After my piece the other day about value for money Meet and Greets, I thought I’d do a follow up, since I’ve been to see John and Edward.

You may recall, a newspaper article called into dispute the fact that Jedward were charging €75 for a “selfie session”.  This somewhat misrepresents the event, which was actually billed as an “Intimate VIP Concert Package”.  Given John and Edward are international artists, who write and produce their own music, not to mention make their own music videos (plus countless other things…) and who are respected within the industry by the likes of Ed Sheeran, Jared Leto, Katy Perry and so on, they are entitled to make some money from their hard work.  On the surface of it, €75 was good value because for that price, you received a selfie session, some exclusive merchandise, and a concert.

In reality, it was an experience worth much more – the Twins gave over and above what was expected of them.

I went to the Intimate VIP event on Tuesday, at the Riverside Park Hotel, in Enniscorthy.  I flew into Dublin the previous night, and with friends, drove down to the scenic County Wexford town the next morning.  When it was time for the event, I went in, and was treated to a mini-photoshoot, of 6 photos, with proper lighting.  I’ve not looked so good in photos for ages – and if it was only that then I’d have gone away happy.  But I also had the opportunity to catch up briefly with the Twins, I had a laugh, I even got to pull a Christmas cracker with Edward.  We had fun, and I felt, for that short time, like I was the only person who mattered.

But then – after everyone had had their photoshoot – we moved to the concert area, and settled in for the show.  It was an intimate concert, so tickets were limited.  On Tuesday there must have been around 35-40 fans there.  John and Edward gave attention to every person in the audience.  Nobody felt left out, whether they were in the front row or the back.  The concert wasn’t merely a few songs and then done, it was a proper concert.  John and Edward gave it their all.  Because of the number in the audience, it also felt like a gathering of friends.  Truly intimate.

Was it good value for money?

Yes.

Would I do it all over again?

Most definitely yes!