A good friend recently told me a story about Van Halen and Brown M&Ms. If you haven’t heard it before, buckle up, it’s a good one!
Big bands and artists are famous for having absurd demands for their backstage set-ups in their contracts.
One such demand was Van Halen’s for a bowl of M&Ms with all the brown ones removed. Apparently, there was even a clause in their contract that said if any brown M&Ms were present, the promoter would forfeit the show at full price.
Seemingly absurd, the request was for a reason. Van Halen was one of the first bands to take huge lights with them on tour—at the time, it was the biggest production that had ever been taken on the road. Their set-up was heavy and complex to install, and it would be dangerous—perhaps fatal—if it fell mid-show.
So the bowl of M&Ms was the litmus test for how attentive the promoter was to implementing the contract. If the bowl of M&Ms had no brown ones (a seemingly unimportant detail), then the band would have confidence the rest of the contract had been read, and the heavy equipment installed with diligence and care.
It reminds me of the saying: how we do anything is how we do everything. The little things add up.