The Contract Rider

You will know the term “rider” in relation to the food, booze, and red M&Ms that bands are given in their dressing room (as in “where’s the rider?” and “that support band drank all the rider”). However, the term “rider” refers to every aspect of the band’s touring needs, from truck parking spaces to humidity onstage. Whereas the contract serves as an agreement that is particular to an individual performance, the contract rider is an agreement for every performance to which the act is contracted, regardless of any other consideration. It “rides” with the contract, hence the name.

The rider basically says, “For us, the artist, to do a really good show, we really need the following items, and you, the promoter, have to supply them at your own cost.”

Figure 3.2 is the contract rider for Millions of Americans, a four-piece band traveling with five crew members. Again, notes and explanations follow the contract rider.

The rider is attached to a specific contract and is to be treated as part of the contract. It is not just a list of drinks. I will now explain each part of the rider; refer back to the contract here as needed.

Cast and Crew

In my experience, the cast and crew section is the most important part of any rider. This lets the promoter know exactly what he is dealing with. In this example, Millions of Americans are playing at the Fleapit in Sheffield, a 350-capacity venue. Millions of Americans will be nine people, which includes the four band members, and they are traveling in one van with their equipment, which includes some lighting equipment. An experienced promoter would expect this for a signed, national touring act at this level. The promoter would be worried if Millions of Americans were advising they had eight crew members and needed parking for a sleeper bus and a 7.5-ton truck that was filled with PA and lights.

I have noted that we do not have our own monitor engineer. This gives the house/venue crew the necessary information to plan their day because they now know at least one of the sound guys will be mixing the stage sound for the headline act. If he does a good job, he may even get a full-time job with the band! I have also noted that we are carrying our own in-ear monitor (IEM) system. (See Chapter 6, “Equipment,” for more information on IEMs.) We are not touring with our own monitor engineer, so it is only right and fair to give the venue/house engineers advance warning of this. It is not a huge deal, but some engineers may be unfamiliar with mixing for IEM.

Figure 3.2 An example tour contract rider.

Also note that I have specified the frequencies on which the IEM system operates. There will be a detailed explanation of this in Chapter 6.

When writing riders, make sure you detail exactly who is walking into the venue, what transportation you are arriving in, and what extras you may be bringing in, if applicable. Obviously, if you are playing an Enormo-dome, it is understood that all PA, light, and video is being bought in!

Access and Equipment

Even though the band has their own crew, it is crucial that the promoter or venue also supplies some help. Remember the local crew I talked about in Chapter 2, “How the Concert Industry Works: Who Does What”? Here they are, paid for by the promoter. We have also asked for a runner, the local crew person who runs around all day doing our essential shopping while we are stuck in the venue doing sound check.

We also want to be able to get into the venue in a reasonable time to get set up and have a decent sound check. The times for this initial access will depend on the time that the venue opens to the public. This time is known as doors. “What time are doors?” is one of the main sayings of any show day because that is the time when all sound checks have to be completed, lights must be focused, merchandising has to be set up, and security teams must be briefed. Based on the time for doors, the tour manager will work backward to establish a decent arrival/access time. I allow five hours for a small- to medium-size band: two-and-a-half hours to load in, set up, and line check, and another hour for the headline band to sound check. This leaves an hour and a half for any support bands to do sound checks.

The term “load in” can refer both to the time the equipment loads in and to the physical access point of the venue. In other words, you can ask, “What time is load in?” and, “Excuse me, where is the load in?”

PA and Lights

Because the technical requirements vary from act to act, it may be useful to have an amendment to the rider that details the requirements. This is what we have done in our example, and you will see that specific section reproduced later in this chapter. Even though there is detailed information about the sound and lights in the separate technical rider, I have noted here that we are carrying some lighting equipment and have provided the relevant contact information for our lighting engineer.

Parking

As well as specifying that the promoter should try to sort out free parking for you, this section can also be used to detail the type and number of vehicles for the information of the promoter. Your production might be using trucks and sleeper coaches. These will need parking close to power and the load in of the venue. Sleeper buses can connect to mains electricity to run all the lights, sound systems, fridges, and so on that they contain. (This power is known as landline or shore power.) It is the promoter’s responsibility to provide this power or to let the tour party know if there is no landline available at the venue. If this is the case, arrangements should be made to allow the bus to run its engines or internal generators.

Trucks do not necessarily need power when parked, but it always useful to have the truck somewhere near the load in of the venue.

Guest List

The guest list is the list of … er, guests—people who have been invited to the show and who do not need to pay. Promoters do not like guest lists because obviously they receive no payment for the tickets allocated to the guest list. It is important to have an agreed-upon number of guests, and this is specified here. You will need a greater number of guest list places in major music market cities, such as New York, London, Köln, and Los Angeles.

Settlement

We will look into the issue of settlement further in Chapter 9, but here we are stipulating that we need the ticket stubs, receipts, and any other documentation presented in a tidy manner, at a time that is convenient for the tour manager and promoter/promoter’s rep. Common practice is that the box office (the place to buy tickets on the day of the event) will close about 45 minutes after the headline band has started to play. This prevents customers from demanding their money back if they are sold a ticket just as the band comes offstage! This timing also gives the tour manager time to complete settlement in a businesslike and relaxed manner before dealing with the band coming offstage.

Security

As you saw in Chapter 2, security is vital to the well-being of both the audience and the production team. A good security team with adequate coverage of the venue and backstage areas costs money; an unscrupulous promoter may try to get away with inadequate numbers of security personnel.

It takes quite a bit of experience for a tour manager to judge what will and will not be effective in terms of security numbers, but common sense will dictate what level of coverage will provide a safe environment.

