Riders on the storm

Sorry to all the Doors-fans out there, ending up on my blog hoping to find some info on their favorite band, but this has got nothing to do with the Doors. I just needed to nice title to go with the subject on hand. You see, the other day I read an article in the newspaper about those appendixes to contracts you need to sign when you want to hire a band or artist, the so called "riders". When you want to have a band or an artist performing for you, they will show up for their gig only if certain demands have been met. Those demands are all written in the riders, and can vary from funny to damn-right outragious. One of the most famous ones is of course the one from the legendary rockband Van Halen, who demanded a big bowl of M&M's, with ALL the brown ones removed!
When I first heard it, I thought it was a bit excessive, although funny. I already was picturing the stage-hand going through an huge pile of bags, manually removing (and maybe even eating) all the brown M&M's, till he won't be eating them for the rest of his life.
Now I just read that this demand had served a purpose. Since the band always toured with complicated and some sensitive equipment, it needed some expert set-up. After one of the roadies almost got electrocuted, due to a bad connection, they needed something to be able to check if their conditions were met. That's were the big bowl came in. Whenever they found a big bowl with M&M's they knew the other part had read their contract. Pretty smart, huh?

And how about miss Britney Spears? She wants an UNLISTED OUTGOING ONLY telephone line (note the capitals). If the number of that phone line is published, the promoter gets a $5.000 fine. "Sorry, wrong number!".

And you all might know that Amy WINEhouse does her name justice. So, it may not come as a surprise that her dressing room demands is filled with alcoholics or coctail ingredients. Just a few items: 2 bottles of red Rioja wine, 1 case of beer (NO STELL OR CARLING!), 1 large (what else?) bottle of vodka, 1 bottle of champagne, 1 bottle of Courvoisier. I sure hope it's not for her alone, but considering her reputation, I fear the worst.
And she is not the only one requires alcohol. On each rider there is some alcoholic beverages.But the one from Sheryl Crow cuts the cake. She orders a drink specifically for that day, i.e. on tuesday 1 bottle of Bombay Gin and a large bottle of Schweppes Tonic.

Another funny one. Legendary hardrock band Guns 'n' Roses has listed on their wanted list "1 assortment of adult magazines (i.e. Playboy, Penthouse)

Did I mention any Diva's here already (besides Amy Vodkahouse)? Don't think so. Well, for starters there is the ever so lovely Christina Aguilera. Contact the local police station before booking her to perfomr for you, as she requests a police escort from and to her hotel.

As you already might have noticed, all links end up on the same place on the net, and that is The Smoking Gun. Here you can find a whole list of riders of all sorts of artists. Go and check it out. One tip, DO check out the one from Iggy Pop! That one is just hilarious!
Just a small fragment on his rider on how his dressing room should look like: " You know what really would be nice? If you could make his room look less like a typical rock & roll dressing room and more sort of......Interesting? Are you with me? Just let someone loose with a little bit of artistic flair..er, do you know any homosexuals?"

Happy New Year!!

Here I would like to wish you all a Happy 2008!
May all your wishes come true this year. I hope you all had a good New Years Eve. You spend it with the family, or with friends?
For us, we decided to take things easy, this year. We have been to Paris and Disneyland this X-mas (pics too follow), and Alec had enjoyed himself a bit TOO much, becoming a bit ill from too much excitement. So we just stayed at home, I bought some fireworks (read here about that crazy dutch tradition), we had some oliebollen, and woke up Alec before hell broke loose.
Nothing much, nothing special.