Band T-shirt Etiquette

http://www.efanguide.com/~dreadematteo/pictures/app14.jpg

I think there's an exemption for bands that were obviously a done deal before you were born (Velvets, etc.) or are now fairly classic (Pixies for instance), but it's iffy.

The most important band t-shirt ettiquette thing is to not wear the band's t-shirt out to that same band's concert. Rules like this don't really matter or anything, but you look like a dork. "I'm your biggest fan!"

I also make a bunch of T-shirts. I made a Velvet Underground shirt with the cover of thier bootleg ("Sweet Sister Ray's Murder Mystery') and I made a David Bowie shirt with just an old picture of him that most people wouldn't even think was him. I also made a couple Spacemen 3 T-shirts. One guy came up to me and said, "Yeah, that's a great band, where did you get the T-shirt." I said "I made it!." I have a Merzbow shirt I got at a record store in Japan, which was the only one I actually bought. (and it's also a souvenir)

But wearing the band's T-shirt to the band's concert is really lame, especially if you are in that band (e.g. Sting)

I wear band t-shirts cos... I like 'em. And I'd rather have Ikara Colt across me chest than "PENNSVILLE ATHLETIC SQUAD: 69 :IN PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE". I accept this might be just me, tho.

Where do label tees fit into this etiquette.

When I was 20 almost every top i had was a band t shirt and now I'm down to four, one of which bands I don't even like anymore. I dont really like any of the shirts now either.

I don't have a problem with band t-shirts, so long as it is an expression of your personality/tastes. mind you, I said EXPRESSION. I hate it when people use their band t-shirts as a REPLACEMENT for any kind of taste or style. Doing so over the age of 15 is extremely questionable. Even doing so at the age of 15 is questionable, but hey, everyone does questionable things at the age of 15.

Wearing a band t-shirt to the concert = DUD.
Wearing your OWN band's t-shirt (especially at a concert) = CLASSIC.

Especially if they are specially made t-shirts catered to each member's personality. That's so bubblegum it's instant classic. (yes, of course, because we've done it, too.)

Why, I'm wearing a t-shirt for my fictional band right now. I got it while on tour in Seattle, it says Charm School Reject, which was the original name of The Charms, so of course, I HAD to have it. I don't have a Don't Hate Kate t-shirt any more; one of the Dandy Warhols stole it.

- orange shirt with the art from Miles Davis' "On the Corner" on it
- pink Sun Ra Research shirt (great spiel from Ra on the back)
- MC5 Babes in Arms shirt
- Fat Possum shirt (pic of a Possum digging in a trashcan, reads "Oxford Mississippi")
- Primal Scream "XTRMTR" tour shirt. No band name, just the "Kill All Hippies" text.
- Spiritualized t-shirt. Again, no band name, but this has a picture of Jason walking down the street in his astronaut's outfit.
- Andrew WK shirt. Bought at the show - no name, just the "I Get Wet" album cover photo
- Small Faces shirt
- Jane's Addiction "Nothing's Shocking" shirt that I've had since high school (and thus of some sentimental value)

...mmm I think thats it. Deride me at will.

It's kind of too small, anyway.

Good.

Who is it that does those "NUKE IBIZA" band tees? Great tee-shirts, but the band are shit. Hundred Reasons?

Of course, if he wore that shirt in LA, he'd be more likely to get beat to a pulp by some dude named Jesús.

Strangely enough, I sort of agree with the sentiments of NYC alex' friend. I know it seems silly, but it does seem sort of right. T-shirt I wish I'd bought - Stereolab "electric music" design. Last band t-shirt I bought, Dark Star's one-and-only headlining tour. It has vanished, just like the band, more's the pity. And Shakey - PRML SCRM "KLL LL HPPS" T? Bad move. I've never seen anyone wearing that one who didn't lookmlike a prize chump. Hahah you did ask for derision, dud U not?

They wouldn't be so bad if they didn't all take their cultural cues from a generation that basically sold the world down the river

Like there was a generation that didn't??

And Primal Scream ARE hippies! Stinkin' loved up higher than the sun love, peace & Stones boogie HIPPIES!! Bless their hearts.

Me, I'm just really proud of my Mod jacket with pins on it. My ambition is to own so many of those that they cover every last part of the jacket (will probably never happen- so far, I've only got six: Johnny Cash, Eddie Chocran, The Smiths, The Clash, The Specials and Dennis Brown.)

You could put a gun to her head ask her to name three Motorhead tracks, and she'd fail miserably.

I have a House of Pain T-shirt that I bought for $2 and makes a very functional nightshirt. Is that not reason enough?

