Cheap Trick

Cheap Trick has been playing together for more than 35 years, and it seems band members need some alone time before shows. According to the group’s 2010 tour rider, excerpted here, the classic rockers require five separate dressing rooms, each with its own set of hospitality requests.

Lead singer Robin Zander (he is “RZ” in Room #2) cannot go without a “Full Size 12 CUP Coffee Maker with Filters – NO SUBSTITUTES/MUST HAVE FOR VOCALIST’S WARM-UP ROUTINE, THIS CANNOT BE IGNORED!!!” Zander also accepts “NO SUBSTITUTES” for the “1LB Bag of Starbuck’s Bold Whole Been Coffee” and “GOOD Bottle of Merlot ($30 min price)” he consumes before hitting the stage.

Drummer Daxx Nielsen, son of guitarist Rick Nielsen (who himself insists on having O’Doul’s Amber non-alcoholic beer and “ready to eat ‘Jello’ pudding cups” backstage), isn’t shy about demanding bottles of “Odwalla or Naked GREEN MACHINE juice” and a “small bag of Organic baby carrots” in his dressing room. Daxx is a tour fill-in for regular drummer Bun E. Carlos.

The least fussy of the bunch is keyboardist Phil “Magic” Cristian, who simply asks for six diet Barq’s Root Beer cans, spring water, packs of Sweet ‘N Low, and two bananas. Though “MC” does expect to feast on “4 Large Pizza Pies, THIN Crust, WELL DONE” with the rest of the band post-show. The rider stipulates, “NO DOMINO’S PIZZA!!!!!! A Quality Ma & Pa or Gourmet Pizza Place.”

On the technical side, the rider states, “The tour is traveling with a SET that is 36 feet wide and will not be compromised for any acts other then the original lineups of LED ZEPPELIN, THE WHO, THE ROLLING STONES. The ONLY other exception will be LITTLE RICHARD.” (5 pages)