the evolution of the rider

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So the next logical question after seeing the Beatles' spartan rider is: at what point did concert riders turn into the absurd lists of demands we know today? I'm guessing it happened sometime in the early 1970s - a few years before Van Halen's brown M&Ms brought the concert rider into public consciousness - but when did bands become bold enough to ask for these things?

― mike a, Wednesday, 20 April 2005 14:51 (twenty years ago)

The "M&M" thing was explained as "If the promoter provided M&Ms and the brown ones were not removed, it was kind of a signal that they hadn't read the rider conditions properly, so better lookout, the PA etc may be wrong" etc...

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 14:56 (twenty years ago)

i've also heard it explained as "they're dicks".

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 14:58 (twenty years ago)

Roth swears it was the former reason.

― The Sensational Sulk (sexyDancer), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 14:59 (twenty years ago)

Legend has it that VH, when confronted with the brown M&Ms, proceeded to grind them into the carpet. So maybe both reasons applied.

― mike a, Wednesday, 20 April 2005 15:05 (twenty years ago)

seven years pass...

Who is this asshole?

http://www.factmag.com/2012/06/20/read-steve-aokis-eye-wateringly-demanding-rider-requests/

― gonna send him to outer space, to hug another face (NickB), Wednesday, 20 June 2012 13:14 (thirteen years ago)

that's really not that extravagant a rider, it's got a few weird things on it but I've seen way worse. love that he actually asks for weed on the rider

― decrepit but free (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Wednesday, 20 June 2012 13:19 (thirteen years ago)

ambitionz on a ridah

― la musica de harry frogbs (Whiney G. Weingarten), Wednesday, 20 June 2012 13:19 (thirteen years ago)

A+

― decrepit but free (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Wednesday, 20 June 2012 13:20 (thirteen years ago)

fuck I'm gonna bump the hell outta that tune right now, ty based whiney

― decrepit but free (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Wednesday, 20 June 2012 13:21 (thirteen years ago)

6 pairs of men's underwear? How fucking long is he staying for?

― gonna send him to outer space, to hug another face (NickB), Wednesday, 20 June 2012 13:22 (thirteen years ago)

presumably he's traveling with a tour manager, some techies, a driver, etc

― decrepit but free (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Wednesday, 20 June 2012 13:23 (thirteen years ago)

and can't they pack their own underwear? how old are they, eight?

― my father will guide me up the stairs to bed (anagram), Wednesday, 20 June 2012 13:26 (thirteen years ago)

"non-refined sugars, non-bleached flours, blah blah blah", then "1 large cheese pizza"!

― Mark E. Match-up (haitch), Wednesday, 20 June 2012 13:28 (thirteen years ago)

Aghast at these preening fops tbh

― gonna send him to outer space, to hug another face (NickB), Wednesday, 20 June 2012 13:29 (thirteen years ago)

and can't they pack their own underwear? how old are they, eight?

no - you pack your own underwear, but then you work late at night & probably get real wasted and in the morning the last damn thing you wanna do is laundry, and at some point you run out & you think "fuck, if I had a 3-pack of Hanes on the rider I could just have a clean pair ready for me after the show" - maybe you're traveling on a tour bus, which means you all piled into the bus immediately after the gig (those local hotel rooms might just be day rooms: a place to shower & decompress between arriving in town & playing the show) and the driver drove all night (I've been on two bus tours, both of them followed the "drive in the night after the gig to the next town" protocol) and you show up at the new town and pull into the day room and you can either stretch your hungover legs or...do laundry? naw man get it on the rider

many riders also request socks.

― decrepit but free (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Wednesday, 20 June 2012 13:42 (thirteen years ago)

Hmmm, okay I didn't actually look at it that way, maybe I will give you the briefs.

Now then, these two record label logo cakes...

― gonna send him to outer space, to hug another face (NickB), Wednesday, 20 June 2012 14:13 (thirteen years ago)

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