Augmenting old rock t-shirts with rhinestones = bad how exactly? Rhinestones are a big country music/liberace thing i.e. to metropolitan types they carry this overtone of kitsch, so what these T-Shirts are really saying is that rock, especially vintage rock is itself kitsch now, with the further implications that i)no of course I don't know three Motorhead tracks, ii)if you care about having your dead culture taken the piss out of then you're a bit sad.

i.e. Alex is right to hate them, but only cos they hated him first. They're a fairly brutal anti-rock statement. Anyone who wears one of them and a selection of current rock band tees is either a right chump or very clever.

the rhinestone woman in the motorhead stuff has fucked with alex's so she owns this thread

Augmenting old rock t-shirts with rhinestones = bad how exactly? Rhinestones are a big country music/liberace thing i.e. to metropolitan types they carry this overtone of kitsch

Rock was also a big country music/liberace thing, so it's all good.

then there was the time both damon a. and justine f.
gave me a good natured hard time at elastica's 1st gig
up north ('93)cause i had my suede 'metal mickey' t. shirt on.

got punched in the head once at a party in chester, and
i'm not convinced it wasn't because i had a baby pink
skin-tight elastica t. shirt on.

As for etiquette, well, I think that when a band is on tour and has no time to do laundry, they will probably borrow some shirts from the merch counter and that is ok.

yeah, I think she could be a motorhead fan (I really do!!). why can't blonde chicks like motor head, what's so unbelievable abt it.

so i guess thats not good ettiquitte?

Not been into band t-shirts for about a year as suits took over my wardrobe but am desperately seeking a classy Motley Crue shirt since being converted to the side of hair metal upon seeing the AWESOMENESS that was G n R live at Leeds last month. But will need this shirt soon before I get bored of metal - anticipating another month of giving it up bigtime to 'Shout at the devil' before I start thinking "well it's all a bit trite isn't it?"

Another point, I'm a bit concerned about this ironic-metal t-shirt thing that's going around. I mean, I don't have the hair or dress of a rrreal rawker (more of a maudlin mod) so will I just look like some smug student prick, or can I pull it off? I mean, this ain't no ironic flit with the beast that is rawk, uh uh, I have genuine admiration for those who live the rrrock ideal to its fullest (be they fat, bald, stupid, whatever). It takes balls to rock and I'm not sure I've earned the right to display The Crue across my piegon chest yet. So please, sate my fears or explain how yes, I am a tit so I can deal with it. And yeah, if anyone knows where to get a decent Crue t-shirt from, please tell.

Also Once when I was wearing my Merzbow T-shirt to a Spiritualized concert. (oops) somebody made fun of me say "You got the Mezbox, huh, it's really big, isn't it" (or something along that line.)

I also ran into a complete stranger at a museum in NYC who had a Merzbow shirt on when I was wearing mine, and my friend said "Whoa, another Merzbow shirt" and the guy turned around and looked frightened. I was laughing. he said his friend was had released some Merzbow albums and made T-shirts to promote it.

Can such a thing exist?

I have about four or five Cop Shoot Cop t-shirts (a band I was obsessed with during their brief, tumultuous heyday), but am too much of a wimp in this post 9/11 world to wear'em anymore.

Also have a vintage Pussy Galore shirt ("From the Hate Fuck Capital City of the World...") that doesn't really win me a lot of favor.

Andrea Corr.......New York Dolls fan? I think not.

I met the bassist from Singer a little while back and offered to give him a bunch of shirts, but he said that he had several dozen lying around already.

Bands that sink their working capital into making merch before making records: C/D?

I have something like, what, 150 band shirts plus? Maybe 200. I love 'em, what can I say, and they're all from shows I was at. Yow.

chris, you have such a bad 'tude!

In all seriousness? By "the Law of John" (see initial thread query at the top), no, as Spectrum and Spiritualized (let alone Darkside, Spaceman 3, Sonic Boom etc. etc.) are technically different bands.

*BUT*

You are sorta guilty of the ol' "ooh, I'm in the know!" crime, suggesting that you're quite hip to the proceedings at work and not merely a fan of Spiritualized, but of their whole milieu. Kinda like wearing a Killing Joke shirt to a Damage Manual show or a sporting a Wedding Present shirt at a Cinerama show or wearing a Marillion shirt to Fish show (wait, who goes to Fish shoes?), or wearing a Misfits shirt at a Danzig show....almost wilfully defying and challenging the artist onstage to admit his artistic heritage, and indirectly telling all other bystanders: "Hey, by the way, I'm not just a fan of that guy onstage, but I've done my homework, buddy, and I'm a dedicated enough fan -- probably unlike you, you fairweather punter -- to know about all the other branches of the tree that produced the fruit you're now enjoying!" It's almost-but-not-quite as bad as yelling "We Love You, Declan!" at Elivs Costello....a sort've smugly unsolicited assertion of your knowledge of music trivia.

