Two hilarious Foo Fighters’ rider requests
As bands become more successful, their fees increase, fanbases grow, and rider requests get more ridiculous. Foo Fighters are a pretty successful band, but they’re also people who, despite taking their music very seriously, seem open to laughing at their extent and the extent of those around them. The success and silliness pairing makes for outstanding rider requests, which take into account accuracy, fresh food and farting.
Dave Grohl has already admitted that when the band were touring festivals, they would draw DIY beer bong diagrams so that runners could get the materials necessary to make a pre-show booze-chugging tube. They did the same thing with smuggling hash past security, so they’re obviously a band willing to test how far organisers might go to keep them happy.
On their 2000 tour, they held accuracy very closely to their heart. They wanted to clarify to event organisers that any sloppiness in the writing department would be met with their fury. They put in their rider that a $100 fine would be imposed for “any misspelling or other stupid typos.” While grammar-ready rockstars is already quite funny, it’s their 2008 rider that makes for the best reading.
The first thing they ask for is fresh cereal and sauce. They state that any cereal provided must be unopened and “not recycled from last night’s Dio’s shows.” They also say ketchup bottles should be fresh, not just “the last 4 millimetres”.
Specific food requests don’t stop there, though, as the band’s love for soup and resentment towards its repercussions are noted in great detail. They say that all lunch options should include a “soup of the day” but that this should be strictly vegetarian due to the fact “meaty soups make roadies fart.”
Regarding meat, they also have specifications for the type they want and how it should be cooked, threatening, “Lightly cooked chicken breasts with goo on them… are definitely not going to get you a hug from our bass player, Nate.” They instead state they want “big ass kielbasas that make men self-conscious.”
Foo Fighters end their rider by apologising for being picky, jokingly justifying it by saying, “We are just another band trying to make enough money to fuel our private jet. Please help.”
Foo Fighters have never taken themselves seriously in interviews or their stage show, so it’s funny to see that silliness also transfers over to rider requests. As has always been the case with the band, though, there is sincerity to them, as they ask for any leftover food to be donated to those who need it more. Arguably, there has never been a sentence that optimises Foo Fighters joking and sincere nature more than that which closes out their 2008 rider.
They say that if there is anything left over once they’ve gone, all of it should be given to a local kitchen or shelter. Alternatively, the band should be notified so it can be collected by “our roadie that looks like Osama Bin Laden.”
