May 16, 2008

The Smoking Gun - Backstage Pass Everyone is familiar with the Smoking Gun, CourtTV's more upscale answer to Rotten.com. But have you seen their extensive and amusing archive of tour riders? The three funniest: Foo Fighters 2008 Iggy Pop (A work of art) Foo Fighters 2000

Paul McCartney doesn't want any potted trees backstage, and will only "except" (sic) "animal free prints" for backstage upholstery, Sammy Hagar is apparently a wine snob, Bruce Springsteen requests frozen chicken nuggets and tater tots for his kids, and Kansas requires a warrior's drink in the dressing room. For those wondering what's typically in the pages they leave out, Metallica's 2004 Rider in its entirety, detailing insurance requirements, electrical and plumbing needs, and arena floor weight capacities.

posted by VeraGemini 15 years ago
  • Some of the stuff they're red-arrowed seems perfectly reasonable, especially Paul McCartney's security requirements. Whoever red-arrowed those was probably not born yet on December 8, 1980. And although I wouldn't expect the same level of writing skill in these as I would a speech from a law professor, I would have thought that Sting could afford to hire a small army of proofreaders. Proofreaders in 14-carat gold bikinis, with diamonds in their navels and pulverized rubies in their red ink.
  • I think I'm a bit in love with Iggy Pop's roadie.
  • I have been reading these for a long time. It just goes to show what a bad Monkey I am, because when I find something interesting, my mind thinks I've already seen it here and so I don't post it. I have to do better. But these are a fun read.
  • Hey, mothy, maybe you could sleep with the guitar player to get closer to the roadie.
  • What Lara said. I picked up a Smoking Gun book from a "bargain bin" a couple years back; reading through all of the crazed riders provided hours of fun... The Iggy rider is a riot!
  • Is Yellow Tail considered a good Chardonnay? I mean, I like it, but I have shitty taste in wine. I really should get a rider for my office. ARTIST SCIENTIST should have a donkey in his office, because donkeys are cool. ARTIST SCIENTIST should have a donkey-poop cleaner-upper guy, because donkeys poop a lot. The office shall contain 2 x donkey-proof bookshelves.
  • I think the Iggy + Stooges rider wins, hands down. Any other rider is simply a pale imitation at this point. "Thus endeth the sermon on the mount." Priceless, that.
  • You know, I wonder if the Iggy Pop rider can technically be considered a legal document, with all that crap in it. As funny as it is, I'd hate to have to be the personal assistant to the person who owns the venue that books his act (I'm assuming that's the person who has to fetch all the crazy stuff in these riders).
  • It's the promoter, not the venue, who deals with most of this. They book the venue, book the hotel rooms, arrange catering, drivers, and yes, they have flunkies who go and fetch (or at least call to have delivered) the stuff in the riders. Sometimes the promoter hires security, sometimes the venue has security staff. On a smaller level (read: bars) sometimes the venue is the promoter. Iggy doesn't sell out stadiums, but his tours would be big enough not to be playing any straight up bar gigs. Also, there's a contract that's separate from the rider that details things like how much the band is paid - minimum fee plus percentage of the door, etc.
  • Thieves snatch Iggy Pop, Stooges gear following Montreal gig. Well, that's a headline I didn't read correctly.
  • And Iggy British? Since when? Did he come from Michiganshire?
  • The missing items include "priceless" vintage instruments... bassist Mike Watt's Gibson guitar, which he has used since he played with the Minutemen in the early 1980s. Definite suckage there!