Top balcony wrote:sheeptotheslaughter wrote: I was initially interested in going to the 'signing' event in Manchester, but when it turned out that you would be paying a fortune for a wristband, which would entitle you to queue for ages, and then there were all kinds of restrictions on how long you'd be with Elvis, no selfies, no dialogue, all this...I thought 'you know what, that doesn't sound like a fun afternoon'. So I skipped it.
In not doing you also skipped an opportunity to meet me in the queue
I went during my lunchtime, a hardback copy of the book was included in the price of the wristband. Yes those restrictions were largely in place, but I did manage to have a quick chat, similar to the snatched words after gigs in happier times.
oh and Elvis called me " Sir"
I can safely say I'm sorry to have missed you in the queue, but not sorry to have missed the opportunity to pay a few quid for a few minutes with Elvis. I suspect I may be unusual in this, but I've never pursued those opportunities to meet my musical or literary idols for a few fleeting seconds (or to get them to scribble their names on a piece of paper). I'm not knocking those who enjoy that, or who collect autographs, but...it's just not for me.
Most of my musical/literary idols are people who I also think would be good value for a relaxed chat over a pint, and they're usually people of whom I enjoy watching interviews and so on, because they are all interesting people with interesting things to say. So if, in some bizarre alternative universe, I was offered the opportunity to have lunch/a few drinks/a relaxed chat with Elvis, or Bruce Springsteen, or Simon Armitage, sure, I'd jump at the opportunity.
I have managed a pleasant 15 minutes chatting over a drink with Carol Ann Duffy in the Cornerhouse Bar in Manchester (as it was then) after a gig where she'd read/lectured (but I hadn't actually attended, I'd been at something else that night). And I did have a nice half-hour chatting with Phil Collinson (one-time producer of Doctor Who) at a mutual friend's birthday party. But that's about it, and it was nice to have a chat.
Oh - I've met Michael Rosen - I was landed with introducing him at a session for our Headteachers, so I grabbed him to say 'what do you want me to say about you?' and he was as charming and as beautiful as you would expect. And I've met The Beat, in the pub, pre-gig, when I was 17, and they were equally lovely and generous with their time. So I haven't done too badly, really.
But hanging around in the freezing cold after a gig for a two-second handshake and an autograph scribbled on a programme...just doesn't give me any pleasure, sorry. But again, no disrespect to those who do pursue that kind of thing - it's just not for me.
