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| Associated Press |
...Well, not really, but bear with us because this video is great.
One of our favorite rock 'n' roll rumors is that Van Halen banned all brown M&Ms in their tour rider (the contract stipulating a band's demands for playing a show). Below, David Lee Roth explains in why the band, who is reuniting for a tour and hits Philly on March 5, made such a strange request and it's surprisingly lucid.
So what does this have to do with the Spectrum? Roth explained that many older venues -- i.e. the Spectrum -- weren't equipped to put on a "gigantor epic-sized Van Halen production." Their equipment was taking too long to set up, would get damaged and could have resulted in injuries. To make sure that the promoters followed their rider to the letter and keep everyone safe, the band included the infamous brown M&M request: If they saw the offending candy, it would mean that they the promoter didn't read the rider close enough and they had to do extra checks for safety.
Seriously, Diamond Dave, we're impressed.
H/T Vulture
Brown M&Ms from Van Halen on Vimeo.
tell these oldheads to hang it up and collect their social security. I liked eddie better when he was on the sauce.— OhOkay
Comment removed.- Love em or hate em,this is one of the bands that used to tour constantly, making about 1.5-2 mil a week when doing so.BonJovi as well.There will b no social security for these guys,young Geezy.The old heads are eating your lunch.— red rock
- *cough* B-llsh-t! *cough*
Anybody even remotely familiar with concert production would know that the people who saw the hospitality rider would never need to see the production rider, and vice versa.
Further, his explanation defies credulity on a number of fronts: first, it assumes that whatever local electricians, staging companies, riggers, labor, and all their supervisors would be completely unfazed by the promoter demanding that they do shoddy work that would endanger everybody's lives because it might save a few dollars. Not likely when you're dealing with people whose careers would suffer if they killed or maimed an arena act or their fans. Second, it assumes that VH's production crew themselves put these stupid ideas in place rather than properly advancing shows and supervising the preparation of the concert. The absence of brown M&M's in the dressing room bears no logical connection to whether or not a clamp or shackle is properly secured on an overhead lighting truss. Again, not the same people performing these jobs. Third, it assumes that we're all supposed to believe that DLR's main concern before a tour in 1985 was to make sure that all the stage electric was properly grounded. Pardon me while I gather my eyeballs - they just rolled out of my head.
DLR The EMT may be a more mature and safety-minded individual than DLR The Guy Who Had The Lip Of The Stage Sectioned Off To Make Groupie Sex Easier To Achieve, but his retroactive whitewashing of his band's stupid indulgent demands only serves to make it easier for him enter his AARP years without having to apologize for being a tool.
Were all the women in bikinis on the set of the California Girls video to make sure that the temperature never dipped below 55 degrees also? Wouldn't want Dave to catch a cold, after all.— odone20 - *cough* B-llsh-t! *cough*Anybody even remotely familiar with concert production would know that the people who saw the hospitality rider would never need to see the production rider, and vice versa.Further, his explanation defies credulity on a number of fronts: first, it assumes that whatever local electricians, staging companies, riggers, labor, and all their supervisors would be completely unfazed by the promoter demanding that they do shoddy work that would endanger everybody's lives because it might save a few dollars. Not likely when you're dealing with people whose careers would suffer if they killed or maimed an arena act or their fans. Second, it assumes that VH's production crew themselves put these stupid ideas in place rather than properly advancing shows and supervising the preparation of the concert. The absence of brown M&M's in the dressing room bears no logical connection to whether or not a clamp or shackle is properly secured on an overhead lighting truss. Again, not the same people performing these jobs. Third, it assumes that we're all supposed to believe that DLR's main concern before a tour in 1985 was to make sure that all the stage electric was properly grounded. Pardon me while I gather my eyeballs - they just rolled out of my head.DLR The EMT may be a more mature and safety-minded individual than DLR The Guy Who Had The Lip Of The Stage Sectioned Off To Make Groupie Sex Easier To Achieve, but his retroactive whitewashing of his band's stupid indulgent demands only serves to make it easier for him enter his AARP years without having to apologize for being a tool.Were all the women in bikinis on the set of the California Girls video to make sure that the temperature never dipped below 55 degrees also? Wouldn't want Dave to catch a cold, after all. (HTML deleted)— odone20
- I've heard this explanation before, and I've always been a little suspicious -- if they saw the brown M&Ms had been taken out of the bowl, then does that mean they skipped the extra safety checks? At most concert venues, the people who set up the hospitality suites have absolutely nothing to do with the electrical/sound system -- how could they assume that the guy who bought the M&Ms would even read the contract pages regarding the sound requirements?— J H
- On another note, who is the Korean woman playing guitar next to DLR?— J H
- everyone see the m&m commercial at the super bowl? hilarious!— djack10
- What a silly attempt at giving an ages-old story a local angle. When the original VH toured from 1978 - 84, arenas like the Spectrum were not yet considered either outdated or small.— mickg3
- Are we going to see the washed up, no talent, old & bald DLR on this tour? Funny. Sammy Hager goes to bed laughing out loud every night.— kelprod2
- Who's Van Halen???— robynk
- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
- Odone, thank you for this. It bugs me deeply when crumbs who have the press's ear bash the working man to cover for their own shoddy standards. The July 4th debacle where a stage set fell on the participants, and the spokesman immediately blamed the stagehands. Come to find out, the stagehands had nothing to do with the stage failure. David Lee Roth should work for a month and see what it feels like. Crumb!
— xkarivalis - I for one am glad to see Dave back and for everyone bad mouthing Dave, in true Philadelphia fashion, you need to listen to the new Van Halen album. They are far from washed up considering they just put out on of the best albums Van Halen ever made. Dave still rocks and I can't wait to see them in March.— surreal
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