How to sneak backstage at a concert ( legally )?

[holly88]

Just quietly... Please share your experience! (Btw the concert venue is Sydney opera house concert hall.) Anyone has done it before or has similar experiences? Thanks so much.

[1piano4joe]

Hi holly88,

I don't know how to sneak backstage. I have many, many times tipped an usher to upgrade my seat! So, if I'm in the nosebleeds or way off to the side I often make an inquiry. If the usher says no then I just ask a different one since sometimes a different person is more obliging.

I have on occasion upgraded to front row center orchestra seats. So, is backstage really necessary? Sometimes it's just orchestra seats further back or off to the sides. This works because there is often a single seat available and parties of two don't want to be separated and the seat is either unsold and/or sometimes people just don't show up.

Just a thought, Joe.

[holly88]

Hi holly88,

I don't know how to sneak backstage. I have many, many times tipped an usher to upgrade my seat! So, if I'm in the nosebleeds or way off to the side I often make an inquiry. If the usher says no then I just ask a different one since sometimes a different person is more obliging.

I have on occasion upgraded to front row center orchestra seats. So, is backstage really necessary? Sometimes it's just orchestra seats further back or off to the sides. This works because there is often a single seat available and parties of two don't want to be separated and the seat is either unsold and/or sometimes people just don't show up.

Just a thought, Joe.

Wow it's good to know that you can tip the usher for a upgrade! I think the concert is sold out but I've got a good enough seat anyway. I would love to get backstage and meet the pianist if is possible!

[j_menz]

Tip the usher won't work at the SOH.

You probably can't get backstage unless you know already how to do it or someone who can arrange it (both actually the same thing).

Next best is to hang around the stage door. Not quite so common in Sydney, so you may well get to be noticed and get to chat to him. Stage door is towards the east end of the tunnel under the front steps (the "concourse" area).

[holly88]

Tip the usher won't work at the SOH.

You probably can't get backstage unless you know already how to do it or someone who can arrange it (both actually the same thing).

Next best is to hang around the stage door. Not quite so common in Sydney, so you may well get to be noticed and get to chat to him. Stage door is towards the east end of the tunnel under the front steps (the "concourse" area).

Thanks for the reply. I will definitely try the stage door! I will probably have to "scream" to get him notice me.. hehehe  Anyway it will be a nice little break from the shy person I usually am...

[holly88]

How about I bring a bouquet of flowers to place on the stage personally after the performance to express my appreciation and then have a chat with him. Will they let some people in the audience do this at formal concerts like this? Or does it have to be the house's management that sends someone from staff to present flowers to the performer?

[quantum]

You could do the flower thing after the concert.  Say you were seated too far to bring them during curtain calls, and would like to personally deliver them to the artist.  It would help to approach a manager, or someone affiliated with the pianist.  

Apply to do some backstage work or volunteer work if you are interested in working closely with musicians if this is not just a one time thing.

[holly88]

Thanks for the reply Quantum.I think I will try to approach a manager first and hopefully he/she will ket me deliver the flower to the pianist. Will the pianist be hanging around backstage for a while after the concert? Not sure if he would like the flower thing.. I don;t want to annoy him.
can't do much backstage work this time as I will only be in that city for a few hours..

[Bob]

Just walk backstage and find out.  The worst that happens is they send you back.  You not going to be the first one to try to meet someone.

For seat upgrades, you can watch and move for free at intermissions (esp. if it's just you).  If no one says anything after a seat change, you can get better seats (or at least different) for the second half of a concert.

Or possibly you can move right before the whole thing starts.  Some places have blocks of seats kept for the last minute and those don't get filled.  Or people just don't show up.  If you do that before the whole event, you might get the real seat owners coming up to you though. 

[bronnestam]

You can always try to contact the pianist via email or Facebook in beforehand, to establish a conversation. Classical musicians are not like rock stars, many of them feel happy to talk to their fans and fellow-musicians without feeling that they are eaten alive ... and if you have established a relation, a discussion about something that matters (piano, for instance!    Music!) then it is a no-brainer to search the musician backstage and say "hi, I am XYZ who wrote to you the other day, nice to meet you in person" and so on ... If you are alone and act with some confidence, you shouldn't have big problems to go backstage. I don't mean you have to have had a long, long dialogue in beforehand, but a simple message, perhaps followed by a reply, is sooo much more than nothing.

Or you have the standard trick of buying a CD from this artist and go to him/her to get it signed. Often they also sell some of their production in connection to the concerts and then you automatically get the opportunity to chat a bit. Or you get it in beforehand, just to be safe.

BUT keep in mind that the artist often is exhausted after the performance, so you must keep the conversation short.

The Swedish way of giving flowers is that you hand in the flowers at the ticket office before the concert, of course properly marked with a card. Then they get these flowers at curtain call. Perhaps the custom is different in other countries? I did this just two weeks ago. But, well, we are already friends, so the name on the card meant something to him. (How we became friends? See above ... )

[bronnestam]

PS. I took the liberty to check if Mr. Matsuev has a Facebook page. Indeed he has, and the private message function is activated as well. So why not leave him a friendly message there? Sometimes the page is maintained by some other person, but I guess a message will reach him anyway.

I am curious to know how your concert evening turns out, so please tell me later, will you? 

[holly88]

Just walk backstage and find out.  The worst that happens is they send you back.  You not going to be the first one to try to meet someone.