In terms of this rider, the tour manager is thinking about pit security and access to sensitive areas—front-of-house control, dressing rooms, and vehicles. The tour manager may be working for a three-piece alt-country act. You would not expect too much moshing and crowd surfing at a show like that. However, if the tour manager is working for a five-piece rap-metal band, then he should anticipate a lot of crowd action, with numerous people trying to get over the barrier to stage dive. In this case, a decent tour manager will include some mention of this in the security section of the rider. He will need more capable but sensible security personnel in the pit than would otherwise be necessary. Obviously, the promoter should know this is the case anyway, because he booked the show in the first place.

Support/Opening Acts

Opening acts (or support acts, as they are known in Europe) are usually decided long before the tour starts or the show takes place; support acts are chosen by the headline band themselves or recommended by the booking agent or management. There can be immense pressure from agents and promoters to get a band into an opening slot, because a good sold-out major show is a great place for a young band to be seen. This means that occasionally the acts are added onto the bill, often without the headliner’s knowledge or permission. Although it does not necessarily affect the headliner to have extra bands on the bill, it certainly affects the crew and the audience. The crew now has to deal with two or more extra acts, often on an already crowded stage.

Audiences also have to endure a lot more music at high volume than they bargained for. Most concertgoers pay to experience as much as possible, but having to stand through three unknown bands before seeing your heroes can be a negative experience, especially if the opening acts run over. Hence the clause about approving support acts. It seems promoters will sometimes lob anybody on the bill as a favor; I feel the headline act and tour should have some say in this decision.

I also always include the clause that I can “advise or amend any music, film, or performance relating to the Artist’s performance, including, but not limited to, intro music, play on music, after-show DJs, and video compilations.” After years of touring, I am now immune to the house sound engineers playing their heavy metal compilation at excruciating volume, regardless of what genre of live music is being performed. However, I also have a good sense of how a show should run; a 20-year-old “New Wave of British Heavy Metal” compilation is not going to be part of the “theme” if you are a three-piece alt-country act. I therefore now keep an eye on what audience “walk-in” music is being played, what advertisements or cable channels appear on the screens in the bar, and especially what CD the house DJ may play as the band walks offstage.

Hospitality

Here we go—this is the list of drinks that we all think we know about.

Actually, although this is a fairly detailed rider, my main aim when writing a rider is to produce a document that lists:

How many people are in the touring party

Whether anyone in the touring party has any major dietary concerns

What we really do not like within the given items of food, beer, and water

For me, this is what a rider should be. It conveys information about the touring party in a clear and sensible manner. A good rider should prioritize the information that may cause problems for the promoter, such as types of transportation, excessive numbers of people, showering facilities, and special equipment needs. The list of food and drinks is not that important unless, as I say, any member of the touring party has specific dietary concerns.

In the hospitality section of this rider, I have attempted to detail what I would like to see when I arrive at the venue. Most professional promoters obviously will try to make the visiting artists happy by agreeing to the stipulations of the contract and the contract rider. By the same token, promoters are trying to make money and are not going to build a brand-new dressing room for you, regardless of what your rider says.

I find that the one clause that needs attention is the one relating to showers and showering facilities. The use of sleeper coaches to convey bands and crews to the next show has led to the need for multiple showers at venues—showers that can provide hot water all day for up to 30 people. Music venues are built to showcase music, not as washrooms; therefore, they are often lacking in adequate showering facilities. It may seem extremely un-rock-’n-roll to be talking about showers, but believe me, after a night on a sleeper bus, I would trade all the rock excess possible for a hot shower with good water pressure! You should definitely make sure the promoter agrees to check out whether the showers are suitable at the venue, and if they are not, to make alternative arrangements at a nearby hotel.

In this case, Millions of Americans are traveling in a van and are presumably staying in hotels every night. I therefore would not be too concerned with the showering situation at the venue. However, if I was on a sleeper bus and knew that the venue had no shower, I would definitely make sure well in advance that the promoter agreed to organize and pay for two rooms at a local hotel. This arrangement is known as day rooms, because the hotel rooms are usually booked for the day only—from 8:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. You can usually negotiate a reduced rate on the room, depending on the hotel. (A large hotel with 24/7 housekeeping staff can service and re-book the room for that evening after you have checked out—they will therefore give you a discount on the day-room rate.)

It is also worth noting that sleeper coach drivers in the U.S. expect a day room after driving overnight, whereas European bus drivers will sleep on the bus when it is parked during the day. You will have to book a day room for the driver anyway if you are touring the U.S. You can split the cost of this with the promoter and use the room for after-show showers.

Finally, I have included all relevant contact information. I have noted that the rider was prepared by me. Anybody from the promoter’s or the organizer’s office then knows to contact me directly in case of challenges or issues. I have also indicated that this rider should expire on a certain date. There is a common tendency for agents to keep out-of-date and irrelevant contract riders and technical specifications on file and keep reissuing these documents to the promoters. This practice is not necessarily the fault of the agents; bands and band tour managers not updating the agent with the relevant information is probably the culprit. Always copy your agent and management on the latest version of your rider and make sure all out-of-date copies are destroyed.

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Make Your Paperwork Temporary Mark your contract riders and tech specs with an expiration date. This may be at the end of the year or at the end of the touring period. In this case I have marked the expiration for the end of August—the end of the festival season in Europe and a natural break in the touring year.

Mark all input lists and lighting plots with version numbers, as in V1.01, V1.02, and so on. This is a practice from the software industry and ensures the recipients of your documents are reading from the most recent version. For example, when talking through a document with a house lighting person, you could say “I am referring to version 3.02 of our lighting spec here—is that the one you have in front of you?”

Finally, note “replaces all previous versions” and add all relevant contact information for front-of-house (FOH), monitor, and lighting engineers.

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