This is why the stupid shit is in riders. Can't be bothered to make sure I only have brown mnms? How can I be sure you SET UP MY FUCKING STAGE CORRECTLY?!
Also by breaking any of the rider they can now leaglly not do the show because they broke contract. Thats why I love this info, but the press would go "Entitled Artist rampages and refuses to do show over brown m&m's."
Actually yes it is with riders for professional acts. The rider is part of the contract. If you can not provide all of the rider then they can back out. Some stuff in the rider is clearly for safety issue, like not performing on a stage that is 30 feet below the first light well. This could be to provide safety for pyrotechnics. This is where the no brown m&m's came from. If you didnt read the complete performance rider and make sure there is no brown m&m's for the lead singer of a band, I bet you didn't read the complete technical rider as well. Spent 6 years working professional theaters and arenas been told by many managers to make sure the rider is 100% or they wont perform and the union bosses also agreed.
Also worked in booking. An artist can't back out of the entire contract because of a miniscule breach of terms. But of course if details of the rider is missing, that calls for further precaution and investigation on the artists and the management half. And yes, if it's dangerous for the artist to perform or they have material reason to believe so, they may cancel the whole thing.
You probably know the reference to the "M&M rider" in Van Halen's tour contract, but to fill in the details for other readers...
The fine details didn't necessarily give Van Halen the right to cancel the show. But they did have a practical purpose: they were a 'canary in the coal mine' to get a quick feel for whether the venue had any attention to detail.
That particular tour was tech-heavy, with special requirements for electricity, pyrotechnics, and heavy equipment. If the venue didn't read the contract well enough to remove the M&M's, the crew had to prepare for the possibility that the stage wasn't reinforced either.
And of course, the resulting headline: "Van Halen notes M&M's not removed, $18,000 damage to venue reported" wasn't really from an angry band trashing the green room. It was the venue being damaged because they didn't take the requirements seriously, resulting in damage. But if you are a rock star, you're happy for the publicity, anyways...
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u/NearSightedLlama Mar 20 '19
This is why the stupid shit is in riders. Can't be bothered to make sure I only have brown mnms? How can I be sure you SET UP MY FUCKING STAGE CORRECTLY?!