One of the most famous if not downright weird demands that a rock band ever made was not what you think.
Van Halen’s 1982 Diver Down World Tour was epic in scale. The band was riding a popularity wave that allowed them to sell out massive stadiums.
The problem with such a massive tour was that the details mattered.
The stage setup alone was complicated and required a specific set of engineering considerations that, if not followed, could lead to disaster.
So the band decided to test each venue by providing specific, easily verifiable demands, within their 53 page typewritten rider.
The most famous one, under the Munchies section, made it into the cultural lexicon well before anyone knew about memes:
🍬 M&M's (WARNING: ABSOLUTELY NO BROWN ONES).
No brown M&M’s. This seems like the most arrogant rock star thing to do but it had its purpose.
If the band found brown M&M’s in their dressing room, then what else had the venue missed.
The details matter and while we sometimes want to rush something out the door, or skip important, sometimes boring steps, attention to detail is how we gain trust with our customers as we market to them.
Other notable items were:
🐟 Herring in sour cream
🍺 Four (4) cases of "Schlitz Malt Liquor beer (16 ounce cans)
🍷 Eight (8) bottles of wine and liquor.
And because it was the 80’s:
🐪 One (1) large tube of KY Jelly
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