I met Britney Spears last night. It was kind of surreal, and was a very strange experience. I actually left pretty disappointed and annoyed, however. Here is the full story.
I lined up with friends about 9pm to ensure that we got into the club where she was playing, Heaven, which was opening about 10:30pm. They finally let us in, and there was a huge stage set up at the end of the dance floor, so we immediately rushed down and saved spots right near the front so we could have a good spot to wait when she performed. Although she hadn't officially announced that she would be performing, The Sun, Sky News and MTV UK were all reporting it, so we were pretty sure it was going to happen. The club has historically hosted a lot of big acts, including Madonna a couple years ago.
We waited and danced until about 1am. Then a bunch of bouncers and security guards cleared off the people who had been dancing on the stage, and everyone started cheering. It was so crowded that I was being crushed against the front of the stage. Then, one of the managers for the club came out on stage and said. "I have some good news and some bad news. Britney Spears is here, but she isn't coming on stage." Everyone booed, and they invited people to come back on stage and started playing music again. We were all confused as to why she would show up, but not want to come on stage?
After about 20 minutes, a bunch of a security guards came and started pulling people from the crowd onto the stage because we were being crushed. When I got pulled on stage, I walked over near one of the doors on the side. So many people ended up coming on stage and were pushing toward the door that I was literally being crushed again! The security guards were trying to push everyone back, but I managed to get squeezed through the door onto the other side.
Suddenly, I was in a smaller bar with about 100 people. There were 15 or so drag queens dressed up like Britney Spears, and people were dancing around. The atmosphere was completely different than out in the main room, where people were in tears from being crushed. Above the bar, there was a balcony with glass walls that looked down on the main room. One of the guys next to me suddenly said "It's Britney Spears!" I looked up, and I could see her inside of the balcony, with a cigarette and drink in her hand talking to some people.
I realized that the stairs that I had just walked by lead up to the balcony, which not a lot of the other fans realized, so I walked over and was waiting next to them. I was thinking that maybe I'd wait around for a few minutes and see her while she was leaving, since it was already about 2am. A few minutes later, a bunch of the drag queens walked over to the bottom of the stairs and the guard said, "Ok, you can come up now." Without saying anything, I quickly just snuck by him with them (I don't think I blended in with them, but maybe they were more distracting!) and I walked up the stairs.
In the VIP area, there were about 15 people standing around -- body guards, club employees, and the drag queens. They were standing around a small bar talking to each other, and in the corner I noticed that Britney Spears was sitting by herself smoking a cigarette. She looked really tired and was wearing an old grey t-shirt and sweatpants. It was obvious that she wasn't planning on any performance.
Being bold, I walked over and sat down on the couch next to her. I figured she'd just ignore me, but she immediately looked over and smiled at me. I suddenly felt pretty confident since she'd made the first advance, so I leaned over and said "So they're keeping you up here, huh?" and she just smiled back without saying anything. She stood up and walked over to grab another cigarette, so I stood up too and was standing in the corner still. A couple of her handlers came over and started talking to her. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I saw Britney turn around and point to me with her cigarette, and they kept talking for a few more minutes.
Then one of the guys in the circle with her walked up to me and said, "Who let you up here?" I'm not sure whether she explicitly had asked them to kick me out, or if she just asked them who I was. But before I could make up a good excuse, he had already grabbed my arm and was leading me to the exit. On my way out, I grabbed a Britney Spears pin that was on the counter as a souvenir. I waited downstairs in the bar area for a few more minutes because I was hoping I'd run into my friends, and a few minutes later when I saw people rush toward the exit on the left and start taking pictures, I knew that it meant Britney Spears had left the building.
In all, it was a pretty crappy night. Of the 3,000 people who showed up, I'd say only about 100-200 were actually able to even get a glimpse of her. Why even show up if you're just going to disappoint your fans? She could have at least walked out onto the stage and thanked everyone for coming. I was exhausted by the end of it, and my whole body was sore from being crushed and pushed around in large groups so much. Although it was cool to get to talk to her for a few seconds, it simply wasn't worth all the other turmoil of the night.
I recently saw an interview with Britney Spears where she said that she felt like she is a prisoner, which I thought was pretty ridiculous, but after last night I can almost see why she would say that. There were thousands of people crowding and pushing each other to try to get to her, and she was literally trapped in a small balcony area completely surrounded by people wanting to get to her. What kind of a life is that?
Through all the intense media scrutiny and insane fandom, she has become an abstraction, not a real person. I almost felt guilty for being one of the hordes of mindless people contributing to that.
Anyway, here are a few photos stolen from friends:
Waiting to get inside.
When we thought she was about to come on stage.
One of the many crowds of people pushing.
