Van Halen is a famous American Hard Rock band formed in Pasadena, California in 1972. It is credited with restoring hard rock to the forefront of the American Music scene in the 1980s. They were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. Known for its very energetic live shows, Van Halen consisted of Eddie Van Halen on the lead guitar, his brother Alex Van Halen on drums and David Lee Roth on vocals. The most popular song ever recorded by them was in their album titled ‘1984’ called ‘Jump’. They were poster boys for rock and roll excess and many stories of how they had a wild temper and often damaged music instruments and furniture back stage would always do the round. One example of their eccentricity was the details in the several pages on food requirements mentioned in the contract. Along with details of the types of cheese, the types of fruits, was the “munchies” clause. That section had requirements like Potato Chips, Nuts, Pretzels & M&M. Next to the line on M&M was, in capital letters ‘Warning: Absolutely no Brown M&Ms’. The contract clearly stipulated that if any of the riders were not adhered to the promoter would forfeit the entire show at full pay. There have been times, David Lee Roth acknowledges that they trashed the backstage and broke furniture and tore cushions when any clause including no Brown M&Ms were violated. It was only during the launch of their album called ‘A Different Kind of Truth” in 2012 that David Lee Roth let us into the secret behind the “No Brown M&M” clause. Van Halen always created massive and complex stage sets. When they started touring in the 80’s it was the biggest production ever. It was the first band to take as many as 850 power lamps around the country on their tours. These huge lights were being used in most venues for the first time and attention to detail was very important to ensure both a perfect concert but also safety. The setup time and “teardown” time was over three times the normal concert. To ensure everything was done right and that there were no accidents, Van Halen had a very large contract rider with several items that the event promoters were required to do. With detailed instruction on electric load, items like “there will be 12, 15 Amperes sockets placed at 2 feet interval but not to exceed the load bearing ability of that line” etc. As David Lee Roth recollects in an interview – he said “most rock and roll bands had a contract rider which was like a pamphlet ours was like a Chinese phonebook”. The contract was actually 53 pages long. However, the events management field in those days were not very professional and hence many times the event management team didn’t read or follow the items in detail causing last minute panic and concerns for safety. That is when David Lee Roth decided to introduce the “No brown M&M clause”. His reasoning was very simple. When he reached the venue a few hours before the concert if he found that there were brown M&Ms in the backstage area this event management company clearly didn’t pay attention to details. And that meant he would have to ensure that he went around the venue with a tooth comb to ensure everything was ridged safety. Brown M&Ms in the catering area would indicate requirement for serious line checks. The first few times they found brown M&M backstage they, in David Lee Roth’s words “Ceremoniously and theatrically” took down the back stage apart. Soon the word got around and people started taken them seriously. David recollects that on several occasions he would reach the venue early to find two or three 70 year old matronly women with gloves on, religiously separating brown M&Ms from several 5 pound bags. What is the story about? It is about God is in the details. Business Points ( Tags ) #storytelling #business #bestseller #stories #attentiontodetail #keyobservations #safetyconcerns
