Famous celebs and their quirky requests

So I upped sticks and joined the entertainment game. I was a Butlins Redcoat, a holiday Rep and I joined Pirates here in Mallorca in 1994. During those years we helped promote some concerts and this is when I first came across the term ‘rider.’

In theatre, dance and live musical performances a rider is a set of requests or demands that a performer sets as criteria for performance, which are typically fulfilled by the promoter or hosting venue. Typical riders include hospitality and technical equipment that the artist needs in order to perform.

Now I’ve contacted some of my friends in the entertainment world who are promoters, venue owners or musicians themselves to ask for the funny and outrageous riders they’ve heard of. Some have named the artist or artists in question and others didn’t but regardless of who it is the things that people ask for you wouldn’t believe.

I contacted drummer Steve White who I’ve been lucky enough to interview on quite a few occasions. Steve has played for the Style Council, The Who and Oasis amongst others. He replied, ‘Hi mate, mine relate mostly to alcohol... a few I don’t think I could tell you!’

One promoter said ‘I was asked to provide 2 x PS5’s in their original boxes and a variety of latest games for the guy to take home . He added, ‘I had to provide 3 different sports cars to pick up an artist at the airport so that he could choose which one to go in when he arrived.’

In 2003 Van Morrison performed at the Puente Romano Tennis Club in Marbella. The rider stated he had to be picked up in black Mercedes with darkened windows. The driver could not open door for him as he liked to open it himself and there must be a box of Kleenex (no other brand) tissues on the back seat. The driver had to be English speaking but he was not allowed to speak to him.

Michael Bolton had to have a particular make of steamer, it wasn’t mentioned if it was for his hair or his clothes. Rod Stewart wanted an exercise bike. Elton John wanted the whole dressing room area white....so we had to go to huge expense on white drapes.

We were told that we were not allowed to look Mick Hucknall in the eye.

Kasabian, a huge mad rock band from Leicester had 7 different types of tea, they tour a lot and looked after themselves.

In stark contrast to that, the Happy Mondays was 2 bottles of vodka, 2 whiskey, 2 rum, 6 red wine, 6 white wine, crate of bottled beer and assorted chocolates Iggy Pop and The Stooges, requested 7 dwarves, along with a brand of cigarettes he doesn’t like so he can through them in the bin and 12 bottles of red wine. Status Quo wanted oxygen bottles and masks on the side of the stage.

One of my favourites is from American band Van Halen. Buried amongst dozens of points in their rider was an odd stipulation that there were to be no brown M&M’s in the backstage area. If any brown M&M’s were found backstage, the band could cancel the entire concert at the full expense of the promoter. That meant that because of a single sweet, a promoter could lose millions.

For decades this stood as a humiliating act of self-indulgence, a rock band forcing someone to search through these sweets removing every last brown one, for no apparent reason. Yet when lead singer David Lee Roth finally divulged the real reason for the bizarre clause, an entirely different picture was painted, one that serves as a valuable lesson for business.

To ensure the promoter had read every single word in the contract, the band created the “no brown M&M’s” clause. It was a way to indicate that the promoter may have not paid attention to other more important parts of the rider, and that there could be other bigger problems at hand.

In essence they created a seemingly silly clause to make sure that every little detail was taken care of. It was important, both for the experience of the fans and the safety of the band, to make sure that no little problems created bigger issues.

Take care everybody and enjoy your weekend!