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Van Halen: Other contributions to the entertainment industry
Van Halen pioneered the way for the modern "Rock and Roll Show" with their extensive use of the concert technical contract rider. Although contract riders had existed before, Van Halen's use of them to specify the band's "wish list" (stage, production, transportation, personal requirements, etc.) was new and established a standard practice that is now used routinely throughout the music industry. As one of the first major bands with a full stage show to appear in many smaller cities, Van Halen had an extensive set of technical and logistical requirements including power availability and stage construction details that a venue had to comply with. Many venues in these markets had not previously dealt with such a large-scale show, and were not equipped to handle Van Halen's massive stage and light show, sometimes resulting in damage to the band's equipment and the venue. The band's demands were not limited to technical issues: their now infamous contract rider specified that, among other personal needs, a bowl of M&M candies, with all of the brown ones removed was to be available in the band's dressing room. This requirement was listed with the technical portion of the contract; according to David Lee Roth (from his autobiography,
Crazy from the Heat), the purpose of the candy demand was to check up on venue management. On arrival, if brown M&M's were found in the dressing room, then every line of the contract had to be double-checked, to ensure safety. Some shows were cancelled because of a venue's inability to handle the band's stage or equipment safely.
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LiteratureBBtv - Kaki King, guitar hero: performance, interview with Xeni (music)
One of the artists Boing Boing was excited to "discover" at the recent Outside Lands festival had in fact already "discovered" us. Today on Boing Boing tv, we present singer-songwriter Kaki King. Pesco says the prolific multi-instrumentalist "plays like a mofo," and boy is he right. The BBtv crew and I caught her live performance at the festival, and chased her down for an interview backstage (literally: our legs were sort of hanging off the side of the platform while guys hauled drums and amps off). We learned that (1) she's a fan of the Boing Boing blog! and (2) she hates comment trolls. Boy do we love her. Kaki has a new record out, "Dreaming of Revenge," and she's touring the world as I type, with show dates in Europe and the US through 2008. Rolling Stone named her one of the ?100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time,? describing her style as "Van Halen Meets Bootsy." You'll witness why in today's BBtv episode. We talk with her about life on the road, how IM and social networking help keep her from getting homesick while touring, and how she managed to go from busking in NYC subways to jamming with the likes of the Foo Fighters and hypnotizing crowds of tens of thousands with her rich, distinctive sound. Link to Boing Boing tv blog post with discussion, downloadable video, and instructions on subscribing to the daily Boing Boing tv video podcast. Speaking of Outside Lands -- you can find lots of crowd-submitted video, audio, reviews, and cameraphone snapshots of Kaki's performance at Crowdfire.net (the project is a BBtv sponsor). See also: More Boing Boing tv episodes with music performances from Outside Lands (Special thanks to Bre and Wayne for the bus; to Virgin America for generously providing air transportation)...
Published: Wed, 17 Sep 2008 18:09:28 GMT - Source: Boingboing.Net - Read the articleNewsPalin Comparison: Which Ticket Would Be Better for Music?
Word is that Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin gave one of her children the middle name "Van" so that his name would rhyme with Van Halen. Does that give the GOP ticket the edge on who would be better for music? Not necessarily.
Published: Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:27:00 GMT - Source: Blog.Wired.Com - Read the article
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