FOO, PART ll: More highlights from the band's 2011 tour rider

JUNE 13--Is this the greatest concert rider ever?

Already known for producing the most entertaining assemblage of tour requirements in rock, Foo Fighters returned to the road this year after a two-and-a-half-year absence. Touring in support of their new album “Wasting Light,” the group is carrying a 52-page “Tour 2011” production rider that reaches new heights of absurdist brilliance.

In fact, the document is so brimming with jokes, insults, useless facts, self-deprecation, and pop culture references that TSG will devote a second story to those highlights. This dispatch will focus on Part Seven of the rider, which was put together by Gus Brandt, the band’s veteran tour manager.

[At this point we should note that the band anticipated that a .pdf of the rider would end up being forwarded to TSG.]

Described as the group’s “Field Guide To Food Coloring Book And Activity Pages,” the section opens with a drawing of frontman Dave Grohl shredding with a fork and knife in his hand. Bassist Nate Mendel opines on what constitutes a delicious breakfast. Drummer Taylor Hawkins explains the difference between a good and bad salad. A maze leads guitarist Chris Shiflett to a bountiful catering table. And guitarist Pat Smear is shown giving the thumbs down to sweaty meats.

Promotion employees also are presented with a word hunt that, if successfully completed, will result in “leftover letters will spell out a hidden message from the Foos and crew!” Hint: Bacon is involved. Another page presents drawings of 22 items and asks catering personnel to circle ones that belong in a salad. Hint: Richard Pryor is not edible.

The activity pages close with a disquisition on ice cubes, from “total s*** to complete ecstasy.” Perfection, it turns out, emerges from the products of Hoshizaki America, which is lovingly described as the “ice-pimps of the world.” (10 pages)