) he was so fun!
If you have never gone to a meet and greet before, maybe because you do not know what it is like or because you are nervous (I get nervous every time), keep reading and maybe I can encourage you to meet your favorite artists.
February 10, 2018 – Sleeping With Sirens
I am in the front seat and my mom is driving in front of Spokane’s Knitting Factory. We see a tour bus and suddenly, Kellin Quinn walks out towards us and very quickly my mom says hi and he responded! They chat for about 15 seconds and my jaw drops. “Wow,” I begin to say, “what a friendly guy!” That got me even more excited for the actual meet and greet. At the time of the meet and greet, Kellin performed “Roger Rabbit” acoustic. Then it came time for the actual meeting. It was my turn. I walked in front of them all and said, “I danced for 14 years and I would love it if we posed as if we were dancers, like ballerinas.” And that is what we did. Well, except for Kellin who decided to stick out his middle finger, so I put a black heart in front of it as an edit. (Justin was not feeling well, so he did not pose.)
March 7, 2018 – Pvris
Let me start off by just saying that I do not like this picture. Worst “pose” I have ever done. What was I thinking? My photo with Demi Lovato was way better than this one. Anyways, even though I do not like this one, I still appreciate it. This was my second time meeting the band (third time meeting Lynn Gunn). It was still a great experience, though. I was just a bit sad, however, because Lynn was on vocal rest, so I did not get to really talk to her. Great experience, weird picture.
April 8, 2018 – Echosmith
One of my very first posts on here was about this meet and greet/concert that you can read about here. This one was way fun! Noah Sierota said he recognized me, maybe because I have met the band before a couple times. Funny story real quick, the first time I met the band was the day after Warped Tour at hotel and I was in my pajamas! Wow. Echosmith I would say is by far one of the sweeetest bands I have met, and I have met quite of few, not to brag. This meet and greet was definitely one of my most favorite.
July 1, 2018 – The Maine
This was an unforgettable day. I have been a fan of The Maine for about nine years now and I had never met the band in full until this last year. These guys are so kind and funny! I met the band in the Vans Warped Tour line waiting for the gates to open. This time I dragged my mom to it so she even got to meet a few of the members. She had a great conversation about Brazil with one of them for I was wearing a Brazil hat and she was wearing a Brazil shirt since that summer the World Cup was happening. It was pretty amusing, but Kennedy seemed to enjoy it, too. Then we were finally inside. I had told myself that this time was the time that I finally meet the whole band. And it happened! I waited in line for about an hour to meet them, I was even one of the first 10 people in line. It was so worth the wait!
September 25, 2018 – Never Shout Never
My all time favorite band/person. It was only Christofer Drew who I met that day, but it was okay since I had met the band before. The meet and greet was free if you had a copy of your confirmation email for one of the two poetry books he has published. I will not get too into this one because I still get emotional since the band came to an end (you can read about it here). I got Chris to write my favorite lyrics down, “peace will find us with harmony,” and I will later get it tattooed somewhere on my body. A day I will never forget, it was amazing.
I do not nor will I ever take any of these meet and greets, even older ones, for granted. Meeting your favorites is like a dream come true and every time, even after meeting them three, four times it never gets old and it is so special. If you have wanted to attend a meet and greet but was nervous about it, I hope that sharing my experiences has helped you in enouraging you to attend at least one. If you have any questions and/or want to share your meet and greet experiences, please feel free to post it in the comments. I hope you get to meet your idols!
