CONCERT REVIEW: Leon Bridges @ LA's Greek Theatre

By Jessica Klausing

The Los Angeles stars shined bright for Leon Bridges on his Good Thing tour stop at the Greek Theatre. Bridges brings to life a carefree nostalgic vibe with his 60’s inspired R&B grooves, soothing soulful voice, elegant ‘classic man’ apparel, and romanticized storytelling. The sold out crowd were in for quite a treat.

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Leon Bridges offers exclusive Meet n’ Greet packages for his tour stops. They are truly one of a kind. I have had the opportunity to participate in several VIP experiences for different artists and I must say Leon’s is by far my favorite! Here is my review of the VIP experience.

VIP check in. Photo by Jessica Klausing.

My instructions were to arrive for check in at 4:00P on the dot. The VIP tent and check in stations were set up in the employee parking lot behind the Greek Theatre. I had an easy check in even though a staff member almost forgot to give me my meet n’ greet pass. After that I made sure to double check to ensure all items were in my swag bag.

The VIP bag came with a signed Good Thing tour poster, 4 postcards of Leon, and a Good Thing album vinyl record cover. Super cool! They had a special merch booth set up for VIP members. I took a few minutes to browse the various tour t-shirts and posters until the lounge opened.

The VIP tent lounge. Photo by Jessica Klausing.

About thirty minutes or so after check in, we were allowed to enter our VIP lounge to chill until it was time for soundcheck and meet n’ greet. At first glance the tent does not look that great but it’s much more cooler inside.

Inside the VIP lounge. Photo by Jessica Klausing.

Once inside this place was transformed into a swanky little nightclub. There were two bars on opposite ends, a retro vinyl record listening station, a guitar playing station, and cozy inflatable couches to lounge on. Definitely quite the little set up!

VIP listening booth. Photo by Jessica Klausing.

The listening booth was my favorite lounge perk! I loved how they turned the equipment cases into a book shelf decked out in retro posters, music books, and a generous record collection to sample. Leon’s crew can be my personal interior designers any day! The record collection had everything from Billie Holiday to The Temptations. It was pretty cool getting to listen to many of Leon’s musical inspirations behind his own retro-soul brand.

VIP record collections. Photo by Jessica Klausing.

The next cool lounge perk was the guitar station. We were told this was actually one of Leon’s guitars. Kudos to Leon for allowing a bunch of strangers to pick up and play his guitar. Next to the guitar was a music stand with the sheet music for Leon’s song, “River” if you wanted to learn how to play it.

Around 5PM, we were called to line up at the front gate for Leon’s soundcheck. We were invited in to watch the last two songs of the soundtrack. The crew strictly informed us that we were not allowed to take pictures or videos of the soundtrack. Unfortunately, I have no photos to share but just getting to see and hear Leon perform his songs up close was something so magical that not even a recording could capture.

My rockstar pose on the Greek Theatre stage.

After soundtrack we were lead to line up backstage. I figured that we were going to get to meet Leon and get our photos taken with him onstage. Super cool! However, this was not the case. We were given the opportunity to pose individually onstage. Still cool! The Greek Theatre is one of my favorite outdoor amphitheaters. From the audience’s point of view, it’s quite a breathtaking sight to see the endless sea of green trees behind the stage. Getting to see from the artist’s point of view was a unique experience. I prefer to see the artist and the trees but I’m sure it’s more breathtaking at night.

Meeting Leon Bridges.

After the stage photos, we were told that Leon had his crew set up the meet n’ greets in his dressing room backstage! I thought it was really nice of Leon to invite his fans backstage with him. We got a little mini tour of the backstage area on the way to the dressing rooms. I didn’t get any backstage photos because I was not sure if it was allowed. I will say the backstage is not as glamorous as you think. It was quite barren with white cement walls. It reminded me more of a high school gym locker room to be honest.

Leon awaited us against the Good Thing tour backdrop in the dressing room. As we waited in line, several of us fans chatted excitedly about the first time we heard Leon’s music. The most beautiful thing about these VIP meet n’ greet experiences is being able to share the love of music with other like-minded fans.

Leon is such a gentleman! He was very sweet and gave lots of hugs. I liked how this experience did not feel rushed. It was truly genuine. We knew we were on a limited time frame but not once did an usher try to ‘hurry us’ through our photo with Leon. Thank you CID Entertainment! I wish more VIP experience companies would follow your lead.

I’m not sure if all of Leon’s VIP experiences are set up exactly that this LA one in particular, but if you get the chance, I would highly recommend it.