is it silly to want to meet Neil??

Hey...
the Vic is on about the corner of Belmont & Sheffield and has no real alleyway...they park the tour buses right infront of the venue, so we've chatted w/Neil when he has come out afterward. I also think he stayed at The Willows last time, a hotel in that area...so you may want to hang there. Neil's always been pretty tired after shows and his tours have been pretty tight, so whatever, you know???
Good luck!

You know SarahBee, I've thought about that many times before. Sometimes I can't muster up the energy or nerve to do it, but when I have, I've never been disappointed.

Neil usually takes a half an hour or so to come out and greet people. The crowds are typically smaller, so you'll have a great chance to talk to him and have him sign something if you want usually at the bus or back door.

I even caught him at Gourmet Garage (a sort-of prepared food/grocery store)in nyc before a show on the TWT tour and spoke to him briefly. Boy, was I surprised.

Just hang on. He will be tired, but always a trooper!

Good luck and have fun! It's worth it.
Jill

Welcome to our crayzay forum...stay awhile and hope you like it here!

I have to say, regardless of any absurdities that may stream from your star-struck mouth when you meet Neil Finn, he is both patient and gracious, also good-humored and personable. At least he has been on both occasions I met him (and once was in Chicago). I have also experienced those qualities in Tim and his wife Marie. You *will* be blown away by the show, and I have gotten close to a few of the kewl Frenz folks I met in Chicago (known in some circles as "we of the bad behavior," lol...).

I had previously memorized what I was going to say to Neil when I met him, but forgot all of it, because if you're someone to whom the guy's music has meant everything and changed your life over and over, how the heck do you encapsulate that into two minutes in a way he hasn't heard 500,000 times? I mean, I realized I was just another in the sea of faces....So I just told him thank you, got his autograph and moved on so that other people could have turns.

The GOOD news is, of all the bad dreams I ever had where I met Neil and opened my mouth and nothing came out, stammered ridiculously, or acted like some chick in a GAP commercial who couldn't think of anything to say but "nice pants," I actually did manage to thank the guy for his music. And to me, that was the most important thing.



ps. Kewlies, I've reached a new level with this post! Me and my big mouth....

Thanks for the replies everyone! This is so great. I am counting the minutes til I see Neil perform, and I am bringing my older sister who does not know his music well. She'll be a fan soon thereafter. I cannot imagine what I will stammer if I do get to meet him, his music has affected me in countless ways....

Hi Sarah, and welcome!!

When meeting Neil (and it shouldn't be too difficult if you are patient and calm) , just make sure you take a deep breath, smile, and be yourself. Good luck!

Hi Sarah - welcome! Sounds like you're approaching a place similar to where I found myself last summer awaiting my first opportunity to meet Neil after 15 years. It's great that you're generating some discussion here to move that nervous and expectant energy!

I echo what all the others on this thread have said, but I'll add my unique experience of meeting Neil.

First of all let me say that in the time since I did meet him I've realized that I had a great deal of expectation riding on that moment which I was oblivious to at the time. My "inner little girl" was out everywhere - I even wore my hair up in pigtails... My life was complete chaos at the time of his concert, and I was really needing some kind of affirmation and had apparently subconsciously decided I would find it in meeting him. (It's all very interesting to me now... though it was a crazy rollercoaster at the time!)

Anyway, I went through all of these crazy contortions, which began with a search to find someone to accompany me to the concert. As none of my friends are fans, I ended up running a contest online to give my extra ticket to a deserving fan. In that process, I created a small book of all the contestant's responses to my many Neil questions. I selected a winner (the person with the most intriguing answers) and met her in the line. I brought a copy of the book to the show to offer Neil as proof of my devotion or fandom or... something...

Before the show I spotted Neil walking out to the bus from the theatre and made my way over to him. He was shoving a heavy suitcase under the bus, so I stood a ways back waiting for a good moment to catch his attention. A group of rather aggressive fans had amassed behind me and before I knew it one of them shouted out, "Hey Neil, nice sweater!" He looked over his shoulder (at me!) with an expression that seemed to say, "Do I not look BUSY to you right now??" Needless to say, I was very embarassed. (I'm kinda shy and that's just not the kind of comment I'd yell out at a moment like that.)

Suitcase sucessfully stowed, he then began to walk by me back toward the stage door and I realized I had to sieze the moment, red cardigan sweater, and all. I shoved the book into his hands, saying something like "Here, I made this for you." He looked at the book and then back at me, all with the same annoyed expression on his face. Then he said, "I don't think I can read this now," but he accepted it. I think I sorta smiled and then him walk into the swarm of fans behind me who demanded he sign stacks of cd booklets and take pictures for about 10 minutes.

