Why Did Van Halen Ban Brown M&Ms from Its Performances?


(Video Link)


The 80s band Van Halen famously (or infamously) had a rider in its contract which required promoters to provide the band a large number of M&Ms in the dressing room. But brown M&Ms were forbidden. If the band found a single brown M&M, the promoter forfeited his earnings. Why? David Lee Roth explains in this video.

It was actually a clever test. Van Halen stage shows were elaborate productions. To get ready, a promoter had follow a set of lengthy, complex instructions provided in the contract. The brown M&M provision was buried, at random, among these instructions. If the band members went backstage and found brown M&Ms, that meant that the promoter had not read the instructions and there were potential problems with the show.

-via reddit

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OK.

But what do they do if they discover a brown M&M?
My guess is they have a guy walking around the stage inspecting things (trying to find out what's wrong).

I don't know and this is just me, but I'm not putting my life on the line based on the fact of whether or not there's a brown M&M amongst the other M&M's.
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