Source link : https://las-vegas-news.com/if-you-went-to-an-80s-pop-concert-these-7-backstage-rituals-will-sound-very-familiar/
There’s something almost mythological about the backstage world of an 80s pop concert. The decade was louder, bigger, and stranger than most, and what happened behind the curtain often matched the spectacle happening out front. The 1980s were a remarkable era for live music, where concert tours weren’t just about music but were spectacular events that left lasting impressions, and they set the standard for live entertainment that still influences shows today.
Still, for everyone who actually had a backstage pass during that era, or who knew someone who did, certain things were just accepted as normal. The rituals, the quirks, the demands, and the pre-show superstitions. Some were practical, some were paranoid, and some were spectacularly strange. Here are seven backstage rituals that anyone who spent time behind the scenes at an 80s pop concert will immediately recognize.
The Rider Was Basically a Legally Binding Wish List
Artists on the road provided concert organizers with a “rider,” a document that explained both the technical requirements of each act on the bill, and what the talent and their entourages required to make their time backstage comfortable and conducive to putting on a good show. In the 80s, this document became something of an art form in itself. The general tenor of the 1980s was extravagance and exuberance, and many artists’ backstage demands were no…
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Author : Matthias Binder
Publish date : 2026-06-22 13:18:00
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