I know I'm guilty of it.

But I used to make my own shirts. I had made a Lou Reed shirt - just a silhouette of his face - everyone used to ask me where I got it... I made a Pere Ubu shirt... My wife asked why I didn't just buy the bands' shirts .. I think I said something like ~ because it says their name all ofver it - and if you know who it's supposed to be, then you don't need to read their name ... or some shit answer like that... Anyway, she said, So a shirt with a picture of D.Boon on it would be even cooler because he's not a band, he's (was) just in a band. So I made a D.Boon shirt - the picture from the back of Double Nickels, but I did write his name on it because you could barely make out who it was in the picture. Mang, I loved that shirt though... until I started hearing more & more about the Minutemen .. like people had gone back & discovered them, maybe because Henry Rollins and Sonic Youth had become popluar, I dunno... So I stopped wearing the D.Boon shirt to gigs because D.Boon was no longer a secret.

Also, I never saw the Ramones live, but I do have a tour shirt from when a friend of mine went to see them & a riot broke out. People stole all of the shirts... Normally, I wouldn't condone stealing, but since it was looting during a riot... hey! I should really return that ratty old shirt to its rightful owner. Who would that be? C.J.?

http://www.startrek.com/content/galleries/nemesispremiere/images/15.jpg

Am I really supposed to believe that Mr.Timberlake even *KNOWS* who the MC5 are? Please!

Dare you to respond to this. I'm calling you all out.

Moreover, he won't wear shirts that merely display the band's name or logo -- it has to have originated at a show he himself attended, or he won't go near it.

corollary: only wear team kit of team you are/were on. this would really cut down prevalence of pro team wear, for the good of mankind. Unless that meant fans showing up at games shirtless, that would be bad 99.95 percent of the time, the .05 possibly being player's wives, babymamas, girlfriends, strippers from last night and whomever else looks good.

*as you were*

Anyhow, my Lollapalooza95 shirt is signed by Moby. Maybe I should Ebay that motherfucker and see how much I can get. I didn't even know who the fuck he was at the time, I was there for BossTones, Jesus Lizard and Sonic Youth.

Not only do you have stupid friends but you are a rascist as well.

Ojala

Only 'cause Jon didn't see it, I bet.

By the way, YOU STARTED IT. Don't dish it out if you can't take it.

Didn't realize your damn silly name represented an entire race. A little presumptious and egocentric, no?

haha i have this tee-shirt (though it's probably a cheap bootleg {which is cooler if you think about it})

didn't go down too well at the bratmobile gig i wore it to last year

Band tshirts otherwise are pretty naff on the whole, I think, though.

I hate seeing people at gigs wearing the tour tshirts....and wearing a tour tshirt of another band to a gig - oh dear - really not good.

(deja-vu!)

It was also HOT PINK.

I thought I'd share that for the benefit of Alex.

I like that Missy's wearing a Motorhead shirt in the "Get Ur Freak On" video.

My favorite band shirt is this Violent Society shirt I got at a show of theirs in high school. On the back it says "corporate corrupt punk bureaucracy must go!" isn't that great? i have no idea what it means! i haven't listened to that band in years.

the strangest band t i have is a flaming lips tshirt w/ wayne dressed as a martian w/ 'flaming lips' written on the bottom. however, the letters F-A-G are about 50 point font and the rest of the letters are about 8 pt. within the larger letters. thats a fun one to wear around town..

Don't you mean every picture?

once again. do we really think Spidey's wearing this shirt in earnest?

I also own the previously discussed "Hate Fuck" Pussy Galore shirt, and yes, I bought it at one of their shows. (Saw 'em in L.A. in 1989, after Julia Cafritz had already left the band - they were, I believe, a Spencer/Hagerty/Bert trio that night. Bought the shirt from Bob Bert for $5.)

When I interviewed Lemmy a year or so ago, he said, "I wish everybody who's got our T-shirts had our albums."

I used to use T-shirts as statements, like wearing a Neil Young & Crazy Horse shirt to an Einsturzende Neubauten gig, but have mostly given that up. Except when I go to the Vision Festival, which is run by free-jazz hippies...then I wear my Earache Records shirt that says "Angry Music For Angry Times" on the back in big red letters, or my Ted Nugent shirt that says "One Nation Under Ted," also on the back, also in big red letters, just to tick people off.

