Touring with a group, for new music icons cooks It’s not just a fad. To ensure efficiency, health, and high morale, many artists keep multiple professional chefs on their payroll during their concerts, not to mention entire mobile kitchens. That’s what a recent New York Times study reports on the cultural changes taking place in the world of tour music after the pandemic. In place of drugs and partying, lust and trashy hotel rooms, pop idols are now seeking a more conscious, health-conscious approach.
Changing trends: Touring musicians prioritize physical fitness
The suspension of concerts during COVID has prompted industry-wide rescheduling, with a special focus on wellness. Many tours of famous artists, for example, include at least one vegetarian chefand prioritize physical and mental well-being, as well as reduce environmental impact. “However, in the ’80s and early ’90s, it was like a party, with cocaine and everything the artist wanted. Now it’s just business.”Longtime Linkin Park chef Gray Rollins, who has also cooked for Prince, Madonna and Tori Amos on tour, told the New York Times. “The only thing we have to do is bring the talent to the stage. Make sure the show is impeccable. And then do it again the next day.” James Digby, a veteran tour manager who recently finished working the European leg of Avril Lavigne’s tour, is familiar with the new demands on artists. “It is not possible to have non-vegetarian food in concert tour catering Paul mccartney. It is quite challenging. Because I know most roadies are non-vegetarian,” Digby said.
focus on health
“There is only one case of food poisoning and concerts are canceled for at least 48 hours”, Digby said. As shows get bigger and ticket prices go up, this type of event can put millions of dollars at risk.
Whatever the kitchen, the production requirements are equally large. The industry standard for a large concert tour calls for four meals on staging and performance days: breakfast, lunch, dinner and a post-concert meal, which is often eaten on the bus during travel. . “Army marches on a full stomach, so you have to feed the soldiers”, Digby continues. Tour managers in the military mean bands, backing singers and dancers, stage producers, fireworks crews, security personnel, managers, bus drivers and everyone involved in the live entertainment business.
what do musicians eat on tour
Big Apple newspaper takes recent tour as an example Renaissance World Tour Of beyonce, Queen B has hired not only an English pastry chef to feed her 400-600 dancers, singers, roadies and staff members, but also a vegetarian chef and three private chefs for her and her close ones, apart from 14 Other industry experts have also been hired. On the menu, the cast and crew enjoy a dozen different savory and sweet items daily for breakfast, lunch, dinner and post-concert meals, as well as black sesame, wasabi and white chocolate biscuits , or maybe even grab gluten-free snacks. With coconut and almonds with dark chocolate. Trays of fresh fruit, sandwiches and snacks round out the offer.
One thing that probably hasn’t changed much with time is the exorbitant demands of artistes, who definitely have their likes and dislikes. But those solidify their status as prodigious stars. “Gene Simmons loved to eat turkey sandwiches with lettuce, tomato, and pickles,” Rollins explains, who cooked for the bassist Kiss in 2008 and 2009. “But then he never touched lettuce, pickles and tomatoes.”, Jared Leto demands organic purple popcorn with every meal. in the 90s, Marilyn Manson He always insisted on Kraft’s mac and cheese blend, so hundreds of boxes were sent to England.
Chef Grant Bird, who cooked for the K-pop group black pinksays that the band brought a separate truck to carry their favorite brand of instant noodles.
mobile kitchen on tour
at a recent concert by lizzo On a field in Palm Desert, California, a station for extracts and fruit juices was set up with a basket of fruits and vegetables ready to use for lunch. There were corn dogs (hot dogs in batter), fried chicken sandwiches and vegetable-based Impossible Sliders, as well as couscous with pumpkin and carrots and the ever-present cookies. Everything was prepared in the kitchen of the arena. Although normally, the catering company Latitude 45 contracted for special tour By vegan artist, she cooks in an elaborate mobile kitchen that is packed in special suitcases and reassembled in each new city.
A company called HSG Catering is currently working on the tour. Eric Church, uses a 16-meter mobile kitchen that has a freezer, a cold room, and a 300-liter water heater. This unit is also equipped with a smoker, a wood burning grill, convection oven and a machine “Vacuum 300 steaks in one go”said Bob Schneeberger, the firm’s president.
Although there are still sporadic excesses of the past, the general trend points to a healthier and more conscious future for the music industry. As The Touring Kitchen continues to embrace this change, the pop star’s image is likely to evolve further in a way that aligns with the values of a generation that prioritizes not only entertainment and talent, but personal health. And also gives priority to welfare. existence of the planet.