In the 80s, when Van Halen was the biggest and baddest band in the world, the LA rockers were famous for their disdain of brown M&M's. You see, their concert rider called for, among myriad other items, a bowl of M&M's to be procured for backstage enjoyment. However, all the brown ones had to be removed for the M&M bowl to be acceptable.

It was this particular demand that came to define rock star excess, not to mention Van Halen's sense of fun danger (or dangerous fun?). Obviously, catering crews at venues would have to manually remove brown M&M's from the Special Van Halen M&M Bowl. And bear in mind that in the 80s, fewer M&M colors existed - the were far more brown M&Ms than there are today. Those crazy rock stars!

Concert riders, then, can be a fascinating reflection of the artist. So wouldn't it be intriguing to check in on Van Halen's 2008 tour rider? Yes, it would. Luckily, The Smoking Gun got their hands on a VH rider used back in May. Is it as unhinged as the 80s model? No, but it's still worth a peek. Items!


David Lee Roth's Dressing Room
All of the members (Dave, Ed, Wolf and Alex) get their own rooms, of course. But Diamond Dave's must be free of carpet. Why? Because he practices martial arts, of course. Also, he would prefer to be as far from the others as possible. Given the years-long estrangement that preceded the reunion, this isn't a bad idea.

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