What is Jack White’s problem with bananas? The musician’s surprise aversion to the potassium-enriched yellow fruit came to light this week when a college newspaper disclosed details of White’s contract and rider for a show at the University of Oklahoma.
The thrust of the initial story in student newspaper the Oklahoma Daily had to do with how the school spent $80,000 (€70,600) hiring White to perform on campus. The show sold out and made a profit, making it a decent bit of business for the college.
The real fun came when details in the contract and rider were revealed. The devil, as a blues hound like White would appreciate, is in the detail, which is how we heard about the anti-banana stance, a homemade chunky guacamole recipe, and a preference for a post- show steak.
White has, predictably, gone bananas about all of this. Even if it’s the case, as his management are insisting, that he’d nothing to do with the guacamole or banana demands on the rider, both of these could follow him around like a bad smell for years.
He’ll be remembered more for the bananas than the Grammy award he won last Sunday night. Easy gags involving banana skins will come thick and fast. Just ask Steven Gerrard about the ignominy of this.
In fairness to White, similar craic could be had by digging into the rider of any act. These documents contain such details as staging plans, technical specifications and lists of food, drink and dressing room requirements for the touring act and are forwarded in advance so promoters know the lie of the land. Most contain nothing more extraordinary than the number of vegan meals required or a request for clean socks, playing cards or local postcards.
Some acts, though, take the art of the demanding rider to great heights.
The most infamous of all is a rider credited to Iggy Pop and The Stooges. Sadly, there's no mention of bananas in it, but there are many tongue-in-cheek requests, such as "a copy of USA Today that's got a story about morbidly obese people in it".
Foo Fighters also got in on the act with a lengthy opus for their 2011 world tour, complete with a colouring book. Among the Foos’ requests was one for soups that used as little cream as possible – because “roadies get bloated and become colicky when they’ve inhaled too much cream of cauliflower”. That’s something for those working at the Foos’ forthcoming Slane show to bear in mind.
What is usually forgotten is that these lists are usually written by a tour manager or production manager with an absurdist sense of humour. And is the act that pays for what’s on the rider. So it’s not really in the interest of their touring budget to be demanding outlandish nonsense.
In White’s case, some $40,500 was budgeted for production and catering costs for the Oklahoma show.
Bananas might well have pushed that figure up to $40,505.
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