May 28, 2001

11:29 AM

You'd have to be a Rock Starfor service like this! It's Nutter butter cookies & Unscented Kleenex for MATCHBOX 20... And better be certain there's no hair in the food for the artist formerly known as Puff Daddy, and for The artist known again as Prince, who likes to shoot up before going onstage, make sure everything is rapped in plastic! and if Mariah should stop by, please provide some crystal champagne glasses & bendy straws.. Rock stars & their backstage requirements, from the The Smoking Gun What would you ask for? (besides bendy straws of course)
posted by danger (16 comments total)

What danger should have made clear is that the "shooting up" TSG refers to w/r/t Prince is a vitamin B-12 shot.

It may seem a little excessive to require a doctor to administer a vitamin shot, but it's a far cry from Prince being a junkie.
posted by brantstrand at 11:52 AM on May 28, 2001

I would ask for the following items:

3 boxes of wet wipes
4 cherry bombs
1 pack of water ballon, preferably gernade look alikes
3 sample size KY jelly packets
7 tubes of toothpaste, assorted variety and brand
21 naked females dancing around without music
posted by howa2396 at 12:06 PM on May 28, 2001

The B-12 shot is for some dude in Prince's band who has a medical condition that I can't remember right now. I'll be the resident Prince expert on MeFi.
posted by anildash at 12:20 PM on May 28, 2001

I'm surprised they couldn't get Britney Spear's information, too -- she packs quite a punch as well.

All I would request is a 6-pack of Coca-Cola and some really yummy Ritz crackers.
posted by GirlFriday at 12:33 PM on May 28, 2001

I really feel sorry for the low guy on the totem pole at the venue who has to do all the ridiculous van halen-esque requests like picking out all the green M&Ms. "Yeah, I was supposed to help with lighting but instead have to buy 8 bags of M&Ms and spend 4 hours picking out greens. I just went to the bathroom and no I didn't wash my hands."

Be careful what you ask for.
posted by skallas at 12:47 PM on May 28, 2001

I *knew* someone would bring up the green M&M's. :-)

You *do* know *why* they did that right? To paraphrase DLR, because I don't have his book handy, they were the first big 28-semitrailer road show, and they were getting booked into little podunk halls, where the promoter very often didn't pay enough attention to the technical details in the rider... you know, things like "a floor rated to support 35,000 pounds of lighting trusses".

They'd gone, DLR continues, to a great deal of effort to make sure that the terms of the rider would create a safe environment for them to perform in, and the Green M&M clause was merely a quick way for the band to evaluate whether the details of the rider had been followed to the letter, since that was, like, item 118 of 235.

Makes perfect sense to me, and passed a sanity check from a promoter I know as well, so I'm assuming it's an accurate portrayal of the story.
posted by baylink at 12:53 PM on May 28, 2001

Y'know, a lot of these rider requirements make sense to me. They seem to bust on Faith Hill's request for "no lillies" - I'll bet money that the woman's allergic to them. And as for the rest of the requests for flowers, candles, etc. -- hell, if I was on a tour bus every day for three (or more) months at a stretch, I'd like to have my space prettied up before a show too, and have some things that I like to eat rather than "mystery meat" from catering.

The underwear/socks thing has me stymied, though. Are they not doing laundry? :D
posted by metrocake at 1:11 PM on May 28, 2001

They do have Britney, and others, in Part I.
posted by girlhacker at 2:41 PM on May 28, 2001

I'd just want a swing.
posted by holloway at 9:48 PM on May 28, 2001

ooh ooh, and a flying fox.
posted by holloway at 9:48 PM on May 28, 2001

The underwear/socks thing has me stymied, though. Are they not doing laundry?

I assumed the underwear/socks was to be used as disposables. Perform a show, get them drenched in sweat, then toss them and slip back into your 'designer-brand celebrity undies' (after a brisk shower, of course).
posted by Dirjy at 10:12 PM on May 28, 2001

Since the recording industry screws most artists under their wing, I think they should make their demands and live high on the hog as much as they like while they're still little darlings. It won't last. They should appreciate and enjoy their moment in the sun while they can. I'd ask for:

1. I don't want to see any food that came from a cow, including dairy. I don't even wanna catch a roadie eating a cheeseburger. I ain't vegan. Doctor's orders say I can't eat cow stuff, so I don't wanna see it.
2. Unlimited supply of hot tea with lemon and honey.
3. Eight ripe unbruised bananas in the dressing room. All other food must be low in cholesterol, low in sugar and low in salt, but still tasty and enjoyable to eat.
4. King size bed in the hotel room.
5. Attractive, willing, twenty-seven year old, freckled, strawberry blonde female in the king size bed.
posted by ZachsMind at 2:16 AM on May 29, 2001

one interesting thing: britney's rider includes 6 cans of coke. i guess the pepsi people didn't get to edit her tour contract.
posted by elsar at 4:02 PM on May 29, 2001

Nice catch, elsar.

Hey, Zach; nice taste. Is there a line for sloppy seconds?
(hey, this *is* backstage at a rock concert...)
posted by baylink at 8:26 AM on June 2, 2001

elsar, Britney's ride predates her Pepsi contract. It's well known among her fans that she was a Coke drinker before the agreement.
posted by anildash at 8:42 AM on June 2, 2001

You can be the resident Prince expert on MeFi, Anildash, or you can be the resident Britney expert on Mefi, but no man of this world can be both, by Jove.
posted by Shadowkeeper at 7:15 PM on June 2, 2001