As the urban myths go, Mariah won’t turn up unless a flock of newly hatched butterflies are there to greet her, while Madonna apparently insists on a brand new toilet seat at every show she plays.
The other day I came across a story about American Hard Rock band Van Halen and their alleged Clause 126. The story goes that the band’s contract terms with each of the arenas it tours contain a strict clause… Van Halen’s dressing room must have a bowl of chocolate M&Ms with all the brown ones taken out. Any venue breaking this rule will risk the concert being forfeited but the band paid in full.
“Outrageous”, I thought. “Even rock and roll has its divas”. But it turns out my judgment was a little off the mark. There is actually a very good reason for this seemingly insane demand.
Back in the day, Van Halen was one of the first stadium rock bands of its kind. They were early pioneers in creating complex stage designs and spectacular pyrotechnics. When they went out on their mammoth world tours, nine large lorries would travel ahead of them carrying their stage and lighting equipment.
Ensuring the production could go ahead safely and on time required a major logistical effort, a huge workforce, precision planning and attention to detail. The contractual terms with the arenas were hundreds of pages long, specifying all manner of important requirements from the door width needed to get the equipment in, to the density of the concrete needed to support the stage girders.
If any of the arenas got the details wrong, the consequences could have been catastrophic, ranging from costly delays to serious casualties.
In order to test the arena management’s attention to detail, David Lee Roth, the band’s singer would insist on Clause 126’s “no brown M&Ms” being listed deep in the contract.
On arrival at a new arena, he would march straight to the dressing room. At the sight of a brown M&M, he would insist on a full line-by-line safety check of the entire production, and if it wasn’t satisfactory he would cancel the whole show.
This might well be a tactic that travel companies could learn from, and particularly in light of the new Package Travel Directive, which comes into force in 2018.
This directive will make many more sellers of travel contractually liable for the actions of their suppliers in far flung destinations.
Meanwhile, the current inquests into the Tunisia terror attack look set to highlight the long chain of liability that tour operators can take on when delivering a holiday.
A Clause 126 might be a good way of ensuring those suppliers pay attention to the important details.
Martin Alcock is director of Travel Trade Consultancy
