I met Jens on October 16th after his show in Atlanta. He was everything I expected and more. 100 people crammed into the lobby after his show and waited to see him. Everyone pressed in against each other, but gave him about an 18 inch radius of space. Someone handed him a beer, but he never really got to drink it. The entire room felt tense, everyone murmuring to their friends quietly in anticipation. My knees felt stiff and I kept lifting my feet in my motorcycle boots and shifting from side to side. I knew Jens would take the time to talk to every single person in the Variety Playhouse that night. I’ve read from his fans all over the world that he is very generous in this respect. He was so gentle with everyone and let each person talk to him in their own time. He never cut anyone off or gave any social cues that their time with him was over and they needed to move on and let the next person walk up as though he were merely an autograph and photo factory.
I couldn’t do that.
And it’s sad that this kind of behavior from our musicians and songwriters seems so unusual. I love when a friend of mine meets a famous person and reports back that they were really nice. We don’t owe famous people anything and we shouldn’t put up with them acting like dicks.
As I was walking away from Jens, I turned back to him quickly, and realizing I wanted to say something else, he immediately gave me his attention again. I said, “Thank you for being so patient with everybody.” I reached over and pat him on his lower back, as I added, “You’re a really great guy.” He gave me that wide, sweet smile he’s often unwilling to make for photos and said, “Thank you, but I really enjoy this.”
Find out more about Jens and his music: http://www.jenslekman.com
Comments
Post a Comment