How to Get Free Backstage Passes
This is an interesting one that came to me the other day and I thought I’d share my results. Free Backstage Passes, a book my Ryan Even. This made me laugh a little bit to myself but after thinking about it for a while I realized that as a professional musician myself, there really are certain codes and conducts that musicians sort of live by and take for granted. This book talks in detail about these codes and conducts that separate the fan from the performer and how Even thinks any fan, given the right circumstances, can break down this barrier.
I’ve played in countless big halls around the world as a classical musician, and also been to countless ones as an audience member. I’ve also been to my share of rock concerts and played my share of rock concerts with a band I toured with a few years back. As a musician I know that there are certain barriers between performers and audience members. The barrier exists for the safety of the performers and their instruments or equipment. As an example, some violins are worth millions of dollars. You don’t want just anyone near that instrument. In the case of popular music, there are millions of people that want the chance to meet an artist, and there are bound to be a few crazies in that mass. Safety is hugely important for musicians. Another reason that the barrier exists is that performing music is extremely emotionally and physically draining. Performers don’t want distractions before a performance and afterwards, they are exhausted. Trying to meet fans during those times aren’t optimal by any means. I don’t think many people understand that concept. You wouldn’t want to bug Picasso in the middle of his painting... The same goes for performing artists.
That being said, there are ways around the system. Many big concert halls always have 2 entrances, one for the audience, one for the performers. The one for the audience has people taking tickets, the one for the performers has security, sometimes very strict security. I’ve been to halls where you have to show a picture ID just to get ‘buzzed in.’ Other venues are not strict at all. But this is where the coveted Backstage Pass comes in handy.
In his book, Free Backstage Passes, Even talks at great length how to go about getting a backstage pass. Getting access to backstage is honestly not as hard as the media tells you it is. It really is just a matter of talking to the right people at the right time. If you talk to the right people in the right way at the right time, you can pretty much get away with anything in the music business. That comes from another musician. But, if you talk to the wrong people, or anyone in the wrong way, especially at the wrong time, doors will close in your face faster than you can imagine. So, who do you talk to? When’s the right time to talk to them? How should you go about asking for freebies and not sound like you’re asking for a handout? Those are the 3 big secrets this book talks about. Is it going to work 100% of the time, probably not. But even if it doesn’t, you’ll get some great insight to what’s going on behind the scenes at a show.
The other thing Free Backstage Passes talks about is what to do and how to act when you get yours. This is just as important as obtaining one. When performers are getting ready to go on stage, they don’t want to be bothered, so if you go knock on their door, you’re going to get kicked out. If you get in the way, you’re going to get kicked out. If you ask questions or end up in the wrong place, you’re going to get kicked out. But, if you have confidence, know where it’s ok to be and stay out of the way, you just might get the chance to rub elbows with some pretty important people. So how do you know where to be is ok and where isn’t? Well you can either be in the entertainment industry for a long time and learn by experience, or read this book. Free Backstage Passes goes into detail about the different types of passes and what they all mean. It talks about where you can go, what you can do and how you should act. The biggest tip in this section is to simply have confidence. As an example: A musician being backstage is confident about where they are at because they know it’s their job to go on stage. A fan though, once they get beyond the security is curious, and it is completely obvious they are looking for something and don’t belong.
As this book talks about, confidence is the major key to being backstage. Even as an audience member I’ve been able to get backstage without a pass to congratulate and meet performers just by being confident. Confidence does come with a sense of knowledge however, and gaining that knowledge and insight has to come from somewhere.
If you are the type of person that always wanted to get backstage but never knew how, this book might be for you. If you are musician, it might be a bore because most of this stuff you know already.
But, there is a 60 day money back guarantee, so if you get it, try it out a few times and it doesn’t work, send it back. If you get it and it does work, then you did not waste your money.