When Alex met 30 Seconds to Mars...
30 Seconds to Mars are a band I truly love. Jared Leto is a man of many talents. Director, actor, musician. Jack of all trades. He’s a man I respect.
When browsing their website back in January for a new tshirt, I came across their meet and greet scheme with Adventures In Wonderland. I instantly thought ‘YES. I MUST do this!’. So right there and then, I decided that I’d take myself on a trip, from England to Italy, to meet one of my favourite bands.
There were different packages for you to choose from, ranging from around $150, to $799. I chose the package worth $499. With this, I got a ticket for their concert at Palaolimpico, some merchandise, including a poster, a tshirt, a bag, and a bracelet, and a meet and greet with the band- including a photograph.
I was ecstatic, and couldn’t wait for June to arrive. I had a countdown on my phone, and in my diary, and made a constant reminder on Facebook and Twitter that I’d be meeting the band in [insert number here] days.
It was the night before the event, and I was lying in my hotel bed, somewhere in Turin, thinking about the day to come. So many questions were going around in my mind. What would I say to the band? Should I ask a question? Pay them a compliment? What smile should I pull in the photo? What dress should I wear? It was crazy. It’s not like I haven’t met a band before. In fact, it’s kind of my JOB to meet bands. Working in radio means I’m constantly interviewing different artists. I’ve been lucky enough to meet and interview one of my other favourite bands, The Maccabees. They were delightfully charming, and humble. That was the most important thing, and it made me love them more for it.
I shook my head and told myself to stop being so ridiculous. They’re only guys. They wake up every day, put clothes on, go about their everyday business…it’s just that their business is being in a super famous band, who a hell of a lot of people know about, and love.
I went to bed, and hilariously, dreamt that I’d missed the meet and greet. On reflection, I wish I had.
I headed to the venue in time for the VIP entrance opening at 3pm. At first there were only a handful of people, but my god did that queue grow. I’d estimate that there were around 150/200 people there. It was crazy. We got let through the gate 5 at a time, signed in, picked up our merchandise, then waited in another queue. At 5pm, we were let I to the venue.
We were all made to sit in lines on the floor. It felt like I was back at school, sitting in assembly, being told to ‘shush’. One of the members of the Adventures In Wonderland team stood at the front and told us how the meet and greet was going to pan out. There was an added Q&A which was exciting, so I sat and tried to think of a question. She went on to say how there were no pictures to be taken from our own phones or cameras, that our bags needed to be out away, and that we could only get one thing signed- and we weren’t allowed to ask for it to be signed to us, or for a message to be written. Anyone who had brought presents for the band, were asked to hand them in straight away, as they were not allowed to hand them directly to the band. Who knows if the band would actually get to see what fans had given them.
Jared and Tomo walked in, and the room applauded them. They sat at the front, and Jared began to talk, asking us questions about how we listen to music, what we thought was bigger- Spotify, or ITunes, etc.I felt like I was in a focus group, but it was pretty interesting. A few questions were asked, then it was time for the signing part of the meet and greet. We all queued around the room and out into the hall in single file, with our one item to get signed in hand. I, like most people, picked the poster that we’d been given. We were told that we weren’t allowed to get tshirts signed, which I wasn’t bothered about, but some people were. As soon as I got to the desk, Tomo said hello, and asked how I was. Pleasant, and it made me smile. He signed my poster then handed it over to Jared. This was it. I was standing in front of JARED LETO. My mind was trying not to explode. I smiled at him and said hello. He signed my poster, without acknowledging me, and instead, talked to one of the Adventures In Wonderland team members. Security ushered me out of the room immediately, to join the back of the queue again, ready for a photo.
I was so confused. In fact, confused isn’t the right word. I was, just, I don’t know what I was feeling. I didn’t know then, and I still don’t know now. Those few seconds were part of what I’d been waiting for for 6 months. What I’d thought about every day. What I’d paid so much money for…and he didn’t even look at me.
I stood in the queue chatting to my new friend, Melissa, saying any old gibberish to try and keep my mind off what had just happened. To try and stop myself from crying. I mean, I didn’t want panda eyes in the photo, right? Right.
Once we were back to the beginning of the line, it was time for the photo. I was thinking, maybe this time he’ll say something to me. Maybe this time he’ll recognise my ENGLISH accent in a room full of Italians, and mention it. Just maybe.
As I was getting closer to the front of the queue, I noticed a few people were having to get their photo taken twice. Jared made a comment about this, saying, ‘can you all make sure you don’t blink so that you can get it done in one take. When he (pointing at the photographer) says ready, you open your eyes.’ People laughed, but to be honest, I found it quite annoying and slightly condescending. Clearly, he just wanted to get it over and done with.
I got to the front of the queue, and security ushered me into the photo. I looked at Jared and said, ‘alright?’. He looked at me, and said ‘hey’. In my head, he was going to say something else, maybe mention my accent. I wanted him to say something. Anything. Instead he turned around to talk to someone on his team. I positioned myself in the middle of him and Tomo, the photographer said ‘ready’, Jared turned his head to the camera, and FLASH. Once again I was ushered away. I felt like cattle.
That was it. That was what I’d dreamt of. This was what I’d spent all of my money on. That was what I’d claimed would be ‘the happiest day of my life’. Instead, of happiness, I felt sick. Physically sick.
The whole thing was so robotic. Just part of the job. Jared didn’t want to be there, he was uninterested. You could see by the blank expression on his face. He didn’t care about you, your name, or your story. To him, you were just someone lining his pocket full of cash.
I blinked a few times holding my tears back. Grabbed my bag, and went into the venue.
I can’t say anything bad about the gig. They’re a great band, and I love their music. But bloody hell was I disappointed. I felt stupid. So stupid that I’d built up this whole thing, told everyone about it, done everyone’s head in with my excitement.
The thing that got me the most, is how much Jared talks about his fans, how much he loves them, how much they mean to him. As my dad kindly pointed out- ‘He might act like he’s “all for the fans” but remember, his acting won him an Oscar.’
Some people say ‘never meet your idols’, and after this whole situation…I agree.