I have trouble wearing any band's t-shirts...it pegs me...and I don't wanna be pegged.
As for the ironic twist angle here, I guess I'd haveta wear a Shania Twain tee to be ironic. But I see guys around town with their Ronnie Milsaps and their Yannis.

Why? Everyone keeps saying this but what is the reason?

Why? Everyone keeps saying this but what is the reason?

I believe you can wear band shirts to that band's performance, but it must be from a few years' prior. I got free tix to see REM awhile back and someone had a "Reveal" shirt on and I had to laugh. I think the guy ironed it, too!

But the girl in the "Green" shirt seemed okay.

I won't wear the shirt to the concert but other than I have no rules. I used to wear tons of band shirts, but that was in high school when everything was XXXXTra large, and I just kept a couple of them to sleep in. I have only a few now: mary timony band, carla bozulich review, shannon wright, Mum (is actually too small for me, d'oh!!) and a couple of belle and sebastian ones. I bought all of them at shows except the mary timony one. I was bitter for really stupidly missing the show, so I ordered it online as cold comfort. But the cool thing is, I made a friend out of it-- ran into a guy one day when we were both wearing the same shirt (but different colors, whoa).

(Although, I think these bands were for some strange reason utterly brilliant despite their glaring ineptitude so I might be a huge snob and underestimate these people)

b) I bought a Black Dice t-shirt at their show, and I still don't have the record.

c) I still don't believe in wearing the concert-t the day after the show.

Call me poseur, call me what you will.

It's that about-face hypocrisy that grates on me, though I just chuckle because if they want to pay $80 for one of the damn things, go right ahead.

I dont wear most of my band tees anymore because they were all from that early 90s "everything is size HUGE" era. So look like pyjamas on me. Except for this one very, very old New Order tshirt that has the old III O logo, I dont even know when or where it is from, only that it's an 80s tee - so I still wear that one, as it has a history.

Oh and my Throwing Muses "University" one because it's red, with a yello gun on it, and it looks great.

I have a Killing Joke "Extremities 1990/1991 World Tour" T (black w/red and white print). XL (too large for me). If you want it, send me your address.

Maybe you were there...

Pedant mode off.

OF COURSE I was there! What am I, a novice?

But, thanks very much for your offer. As it stands now, I have upwards of twelve Killing Joke shirts....with more invariably on the way. Suffice it to say, there is no irony involved.

http://missionofburma.com/holdphotos/messageboards/lj/moi/doesthismakemelookfat500bw.jpg

Anyway, then I looked down and realized that I was wearing an RJD2 shirt. That shut me up right quick.

You've just summed up every moment in my life when I've been tempted to make fun of hipsters.

Me, I have a long-sleeved purple Swervedriver shirt that I love dearly. It's warm, too.

What about the Cobra Verde? If the Mission of Burma doesn't make me look fat, what about this one?

Am I too old to be wearing band t-shirts? or holding them up in front of myself?

Where can I buy a swervedriver ls sweat? Maybe that'll cover me up better?

Is it wrong to think that guys in purple band swervedriver shirts are sexy? Especially if it looks like they don't fold it properly when they stuff it in the bureau drawer?

Is there a support group for this problem?

Where is the band t-shirt etiquette monitor?

"s Jeremy Piven sagely intoned in the underheralded classic, "PCU," to a then-portly John Favreau on his way to see the fictitious Merkins while wearing a Merkins t-shirt: "Don't be that guy!" "

I always thought they were talking about the Melvins

They finally solved the dilemma of all young people - how to simultaneously rebel and conform, by rebelling against grown-ups and conforming to each other. Thus to grown-ups they appear simultaneously stuffy and brutish.

And whatever label you wear on your chest, whatever it is, it's about being stuffy, really, isn't it. I guess you could say that about clothes in general but a label is taking it one step further and why would you want to? Except I suppose when you're trying to expose yourself to ridicule through the label like intentionally prostrating yourself in the Beck 'I'm a Loser' sense, but really I would question whether you can honestly claim that you're ever doing that in sincerity.

I loved your "Lost in Lameless" post on your site - re: Lost in Translation. It was so totally dead on. I would absolutely drop the Mission of Burma t-shirt for you. Everyone was telling me how fantastic that movie was...

...Yeah, if you're a middle-aged guy fantasizing about hanging with some young sexy lonely gal.

Puh-leeze. dream on.

And even the acting was crap.

and yes, shameful use of the soundtrack.

