Nickelback!!

Tonight I went to see Canadian rockers Nickelback in concert at the König-Pilsner Arena in Oberhausen. It was quite exciting, as I won the tickets along with a "meet and greet" opportunity from a local radio station! I love this band and really wanted to go to the concert but couldn't prioritize the ticket expense. Last year I had written a blog post about their music, quoting three of the rock ballads that I find particularly touching. (You can read that post here.) So winning the free tickets was thrilling, and the added bonus of a meet and greet was sugar icing on the cake.

The concert, as I'd expected, was fantastic. They played all my favorite songs and we were right up against the stage rail where we could dance and sing along with a great view. The "meet and greet" however, was quite disappointing. I had hoped for a few minutes with the band and a chance to hear them answer a question or two from the ticket winners. Instead, we experienced more of a flying "pose and go" photo assembly line.

The 40 or so guests were lined up in a hallway, then ushered two at a time into a room to quickly shake hands with each member, smile for a photo taken by their photographer (while security kept your jackets and bags), then promptly escorted out. The entire process took 30 seconds, so the band finished their "meet and greet" obligation for everyone in about 20 minutes.

I understand the band has a lot of folks to "meet," but had they brought us into the room in small groups of 8-10 visitors, answered a couple questions, and allowed us all to be present for each of the 4-5 photo shoots, then we would have each had just enough face-to-face and eye-contact time with the band to have actually enjoyed it and felt like we were at a special "meet and greet." The entire process might have cost the band another 5-10 minutes maximum (they didn't go onstage for another 2 hours after this ended) but have given each fan several meaningful minutes longer.

Nonetheless, it was a thrill to win the tickets and experience the entire evening, courtesy of our radio station. In the next few days the photo taken with the band should be available to download and I'll find a way to share it with Blip :)