Every time musicians go on tour, they chuck an ‘Artist Rider’ in their documents, detailing all the technical equipment and backstage hospitality requirements they need.
Someone shared the UK rock band Motörhead’s rider from the early 2000s - and it is out-of-the-gate hilarious.
The rider begins with ‘THIS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT’ before listing: 2 litres of Jack Daniel’s, 1 litre of Jim Beam, 1 litre of quality vodka, and 120 cans or bottles of non-lite beer.
They even specified their preferred beers depending on the location: San Miguel, Amstel, and Kronenbourg in Europe, Miller Genuine Draft in the USA, and either Molson or Labatt's in Canada.
They sure knew what they wanted.
Hilariously, the next line requests 24 cans of Strong Dry Apple Cider, and there is a note under that writes ‘This is an English Alcoholic Apple Drink of Beer Strength and IT IS available in Europe & most US States’.
Don’t stress - it wasn’t all booze. They also requested Coke, Gatorade, unsweetened OJ, full and low-fat milk, vegetable juice, and Red Bull.
Their food palate, with all due respect, reminded me of my ten-year-old taste buds. But in the best way.
To satisfy their sweet tooth, they asked for five packets of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, 12 assorted chocolate snack bars - with a strict instruction of no Hershey’s - and a bowl of assorted fruit and nuts.
Savoury was definitely the preference for the fellas: two bags of Ruffles Cheddar & Sour Cream chips, one large bag of Tortilla Chips with Salsa, two loaves of fresh-sliced bread (wheat and white), one cheese tray with cheddar, brie, and other selections of cheese blocks, and one box of crackers.
On top of all that, a deli tray with assorted meats, cheeses, pickles, salad, mustard, mayonnaise, salt and pepper. Anyone else suddenly starving?
It wouldn’t be a proper rider without a few packs of darts. They asked for two packs of Marlboro Cigarettes and two packs of Benson & Hedges Cigarettes in the UK, and Camel Filters in the U.S.
Motörhead insisted that their beer, soft drinks and water be served on ice, and they must have ‘A CONSTANT SUPPLY OF CLEAN ICE CUBES WHEN REQUIRED’.
To finish things off, they left a message in bold:
All Dressing Room Catering (ESPECIALLY ALCOHOL REQUIREMENTS) must be provided as listed above… This is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT to avoid problems on the day of the show.
Ah man, to be a fly on the wall when the booze was missing and those "problems on the day of the show" went down…
