Van Halen famously used to request a brandy glass of M&M’s with all the brown ones picked out in their dressing room. The story has become a rock and roll legend, a tale of diva-like ridiculous requests and excess. Yet, there was method in Van Helen’s madness. It was to check that the concert promoter had fully read their contract. If there were no brown M&M’s, the band could trust the promoter, and they could relax. If they hadn’t bothered with that detail, if there were brown M&M’s backstage, the band knew that all the lighting and sound specifications had to be reviewed. The brown M&M’s
...more
