On 02/03/11 2:55 AM, Alexander Harrowell wrote:
On Wednesday 02 March 2011 03:03:22 JC Dill wrote:
I *love* using Bozo filters. Anytime you can trick companies into
revealing their true colors, you are a step ahead in the game
AKA the Brown M&M gambit.
Exactly!
Per Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rider_%28theater%29#Unreasonable_Requests
Van Halen requested in the technical rider that a bowl of M&Ms be
provided in their dressing room with the brown ones removed (failure to
do so would not only mean that the band would not perform, but the venue
would still have to pay the full fee). The objective of this wasn't due
to any excesses on the part of the band, but was a method to determine
how much attention to detail the crew at a local venue paid to the
requests specified in the rider. Should the bowl be absent, or if brown
M&Ms were present, it would give band members reason to suspect other,
legitimate, technical and safety issues were also being performed poorly
or were outright overlooked. David Lee Roth stated in his autobiography
that this request was done as a result of faulty workmanship at a venue
on an earlier tour which nearly cost the life of a member of Van Halen's
road crew, as well as $85,000 damage to the venue and their own equipment.
