My experience meeting Melanie Martinez...

[Helxig 39,441]

Okay so I've gone and written a f-ucking essay...  not sure if anyone here actually cares, but I wanted a place to put ALL my thoughts! I'll sort it out with bolded titles.

So last night my friend and I had meet and greet tickets to Melanie's show here in Auckland, New Zealand, and this is my experience:

First of all, Melanie was the absolute sweetest human being I've ever met!   Once we were inside the venue her tour manager had us line up in single file around the outside, and explained to us how it will all work. (I'm gonna try and remember everything word for word, but it might be slightly paraphrased). He said:

Pre M&G rules "Alright everyone listen up. Melanie is gonna come out in a minute, walk her way around the line, and say hi to everyone. Then we're gonna have professional photos taken. You can also have a cell phone picture taken with her, but I just ask that you have your cell phone ready with the camera open to speed things along. Unfortunately we can't do any autographs tonight, sorry guys. You might even be able to get a hug. Now, I'm only gonna say it once, don't grab her. I don't want to have to jump into action, but it's my job to keep her safe, and I will jump in if you grab her. Also if you do get a hug from her, remember that  Melanie is a very small, petite, young woman. Do not hug her too tightly. It'd be beneficial if she can sing tonight. Don't hug her like you would your teddy bear at home. If you have any gifts please hand them over to me and I'll make sure she gets them" at which point I gave him the bag with my gifts.

Melanie saying hi: And within a few seconds there she was in person! She came floating out with her long featherey black and white hair, flowy dress, cute pink puffy jacket, and some really high shoes. And she is tiny! She's about the same height as Gaga and really small in frame/build. Everyone was in awe to see her in person lol. As soon as she came out she was waving to us with a huge smile on her face. And as she worked her way around the line she initiated a hug with every single person, and there was about 50 of us. She was really smiley and happy and standing really closely to everyone. Now, I'm someone who is really good at sensing people's body language, and let me tell you she was not hesitant to be near us at all. She was so pretty and so kind. I remember my initial thought as she came out was that she looked like a beautiful little witch as her long black and white hair swished while she clopped along in her high heels (almost skipping), while her dress flowed lightly behind her.

When it was my turn she grabbed me for a big, tight hug and said "hiiii". I said "hi! Your nails are really pretty." she beamed and replied "aww, thank you! I just had them done today." as she waggled her fingers and laughed heartily before moving on.

Photographs and meeting her: We waited in line as everyone had photos and took a few seconds to talk to her. I remember watching everyone have their time with her, and she was really intently listening to their stories, making eye contact, nodding along, smiling and laughing away. As each person walked up for their turn she greeted them with open arms for a second hug.

When it was my turn I walked up (surprisingly not too nervous), she gave me a big hug, and said:

"Hiii" as she put her arm around my back and we snapped a couple of pics

"Hi! You look really nice." I said.

I remember her standing closely and looking up at me, because she's short and I'm more on the tall side  I remember taking in all her facial features in person, because people look so different IRL. I think it has to do with depth perception. She was 3D, right in front of me, no pause button on a video screen. Real time.

"Thank you so much!" she smiled shyly.

"I got you a vintage teddy bear from the 50's, and I wrote you a poem... It's my first attempt at writing poetry though so don't judge too harshly!"

She laughed and said "aww thank you. Thanks for putting so much thought in that's awesome." and gave me another hug (3rd hug of the night lol). I went to walk away, but then remembered what I was gonna ask her, turned back around and said

"Oh! just quickly can I ask you a secret?"

She looked at me curiously with her big doe eyes and said "yeah!"

"Is your next album based in ______"

Her eyes widened , her whole body perked up, and with a pursed smile excitedly ushered me in close with a fast hand gesture, so that she could whisper into my ear behind her hand...

"Don't, tell, anyone!" she whispered in her high pitched voice.

I nodded and she gave me a coy smile before I walked away, and it was my friend's turn.

 

Thoughts: It's weird the small details your brain focuses on when you meet a celebrity for the first time, and it tries to get a handle on the fact they're real. I remember noticing how small and thin her little button nose actually is, that I could see the makeup on her face, the lipstick on the insides of her lips was coming off, I could see slight acne under her foundation on one side of her nose, she was really expressive in the face and really pretty, she is very small, even her hands are petite, and she's a very pretty girl, her hair/wig was so perfectly smooth and shiny like a commercial, and her eyes big and puppy dog like. None of those things were like... flaws though, and I wasn't noticing in a judgemental way... it just felt like she was a real person. 