Needless to say I was a bit nonplussed at my firstever experience of meeting Neil. I knew it was pre-show and he obviously had a lot going on. Plus he didn't appear to be in any sort of good mood in general. Even though I had a slew of reasons to know it was just a bad time to catch him, I still felt pretty bummed out and had a hard time not taking his lack of enthusiasm for this wonderful gift full of all my unconscious expectations personally (

After hours on the sidewalk, the show began , and the opening act was finally done. Neil came out and was just AMAZING. I had heard it from all of you that the show would be incredible, and it really was! Hearing music that I've listened to and loved for half of my life performed live - by Neil... nothing like it!!

Then, halfway through the show, just as I was shaking off my earlier melancholy, he mentioned my contest! He mentioned it in reference to DDIO, wondering if it was the winner's favorite song. (It was!) That was huge energy rush, let me tell you. Wow. Made my earlier confusion and contortions worth it, boy! From then out I had a great time, no more demons bugging me about things not going *right*. (What is *right* anyway, in the vortex of life?)

After the show I did as mentioned above by many others, waiting by the bus with my newly found Neil friends. We waited maybe 45 minutes to an hour before he emerged. I stood next to him for a while in the midst of the swarm, while others got their posters and cd's signed. I really liked just standing next to him. It felt really cool. It was funny that he was only a little taller than me, and his hair was so grey. I think I stepped on his foot a couple of times, with the jostling of the crowd. I waited till some of the fervor had died down and asked if he'd sign a copy of my book for me. I told him I was really glad to hear he'd had a chance to look at it after all, and he said yes, he'd found it to be "interesting"

So I say, Sarah go for it - hang out and meet him afterwards (I advocate after instead of before). Don't hold back! He's is quite gracious and you really can't mess it up - I feel like living proof of that!

Have a wonderful time at the show! And thanks for reading my long tale.

~ Colleen

Sarah,

As a follow-up to my earlier story about meeting Neil at Gourmet Garage...I wanted to expand because I really did ask him some goofy stuff now that I remember. This may also help to show you that rehearsing is not important (or maybe it is in my case!).

I walked into the store at 6pm the night of the Bowery Ballroom show (TWT tour, second NYC show) to get a snack before I had to pick up my friend for the show. I was shopping around looking at the door thinking about how excited I was to be going to see Neil.

All of the sudden Neil comes walking in and goes right over to the prepared food counter. I'm like, no freakin' way! HAVE to say hello, but what else can I add?

Anyway, I go over to him and say "Neil Finn". He turns around and says hello. Then I spew a series of odd questions/comments to him: How do you know about this place? What are you doing here before the concert? He tells me that his friends live nearby in the neighborhood (SoHo).

I then say I'm going to the concert and he says that he hopes I like it. Then I ask him if he knows where the venue is (now I'm getting dumb!) and he says that he thinks it is on the Bowery and Delancy. I already knew this, but of course I wasn't thinking. I ended the chat with a good luck and Neil, a thanks!

There was a little more, but of course I can't remember. I was too nervous!

It seems that if you have a *normal* conversation with him, he's pretty receptive. I like to ask him about future projects, this way I can dig for the next album/tour!

Good luck again,
Jill

paimaopi:

This is almost off the subject but.......you said he was barely taller than you ( how tall would that be you think?). I only ask because I have only ever been totally into one other band ( not to the extent that I have loved Split Enz, Crowded House and Neil) and when I actually got to see them up close, they were shorter then me ( I'm 5' 7") and for some reason after that- I was totally disappointed..something about them putting off such an energy about them-this huge personality, that I was blown away that they could be, well, not tall. I know that this probably sounds rediculous and that height has NOTHING to do with anything......any thoughts?
No offense intended to anyone

I am going to try my first attempt at saying Hello and thanking Neil (quickly). More than likely I will barely be able to croak out a thank you. Like others have noted...his music has toched my life in so many good ways, that I couldn't possibly express it eloquently to Neil, amidst a flurry of people. I'm sure he knows!

That doesn't sound silly to me at all. I had never contemplated how tall Neil Finn might be, it had simply never occured to me before I met him. Finding him shorter than I'd expected (without realizing I'd been expecting anything), I didn't feel disappointed at all myself. Being rather on the short side (I'm about 5'2"), it's a bit of work to look taller folks in the eye at times, so not having to look so far up in talking to Neil was cool. And it made him seem more real to me, more accessible.

I'm a terrible judge of age and height, so I have no idea much taller than me he stood, probably a few inches. (Does anyone know how tall he actually is? I'm curious now....)