# Concert riders: why no Evian love? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 14, 2007, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concert-riders-why-no-evian-love/404047 "2007-05-14T15:17:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2007, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concert-riders-why-no-evian-love/404047/21 "2007-05-15T04:17:02Z")
[QUOTE=wheresgeorge04] When I buy water, it tends to be [Arrowhead](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrowhead_Water) or [Crystal Geyser](http://www.crystalgeyserasw.com/). Both available locally (Central CA) and both taste good, as well as being cheaper than the Coke / Pepsi brand waters. [/QUOTE] Crystal Geyser for me as well. Even if it’s just tap water run through a filter, it tastes fine and is cheaper than other bottled waters (or sodas and teas, for that matter). While I don’t mind Evian, it has a distinct taste that gets unpleasant after a half-liter or so, and I wouldn’t drink it if I were in the middle of exercising. Side note: My wife drinks Contrex, which to me tastes like the pre-colonoscopy bowel-prep solution I had to chug. She claims it’s good for weight loss, I think it’s just because all the magnesium in it has a laxative effect. It’s so mineral-heavy that one glass makes me ill. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2007, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concert-riders-why-no-evian-love/404047/22 "2007-05-15T04:45:25Z")
[QUOTE=Sublight] Crystal Geyser for me as well. Even if it’s just tap water run through a filter, it tastes fine and is cheaper than other bottled waters (or sodas and teas, for that matter). [/QUOTE] Are you sure about that? According to their [website](http://www.crystalgeyserasw.com/sources/) the water is bottled at the source. On the way to Mammoth there is a huge bottling plant in Bumfuck Olancha in the shadows of the Eastern Sierras. I’d be willing to bet that it really is fairly pristine Sierra Nevada snowmelt. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2007, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concert-riders-why-no-evian-love/404047/23 "2007-05-15T07:57:04Z")
[QUOTE=Darryl Lict] Are you sure about that? According to their [website](http://www.crystalgeyserasw.com/sources/) the water is bottled at the source. On the way to Mammoth there is a huge bottling plant in Bumfuck Olancha in the shadows of the Eastern Sierras. I’d be willing to bet that it really is fairly pristine Sierra Nevada snowmelt. [/QUOTE] Sorry, ambiguous grammar on my part. “even if **it were** just tap water…” ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2007, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concert-riders-why-no-evian-love/404047/24 "2007-05-15T08:07:05Z")
[QUOTE=SmackFu] Every so often on TSG you run into a rider in a “realistic” state: half the junk crossed off. Like [the Bloodhound Gang one](http://www.thesmokinggun.com/backstagetour/bloodhound/bloodhound3.html). It has all the liquor and tobacco crossed out. There’s also a few that have buyout conditions. Like they have the big list of stuff, and then it says “or pay $60 extra and we’ll take care of it”. For smaller acts where you don’t have an entourage to feed, I’d imagine this comes up a lot more. [/QUOTE] Couple points. First, some venues do not allow tobacco or alcohol; for example, if the band played at a college campus, it seems reasonable that tobacco and alcohol would be prohibited. Second, as [Snopes](http://www.snopes.com/music/artists/vanhalen.htm) tells us, at least some of these riders are intended to serve as proof (or at least a pretty good clue) that the venue has followed the technical details specified in the contract. I have a friend who is the graduate assistant for the activities programming board. He’s in charge of fulfilling these requests, and he had a hell of a time finding some of the items for one band. (He didn’t tell me details.) So now they have to negotiate acceptable substitutes. Fun fun. Robin ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2007, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concert-riders-why-no-evian-love/404047/25 "2007-05-15T09:32:45Z")
I’ve sampled most of the bottled water out there and I generally don’t drink purified water, only natural spring water. Deer Park and Poland Spring are the two best I’ve had, and both reasonably priced (both made by Nestle too, IIRC.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concert-riders-why-no-evian-love/404047.md?page=1)