Groupies Wtf

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My boyfriend's a guitarist and is playing with a group as stand-in. They have GROUPIES. Actual groupies. Women of a certain age (40 ish) who slavishly follow the group from concert to concert, sit at their table to eat (pay for their own food) and literally have their tongues hanging out. Clap feverishly every 5 minutes.

Why? And wtaf?

AIBU to say get a grip girls?

Following the band (musically presumably on social media) and going to gigs=fan doesn't it? Where's the 'super' bit?

Ah you’ve got me there. I’ve no idea how a super fan differs from an ordinary fan.

My days of slavishly following a band ended in 1975 when I realised Graham the electrician was a much better boyfriend prospect than a Bay City Roller.

Mine ended in the eighties, it's hard work following bands about and I was never a screamy one. When a band member did appear I wasn't sure what to do. No social media or camera phones, and never had a camera on me or probably the confidence to ask for a picture anyway. Rubbish really.

I was 'picked up' by a band member, at a small side gig he was doing aside from his main gigs. We were together for five years. At first I was mega shy and used to watch youtubes of him with people (Moby) thinking, wtf. It took me two years to sing in front of him!!

He took me everywhere and I went to all sorts of parties and gigs with him. As a musician myself, it was great. The work ethic, the turning up with stems (recordings) and mixing them in my living room, going up the side steps of massive arena stages to see his tech and check his gear was ok before going on, being in the dressing room when five minutes was called and then walking with them to the stage, watching them become a band before walking on.

But it did have a downside too. I was called a groupie and looked down on at times, some parties were not my scene and I didn't fit in...and once he laughed at 9 to 5ers like me at dinner with everyone there. I broke it off after five years. He did have some big fans tho, he told me about how in New York a wealthy man really liked the band and sent a limo for him after the gig, and we met that man when he passed through London.

But being a musician is better than being a groupie. Can immerse yourself. Writing the music is where the gold is.

You dated Moby?

@something2say were you ever his official girlfriend? He sounds a bit unkind, making fun of how you earned a living. Are you still in touch? Is he still working as a musician?

I agree that writing music is extremely lucrative, and being a pop star/rock star can be a fleeting experience for many. They then spend the next few years chasing the fame again and end up doing nostalgia tours because they can't face getting an ordinary job after being famous.

No no not Moby. He played a tour for Moby once. Years ago. Can you imagine singing with him there when he played with that singer?!

I was certainly his official girlfriend yes. We are in touch yes, yes he is still working, that's all he does.

Didn't Gary Numan famously marry a fan? Together for 30 years now I think.

I just typed popstars who married their fans into google and there are quite a few. I just wonder what happens when the superstar is revealed to be rather ordinary and perhaps a bit boring?

Or when the fame goes and you're stuck with a jealous, bitter person who can't believe they're not flavour of the month any more?

I wonder how the rest of One Direction think about Harry Styles' global fame? Are they delighted for him or secretly a bit peeved?

Weren't a lot of the boybands warned not to have or admit to having girlfriends/boyfriends? To make them seem available to the fans?

A lot of fairly ordinary looking male band members seem to end up with models-make of that what you will.

Didn't Simon le Bon see Yasmin in a magazine and asked his manager to arrange a date? That sounds seedy but they've been together for decades so it must have been love. Plus Simon was quite pretty himself when he was younger, not ordinary looking.

Mick Jagger and Rod Stewart have had more than their fair share of models though, and neither man is particularly gorgeous.

Michael Caine saw Shakira in an advert and found out her details. Long and happy marriage, too.

Mick Jagger and Rod Stewart have had more than their fair share of models though, and neither man is particularly gorgeous.

Yes and you just know if they were just blokes with ordinary jobs (or no job at all!) those models would not be so interested.

Exactly, if Rod Stewart was still a gravedigger and Mick Jagger was working in IT, neither of them would have had multiple marriages and multiple children. I know they're both old fellas now, but in their prime, they never even had to try, women were all over the pair of them.

Yes I don't get it really. If I was a supermodel I'd want a good looking bloke the same age as me not a wrinkly rocker with baggage galore

Groupie here (puts on hard hat). Yes, there are a crowd of us, men and women of varying ages. We like the band, and the music, are close friends with their partners and socialise with them away from band nights. They in turn know our families. We go where they are playing when we can to show our support. The pub has paid good money for them to draw a crowd and make money, so we support that. That way they get more bookings, earn more money. They enjoy what they do as performers, and we get a great night, knowing we're not going home thinking god that band was absolute shite ... Yes, they're not a mega famous band but so what? We're not all high flyers with millions of fans buying records, tshirts and posters, so to equate it, a small band of groupies seems fair for small crowd performers. At the end of the day, they're there to perform for the crowd, and the more the merrier I say. Join in with them - they're probably a good bunch of people!

'groupie' implies sex though, doesn't it, @Stoptherideiwannagetoff ? Otherwise you're just an ardent fan.

@StrychnineInTheSandwiches good point, think perhaps OP should refer as fans rather than groupies unless there's proof of shagging occuring!

What's what the Urban Dictionary says, definitely about sex. Other than that it's just extremely enthusiastic fans isn't it?

Yes, groupies sleep with the band, don't they? I thought that was the definition of a groupie. Not just a fan who likes the band and supports them, and goes to their gigs and buys their merchandise.

I believe so, if not I have unwittingly been a groupie many many times.

Didn’t know Natalie Portman was on MN.

😂