For seat upgrades, you can watch and move for free at intermissions (esp. if it's just you).  If no one says anything after a seat change, you can get better seats (or at least different) for the second half of a concert.

Or possibly you can move right before the whole thing starts.  Some places have blocks of seats kept for the last minute and those don't get filled.  Or people just don't show up.  If you do that before the whole event, you might get the real seat owners coming up to you though. 

  How embarrassing if I get sent back… But I will try anyway 

[holly88]

You can always try to contact the pianist via email or Facebook in beforehand, to establish a conversation. Classical musicians are not like rock stars, many of them feel happy to talk to their fans and fellow-musicians without feeling that they are eaten alive ... and if you have established a relation, a discussion about something that matters (piano, for instance!    Music!) then it is a no-brainer to search the musician backstage and say "hi, I am XYZ who wrote to you the other day, nice to meet you in person" and so on ... If you are alone and act with some confidence, you shouldn't have big problems to go backstage. I don't mean you have to have had a long, long dialogue in beforehand, but a simple message, perhaps followed by a reply, is sooo much more than nothing.

Or you have the standard trick of buying a CD from this artist and go to him/her to get it signed. Often they also sell some of their production in connection to the concerts and then you automatically get the opportunity to chat a bit. Or you get it in beforehand, just to be safe.

BUT keep in mind that the artist often is exhausted after the performance, so you must keep the conversation short.

The Swedish way of giving flowers is that you hand in the flowers at the ticket office before the concert, of course properly marked with a card. Then they get these flowers at curtain call. Perhaps the custom is different in other countries? I did this just two weeks ago. But, well, we are already friends, so the name on the card meant something to him. (How we became friends? See above ... )

Sounds great! I might try and send him a message but what if he doesn't reply?! The CD thing is great idea too. I'm following him on Facebook and youtube.. ( stalkerish ) So I might as well follow him in real life

[holly88]

PS. I took the liberty to check if Mr. Matsuev has a Facebook page. Indeed he has, and the private message function is activated as well. So why not leave him a friendly message there? Sometimes the page is maintained by some other person, but I guess a message will reach him anyway.

I am curious to know how your concert evening turns out, so please tell me later, will you? 

Thanks so much for your reply! You sure will hear all about it after the concert. 
PS I will cry if I don;t get to speak to him

[transparently]

Interesting thread; I'd love to bring flowers for the soloist or even the conductor! I've never seen it done before where I live though.

[bronnestam]

I gave flowers to my pianist friend one month ago. Of course I don't bring flowers that often, but this time I thought it would be suitable. He got my bouquet at curtain call, read the card and gave me the most heart-warming smile (I was sitting on the fifth row). He also got another bouquet, the "standard" one from the organiser. Then he took the microphone and said "I know that some artist give their flowers away, if they get some after a concert. But I have also been taught never to do that, as this can hurt the giver. Well, but this time I got two bouquets, so I guess I can make an exception to that rule."
And then he gave the "standard" bouquet, which was an impersonal gift anyway, to a woman who was responsible for the administration around this concert, she really deserved them. And that made me feel even more how much he appreciated my flowers.
Later that evening I happened to meet him and his wife outside the concert hall, and he proudly told me that he had the flowers up in their hotel room.
So - flowers is a good thing.    Strange that it is not a tradition everywhere. I saw a concert with Martha Argerich in, I think, Japan, where women from the audience rushed up to the stage after the concert and personally handed her lots and lots of flowers. You never see such things here in Sweden though, we let the organisers hand over the flowers. Probably less scary ... 

[pytheamateur]

For seat upgrades, you can watch and move for free at intermissions (esp. if it's just you).  If no one says anything after a seat change, you can get better seats (or at least different) for the second half of a concert.

Or possibly you can move right before the whole thing starts.  Some places have blocks of seats kept for the last minute and those don't get filled.  Or people just don't show up.  If you do that before the whole event, you might get the real seat owners coming up to you though.  

Is this morally equivalent to sitting on a 1st class seat on a train with a 3rd class ticket?  Can't believe people are visiting this forum for this kind of advice.

[j_menz]

Is this morally equivalent to sitting on a 1st class seat on a train with a 3rd class ticket?  Can't believe people are visiting this forum for this kind of advice.

Given the venue in question, you should be advised that we don't have class division in our train tickets here. Most of us think that it's all 4th anyway.

[Bob]

Re: the train ticket sneaking... I'd say that's equal to moving seats during a concert.  Buy the cheap ticket, scope out the empty seats in better locations, then move during intermission.  Not that's I've ever done that....



(If they're all grey hairs, you can easily intimidate them when the true seat owners come along... "Oh, is that so?  Well, what are you gonna do about that grandpa?"    It's that good old concert hall violence you used to hear about.  )

[Bob]

Now I read the quoted post... Haha. 

[Bob]

If you want other ones....

Just walk in during intermission.  It's only half a concert, but hey, it's free.

Make friends with someone who works there, esp in the following case....

If you happen to be near to where tickets are sold or near an organization that tends to buy blocks of tickets, guess what happens when those tickets go unsold?  They give them away.  When the wheel of fortunate turns your way some days, you end up with free, legit concert tickets.  You just always have to pass that place, know someone passing by, or know someone who works there.  Free concert, if you want to go on the spur of the moment.  Those tend to be 'day of' happenings.