Opening act: Next we lined up at the front, I was second row, and we got to watch the opening act, Openside, do their soundcheck which was really interesting. The lead sing is a chick and she was cute and pretty too and spoke to us a little. Then the GA people filled the room, the opening act came back on, and they were really good. And they're a New Zealand act too. NZ represent! Reminded me of early Paramore.

The show: Now the show! The show was amazing! I've been to a few shows and this was one of the better ones! Just because of the energy in the room. Her stage presence was amazing! Her dance moves infectious. Her little flowy hand movements, her facial expressions, her little tip toeing flouncy dances, little robotic/doll like movements she would snap into randomly, the theatrics during certain songs, at points she was lying on the floor (which was actually fake grass which felt very Alice-In-Wonderland-esque and quite effective under the lighting), she worked every part of the stage, constantly moving from left, to right, to centre, and reached out to touch fans hands. Her vocals were on point, the band were damn good.

Encore: After the show we were chanting "ENCORE, ENCORE, ENCORE" so loudly it was insane, and she eventually ran back out and said "it is okay if we do just two more songs?" and the SCREAMS! Then she said "alright, this next song is a bit of a... special one... do you all know Gingerbread Man?" (a song that isn't on the album) and she seemed surprised at how excited everyone was. And of course, everyone knew all the words.  At the end of the show she thanked us like 3 times and said "thank you sooo much! I can't wait to come back and see you all next time for the next album!" and blew us kisses and waved goodbye as she skipped away.

I was incredibly surprised to learn that she had such a fanbase here! The venue (while very small) was sold out, and the crowd was really loud and really into it! They knew all the words to every song, even the songs that aren't on the album. At points, I'm not kidding, the crowd was singing so loudly that it hurt my ears and I saw the band members look over at each other in surprise. A couple of moments I swear I saw Melanie almost cry when everyone was really into it (she's quite emotional)

 

All in all it was an amazing night!

Here's my cell phone pic with her. Bad lighting though and they didn't friggen focus it. Also why am I holding my jacket like an idiot lol... should've given it to my friend to hold. I'll upload the professional HD pic when we get them.

 

In this video after the show you can see me catch the green 'A' block, but I stupidly threw it into the crowd because I felt selfish keeping it for myself, lol... other people kept them though. Kinda regret not keeping it:

Some more videos from the show:

Spoiler

 

 

Then my friend and I had some drinks in the hotel room and went to a drag show in the big city lol. Such a good night.

[kabirartfling 9,063]

Why are you so hot tho ?

OT: INCREDEBLE story , they could have taken a more professional and HQ pic of you and her tho 

[Guest ARTPOPSlays]

I saw her less then a month ago and she herself was amazing!! I just wish people weren't staring at their screens the whole time recording her. Your M&G experience sounded amazing though! 

[VANTABLACK 7,787]

So what was the secret 

[Helxig 39,441]

21 minutes ago, kabirartfling said:

Why are you so hot tho ?

OT: INCREDEBLE story , they could have taken a more professional and HQ pic of you and her tho 

Haha, love, you've only seen insta selfies and blurry pics. But thanks anyway 

It's weird though, they said they'd email us today regarding the professional pics, but we haven't been emailed yet, and they didn't take down our info... maybe they got our info from the ticketting people/when tickets were bought? I hope we get them!

 

15 minutes ago, ARTPOPSlays said:

I saw her less then a month ago and she herself was amazing!! I just wish people weren't staring at their screens the whole time recording her. Your M&G experience sounded amazing though! 

She's really good right? My favourite parts of her dancing that I clearly remember were (and it's hard to explain, but you might know) the one where she kinda leans back and darts her hands in front of her while stepping left to right, when she kinda 'hippy dances' and rolls her hands in front of her, when tilts her head right down and looks up through her fringe during the distorted vocals in Tag You're It (it looks really dark and eerie), when she does the crazy psycho face during intense bits in songs, when she snaps into a quick robotic/wind up doll like dance for a few seconds then snaps back out of it, when she tip toes around really quickly, one part where she was down on the floor thrashing around, when she was completely still with her eyes shut during the slow intro to Sippy Cup... I could go on lol

I know! A lot of people had their phones out and it really bugs me! People need to remember how to live in the moment. It's okay to take a few pics or record, but it's not okay to stand there watching the show that is happening right in front of you irl through a little screen.

