One of the most enlightening articles I ever read in the old, great Musician magazine was a big piece on Lynyrd Skynyrd. At this point, there’d already been the big plane crash and other disasters, which decimated even the surviving members of the Rossington-Collins Band. I was never a big fan of Skynyrd, but my guitar mate and old friend, John Quincy Nixon, cut his teeth on their stuff. I felt proud of my friend while reading things like the band thinking of themselves as following the tradition of The Rolling Stones and not, as the rock press had assumed, The Allman Brothers.
For the first time in my life I felt a kinship with the band. This occurred while reading a segment on the late Ronnie Van Zandt‘s theories on proper diet before taking the stage. According to one of the surviving members interviewed, Van Zandt felt that musicians should take the stage either ravenously hungry or stuffed to the gills–no state in between. It was a serious choice, in Van Zandt’s opinion, and being slaves to humor, our band soon adopted that guidance, only choosing to eat nothing at all in the hours leading up to a gig or eating more than would otherwise seem wise, especially while burping up an “encore” of a beef burrito platter leading into the second verse of a set’s opening number.
I would like to ask the musicians among Rock Town Hall to share their dietary practices before shows. Do you play hungry? Do you play stuffed? Are there foods you must have leading up to a show or, similarly, must avoid at all costs? Any particularly memorable pre-show eating experiences?
I look forward to your gustatory tales.
