Alex Van Halen Confirms Why Rider Included the Brown M&M’s Clause
Alex Van Halen confirms in his new book, Brothers, why Van Halen noted in their tour rider to have all brown M&M’s removed from their backstage snacks.
Per People, he writes in his book that the brown M&M’s clause was added to test whether venues actually read the rider to make sure their stage setup would be safe and structurally sound. AVH admitted the clause made the band “sound like jerks,” but “it wasn’t about a power trip.”
He wrote, “If we see brown M&M’s, we know: we are not in the hands of professionals. If they didn’t bother with this, what else didn’t they bother with, what other corners are being cut?”
The “No Brown M&M’s” clause was a thing of legend for decades, but in 2012, David Lee Roth gave the same reason for it in a YouTube video.
Roth explained, “Van Halen was the first to take 850 par lamp lights, huge lights, around the country. At the time, it was the biggest production ever. Getting it in and out of older buildings like the Spectrum in Philadelphia where the hockey team played or Maple Leaf Gardens — these places were built in the ’50s, the ’60s, and the ’70s, and they didn’t have even the doorways of the loading docks to accommodate a epic-sized Van Halen production.”
He continued, “The promoters frequently didn’t read the contract rider, and we would have structural and physical issues, because there wasn’t the proper electricity, load-bearing stress, etc. … If I came backstage having been one of the architects of this lighting and staging design and I saw brown M&M’s on the catering table, then guaranteed the promoter had not read the contract rider, and we had to do a serious line check, because frequently, we had danger issues or accidental issues.”
Alex Van Halen Says David Lee Roth Split Was ‘Most Disappointing Thing’ in His Life
Alex Van Halen was very crushed about David Lee Roth leaving Van Halen in 1985 and touches on the split in his new memoir, Brothers.
According to Billboard, AVH writes in the book that the Roth split ” … was the most disappointing thing I’d experienced in my life, the thing that seemed the most wasteful and unjust. Until I lost my brother.”
Eddie and Alex Van Halen clearly had a unique, but close relationship with Roth, despite the frontman being the alleged reason for a lack of tribute to the late Eddie Van Halen. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Alex talked about that heavily rumored Van Halen tribute tour following the death of his guitarist brother in 2020. He confirms that it was in the works, and that he and David Lee Roth were rehearsing for it. Alex said he was in contact with Queen’s Brian May to get some ideas on how to honor Eddie during the shows, similar to how Queen honors Freddie Mercury during their present-day shows.
According to Alex, this idea made Roth snap. He said, “The thing that broke the camel’s back, and I can be honest about this now was I said, ‘Dave, at some point, we have to have a very overt — not a bowing — but an acknowledgment of Ed in the gig.’ … And the moment I said we gotta acknowledge Ed, Dave f—in’ popped a fuse.… The vitriol that came out was unbelievable.”
Rolling Stone noted that DLR declined to comment on this story. Oddly enough, Alex said he and Roth are still in touch and that his first phone call following Eddie’s death was to Roth.
