This week’s end-of-days omen: we’re living in an age where a pleasant-enough crooner can offer a meet and greet for the price of a semi-detached house.
Leaving Al Pacino and his €34,000 price tag for dust, John Legend (right) is charging fans the princely sum of €140,000 for “an exclusive journey designed to nourish your mind, body and soul”, or as others might describe it, “a money-spinner designed to clean out bank accounts”.
This V-times-infinity-IP tour of New York, Paris, London and Italy with Legend begins on a private jet of rich mahogany, where fans will be given cocktails, haute cuisine and, presumably, Legend singing them softly to sleep with lullabies.
In New York, they’ll take a sunset cruise on a luxury Feretti yacht, meet famed chef Marcus Samuelsson, and enjoy a Sotheby’s private event where a curated selection of contemporary paintings are matched with vintage wines. In bonne Paris, they’ll enjoy an elusive “creative experience” at jewellers Van Cleef & Arpels before delving into fashion with visits to the Louis Vuitton Foundation and Valentino’s atelier.
The next stop is London, where the opulence levels go into overdrive, literally. Arriving by helicopter to Haseley Court, Aston Martin’s chief designer hosts a day of behind-the-scenes insight, including a wee drive of the new Aston Martin DB11 and lunch with chef Tom Aikens, followed by rare tour of Norman Foster’s architecture practice, which could be described as an experience money can’t buy – except it can.
Highlights of Italy include a special performance of the play Love Letters featuring Billy Zane and Marisa Tomei (yes, really). The tour ends with another special performance by the Legend himself, after which the patrons will return to their presumably insane lives, and the singer will laugh all the way to the bank. A €150 meet-and-greet with Jedward won't seem quite so offensive again.