[Helxig 39,441]

8 minutes ago, VANTABLACK said:

So what was the secret 

The secret is...

Spoiler

Come a little closer

Spoiler

*perks up excitedly*

Spoiler

*ushers you in with little waving movements*

Spoiler

*puts my hand up to whisper in your ear*

Spoiler

that I guessed the theme of the next album and Mel asked me not to tell anyone 

 

 

 

 

 

[Helxig 39,441]

@RiHoGaga I ended up doing it   :P   and it got long.

[Pablo 6,938]

I though this was going to be a story about a bad experience 

 

I'm really glad you had a great time and got to meet her!

[Helxig 39,441]

10 minutes ago, Pablo said:

I though this was going to be a story about a bad experience 

 

I'm really glad you had a great time and got to meet her!

I honestly went into the experience with an open mind though, ready to judge her objectively. And I was so relieved, and pleasantly surprised, that she was so damn lovely. When her tour manager said "if you get a hug" I was like hmm should I ask? But she just came bouncing right out with a big smile and open arms to hug everyone. She would've given over 100 hugs that night, and was still just as lovely to the last person in line who had their photo. After the show she thanked the crowd like 3 times and blew us kisses too.

[VANTABLACK 7,787]

2 hours ago, Helxig said:

The secret is...

  Reveal hidden contents

Come a little closer

  Reveal hidden contents

*perks up excitedly*

  Reveal hidden contents

*ushers you in with little waving movements*

  Reveal hidden contents

*puts my hand up to whisper in your ear*

  Reveal hidden contents

that I guessed the theme of the next album and Mel asked me not to tell anyone 

 

 

 

 

 

[Helxig 39,441]

12 hours ago, VANTABLACK said:

 

[Helxig 39,441]

It's not the nicest photo but here's my professional one! 

[leighciasaurus 2]

I meet her in Auckland as well! She was the sweetest most adorable human being! I told her about a music video I made for soap for a uni project and she was flattered and thanked me! I got three hugs and also got to do a photo of me kissing her cheek which was incredible considering I'd seen other meet and greets where her tour manager had been concerned about even hugging her.

[Helxig 39,441]

8 hours ago, leighciasaurus said:

I meet her in Auckland as well! She was the sweetest most adorable human being! I told her about a music video I made for soap for a uni project and she was flattered and thanked me! I got three hugs and also got to do a photo of me kissing her cheek which was incredible considering I'd seen other meet and greets where her tour manager had been concerned about even hugging her.

Haha my friend and I were looking at the pictures and were like "look she's kissing that girls cheek!"

I couldn't be happier with how it all went and how nice she was. wasn't the audience great? I was surprised everyone was singing so loudly to every song. I'd never heard such a loud crowd at a concert before, and I've been to a few! And did you notice the fake grass on the floor? And the fact she was wearing socks! Under the lighting, and with their outfits, I thought it made the stage look so Alice-In-Wonderland-esque!

Also, my name is Leigh :P

[leighciasaurus 2]

6 minutes ago, Helxig said:

Haha my friend and I were looking at the pictures and were like "look she's kissing that girls cheek!"

I couldn't be happier with how it all went and how nice she was. wasn't the audience great? I was surprised everyone was singing so loudly to every song. I'd never heard such a loud crowd at a concert before, and I've been to a few! And did you notice the fake grass on the floor? And the fact she was wearing socks! Under the lighting, and with their outfits, I thought it made the stage look so Alice-In-Wonderland-esque!

Also, my name is Leigh :P

I was surprised when when they let me! I asked Melanie if I could do a cute kissy face pose and shes like yeah sure do whatever you want! (plus the manager dude commented on my outfit so I think he liked me :P)

The crowd was awesome! I was surprised she had such a huge following over here! A few people seemed to have their phones up the whole time but it wasn't too bad. I heard about the Sydney show and people were pushed over on the way in and some girl fainted and everyone just kept being pushy. I wasn't close enough to the stage which sounds stupid since I was VIP but it was my first proper concert and I felt kinda awkward being close to people and it was cool seeing her performance from different angles! But the setting was beautiful! (Secretly wish she came out of her crib though ;P )

Aleighcia :P That's weird yet awesome!