Jack White's fabulous rider

Jack White had a date booked at Oklahoma University. Have you ever wondered what sort of rider Jack might have?

Well, now we know. It even includes a guacamole recipe:

• 8 x large, ripe Haas avocados (cut in half the long way, remove the pit—SAVE THE PIT THOUGH--, and dice into large cubes with a butter knife. 3 or 4 slits down, 3 or 4 across. You’ll scoop out the chunks with a spoon, careful to main the avocado in fairly large chunks.)

• 4 x vine-ripened tomatoes (diced)

• ½ x yellow onion (finely chopped)

• 1 x full bunch cilantro (chopped)

• 4 x Serrano peppers (de-veined and chopped)

• 1 x lime

• Salt & pepper to taste

• Mix all ingredients in a large bowl, careful not to mush the avocados too much. We want it chunky. Once properly mixed and tested, add the pits into the guacamole and even out the top with a spoon or spatula. Add ½ lime to the top later so you cover move of the surface with the juice (The pits and lime will keep it from browning prematurely.) Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until served. Please don’t make it too early before it’s served. We’d love to have it around 5 pm.

The thing about the pit in stopping the browning is rubbish; it's the foodie equivalent of 'using an old tape machine will capture the spirit of Hank Williams'.

There's more, though:

White ends the night with a New York strip steak, cooked medium, with steamed vegetables on the side and no sauce. “This should be made/picked up just before the show ends,” according to the contract.

Hospitality for the performance must be set up and ready to go prior to the tour group’s arrival, with the exception of alcohol and deli/cheese platters. Those can wait. It’s a different story for the 36 bottles of spring water, four bottles of fresh juice smoothies, 1 pound of “freshly sliced, high-quality prosciutto and aged salami with a sharp knife,” though—all for White’s dressing room.

Man, he eats a lot of meat.

So far, so amusing - if he came round here it'd be a tub of Sainsburys hummus and a choice of pepparamis. But perhaps the student paper which ran the story mocking the rider should have paid more attention to this bit:

No photos of White in or directly outside the venue, and any reporting of the event on social media sites are discouraged until “well after the performance is over.” This is because White and the crew like privacy.

Yeah, the guy just wanted to be left alone to eat all that meat (what is he, a werewolf?) in private.

The whole 'pointing at his demands and laughing thing' isn't going to go down well, is it? Either with some New York Strip Steak.

So it proved - White has now added 'little hissy fit' to 'Carey-style demands', and the agency, William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, has put the OU on its blacklist:

The company said they won’t book anymore bands or other talents to come to OU because the article mocked Jack White and they don’t want any other artists treated that way, said Layne Ferguson, Campus Activities Council chairperson.

There's two things here - first, it was a little gentle ribbing (and we can only imagine how Jack likes his ribs) and perhaps he should be a little more resilient.

The second is the agency wants a change in policy at the OU to stop this ever happening again - but the policy of releasing documents like this, if asked to, isn't in the University's gift:

This policy refers to the Oklahoma Open Records Act, which requires any public entity of the state of Oklahoma, such as OU, to respond to request for records. OU must respond to requests for records involving the administration of public funds or transaction of public business, including budgets, faculty emails and other records.

So, it's actually a state law that public-funded bodies have to reveal details of business dealings.

Maybe they should think about suggesting artists stop making demands that make them sound like Little Lord Fauntleroy, rather than whining when people find out about it?