Fans will go at any length to meet their favorite artist. They will wait for hours before and after shows by tour buses, hoping to get a quick picture or autograph with their musical heroes. Some will dig deep into their wallets or pocket books and purchase a meet and greet with an artist or band before the show. In a another example, EDM artist Skrillex, found out that there are even some fans who will try to scheme their way into a secure area where they don’t belong in an attempt to meet their favorite artist face to face.
Your EDM reports that during the New Years Eve weekend in Washington D.C., Skrillex played the popular Echostage to a sold out venue. During the event, a Reddit user, and Skrillex “mega fan,” thought of a clever way to sneak back stage. The fan studied the Echostage staff shirts from really good pictures that were taken of a recent Marshmellow show that passed through the venue.
After maneuvering his way to Skrillex’s dressing room with his fake shirt, the fan locked himself inside the bathroom for and extended period of time, waited for the DJ/producer to walk into his dressing room.
The fan was noticed by backstage personnel when he decided to poke his head out of the bathroom door, making eye contact with an employee. Minutes later, security arrived and knocked on the door to see if the fan was all right. The fan then hid inside the shower as security tried to break down the door for ten minutes. After getting inside, the fan tried posing as a photographer. Security asked him for his photo credentials which he could not produce. This is when another security member said that he was wearing a staff shirt.
When the ordeal was over, the fan couldn’t believe he was charged with trespassing stating: “I’m sure Skrillex wouldn’t want one of his fans to get charged with trying to see him backstage.”
Echostage made a brief comment about the situation: “A gentleman attempted to enter a restricted area of the venue. He was apprehended quickly with no incident, and turned over to the police who are handling the situation.”
Venues have stepped up security measures in recent years, particularly in the wake of the attacks at an Eagles of Death Metal show in Paris in 2015. However, many venues are still coming up to speed on how to make the shows they host secure yet not an inconvenience to the attendees. One measure the music industry now takes to try to prevent fans who go to extreme measures to meet artists, is requesting photographers and writers that cover shows to not post pictures of their credentials on social media.
The over-the-top Skrillex fan shared his take of the whole experience on Reddit, which was taken down a short time later. He got into many details as to how he pulled off his scheme, including the research he put into the venue’s staff shirt designs and people associated with Skrillex and Echostage. Ultimately, the uber-fan did not get to meet his idol and was escorted from the premises and placed on a banned list, labeled as a stalker.
While this incident was resolved with little fanfare, venues would be wise to study this example in order to improve venue security moving forward.
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