Bacon backstage: what do artists eat on the road?
Coldplay loves the crab cakes from the tour catering team, Marilyn Manson wants gummy bears backstage and the Foo Fighters don’t care what’s on the menu on the road, as long as it’s bacon. What do artists actually eat on tour? And who arranges it?
No artist cycles to the local supermarket themselves or gets a meal-delivery service to come to the concert venue. Major acts bring their own chef and kitchen brigade, including fully equipped kitchens, concert organiser Mojo explains. “The chef tells us which groceries they need, and they arrange everything else themselves. For other artists, we book the catering, or they let us know exactly what they want to eat and we make sure it gets there.”
A diagonal sandwich
What’s on the menu? A diagonal sandwich from Febo or smoothies with kale and wheatgrass? Mojo spokesperson Marjan helps us out of our reverie: the deep fryer is almost never switched on. “We can’t say exactly what artists eat, because we consider that private. But generally speaking: super healthy. Lots of vegetarian or vegan food, definitely no fast food. Makes sense, because otherwise bands would never make it through. A tour is a top-level sport.”
Little fat, sugar and salt
Cas van de Pol worked as a tour-bus chef for several years. He cooked for, among others, Katy Perry, Jack Johnson and Supertramp. “Crowded House was a fun band to work for. The band members were genuinely interested in what I cooked and simply let me do my thing. No diets, no things they disliked and no sour faces at local products. If only all artists were like that; most prefer to eat as little fat, sugar and salt as possible,” Cas writes in Vice. He usually cooked two menus: super healthy for the artists, slightly more indulgent for the crew. “While the rock legends are sitting down to their bowl of quinoa, the crew often goes all out.” According to Cas, it was especially the kitchen crew who didn’t stick to two hundred grams of vegetables and two pieces of fruit…
Inhaling bacon
On riders, bands indicate what they need at the venue where they perform. They include technical specifications, but the backstage rider also describes exactly what should be in the dressing room. This offers insight into the bizarre food preferences of, for example, Iggy Pop, who likes to have broccoli, cigarettes and seven dwarfs waiting for him when he has finished performing. Beyoncé wants to eat chicken with garlic, sea salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper (someone make a recipe, Bee!), accompanied by nice cold cola. Note: Pepsi, not Coca-Cola. Marilyn Manson: Haribo gummy bears, please. Girl power for Grace Jones: a dozen unopened oysters and an oyster knife, because ‘Grace does her own shucking’; the lady opens her own oysters. Foo Fighters: something with bacon, anything will do. Their rider says: “Bacon. I call it ‘god’s currency’. Hell, if it could be breathed, I would.”
Pulling up a chair together
British caterer Eat to the Beat joined Coldplay on tour through Europe, the US and Canada. That meant more than 120,000 meals for a crew of around 300 people, served over 154 days. What do you cook for such a large group of people? “The crab cakes were particularly popular,” reveals crew leader Susan Power, “and a steak now and then went down well too. Of course, we take the band’s preferences into account. But we also look at the temperature at the venue, because when it’s warm, people want to eat something different. Another important factor: how tired is everyone? Tired and sweaty people often want something sweet and fatty.” Susan also made sure that the room where everyone ate looked cosy. “We try to arrange it the same way every time, because then it feels a bit like home. It’s nice when you’re on the road for so long, isn’t it?”
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