The Ongoing History of New Music, episode 1062: The backstage rider

Going on tour is hard. You’re away from home for months at a time. There’s little sleep, bad food, too many drugs, a surfeit of alcohol, late nights, temptations into bad behavior, crazy people, and that bass player who refuses to wash his feet—probably because he’s on his phone moaning to his girlfriend about how miserable he is.

All that occupies about 22 hours of the day. The best times come when you’re at the venue. There’s the excitement of the lead-up, the after-show satisfaction, and, in between, the gig itself.

But every show is different. A different city. A different place to sleep. Vans, buses, and—if you’re lucky—airplanes. For that time on the road, your sanctuary becomes the dressing room, the one place over which you have some measure of control—if you know what you’re doing.

This brings me to the concert rider, the part of the contract with the promoter that specifies what an act has to be provided with before, during, and after a show.

Once the band arrives, the road manager is the point person. He or she has to make sure the promoter adheres to the terms of the rider.

Most of the details are pretty mundane because they’re basically logistical: the times of the load-in and load-out; electrical requirements and the number of local electricians required to make them happen; how many forklifts and drivers are needed to move gear around; catering for the crew; parking for the tour buses; how merch sales are going to work. That kind of thing.

Where things get interesting are the artist’s requirements—the things they need backstage to ensure they’re in a good headspace to play a great show. Mess up the rider and the promoter runs the risk of having a pouty, petulant, and otherwise pissed-off performance.

And I get it. If you’re an artist and you don’t get what you need before a gig, then you’re going to feel disrespected.

Coming up with a list of requests that can be enforced night after night, venue after venue, city after city, and country after country is a delicate and essential thing. And let’s just say some bands are better than others at this sort of thing.

Welcome to the wild world of the backstage rider.

Songs heard on this show:

NEFFEX, Backstage
Foo Fighters, Rope
Killers, When You Were Young
Queens of the Stone Age, No One Knows
Johnny Cash, Hurt
Morrissey, Every Day is Like Sunday
Beck, Loser
Jack White, Lazaretto

This is Eric Wilhite’s playlist.

The Ongoing History of New Music can be heard on these stations. Don’t forget that there’s a podcast version, too, in case you miss any episodes. Get them for free wherever you get your podcasts.