My middle-aged saga which will be out soon on DVD is
"Lost in Damnation", set in the "good part" of Burma, and includes scenes of the BurmaKitty lounging naked on some faux leopard lounge, being simutaneously pedicured by no less than six barely legal far eastern type boys while she gets oiled down and fed grapes by some nymphs and Squirrel Bait's "Sun God" is playing over and over again.

http://www.emerchandise.com/images/p/CPM/pzBYCPM0001.jpg

otherwise, who cares what shirt you wear and how you accquired it? ive got tons of t-shirts that found their way to me from boyfriends and friends, so, authenticity/proof of attendence be damned.

my only personal rule about band t-shirts is to not wear them as much around the office, otherwise i am mistaken for a student.

Over two years since the last post, surely cultural mores have shifted some since then?

For example, is it OK to wear a t-shirt for a band whose music you've got off bittorrent but never actually bought?
What if you download a scan of the shirt from bittorrent and print it yourself?

My bro gave me a sweet Grateful Dead tshirt this weekend. Stoked.

pretty sure it's only ok to wear t-shirts for bands you've never heard

i wear what i want, and if it's not ok, you can suck it

:)

the only band t-shirt i have is an old Caribou one, and I was never in to them, liked them live but the albums are boring. Nice design tho, pink lettering on yellow.

Have two record label t-shirts, this:

http://www.boomkat.com/media/stock_images/tectonicredSMALL.jpg

and this (in white):

http://www.catapult.co.uk/resources/cache/resize_fixed_height_resources-product-images-22108-bbkblueoutjpg.350x.jpg

Really couldn't care less about the politics of wearing band shirts, except I always feel it's a bit lame when someone wears the band shirt to the gig, whole lotta stanning goin' on.

i only wear my own band's shirts these days

I own a Univers Zero 1313 t-shirt that has a picture of a random band (not univers zero) on it.

No one ever notices this, however.

i don't have any band shirts any longer, except the very well-fitting Belle & Sebastian shirt i bought on their 2002 tour. i am embarassed to wear it now except when i am doing laundry or going to bed or hungover and putzing.

yea the only thing i have is my Lilith Fair tshirt. i wear it

I'm wearing a Lou Reed New York Tour shirt right now. I was born that year. It's really old and xxl, but I love it.

oops, duh it's old, i meant 'worn,' thx

k whew i was about to deduct points

I never heard this don't wear a band's old shirt to a show thing until this thread.

I think paying for today's overpriced tickets would be more a more embarrassing admission of fandom than admitting you went to a concert 10 years ago.

yeah but it's just like "fuck, obviously you like the band." actually i don't care about people wearing the band's t shirts to shows but whenever say metallica or iron maiden come to town there'll always be their shitty old boring fans on the metro or bus the next day or the afternoon of wearing shirts. i don't know if i'd say i condemn doing such a thing, but it depresses me when i imagine myself 30 years from now in the same situation.

Just throwin' this into the mix...

A question to those of you who wear "concert" t-shirts.

at his show in oakland, jeff beck had an awesome t-shirt for sale with the Beck/Bogert/Appece logo that i would have gotten but fuck $30 for that shit. and i have a problem fitting into t-shirts so i probably would hardly ever wear it anyway.

the one "band" shirt that fit me was an aphex twin one. i was not informed of this until the shirt was already in tatters, but i guess the logo is extremely similar that of this video game "half life" but i guess afx is about as dorky as videos games so whatevs

Funny that this thread should be revived as just yesterday, I posted a sorta semi-related piece. Read it by clickin' right here .

i wouldn't wear a reproduction concert shirt, even for a show i went to. that's just retarded. however, if i manage to score a shirt that was bought at a concert i didn't go to, that's cool (i got my Depeche Mode Violator tour shirt at a thrift shop in the late 90's for $1, i inherited a Donovan '84 tour shirt from my dad which was pretty awesome with this weird heart/peace sign logo).

if a band had shirts that were made with logos/artwork and not associated with a tour, i have and will wear those. some of my favs were the Nirvana seahorses shirt, the Porno for Pyros shirt with the city in flames in the front and the band's name written in naked women across the bottom of the back, and i was wearing an extremely faded Tribe Called Quest shirt with the "Beats Rhymes and Life" artwork on the front the morning my son was born back in December 01.

the offensive band shirts are fun too: the My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult shirt that said their name and had a hand holding a dripping knife on it (with the same thing mirror imaged on the back!) always got comments, my Anal Cunt shirt from their 96 or so tour is pretty much one of the most offensive shirts i've ever seen anyone wear (it was hard to actually sport this in public), and my old school Anti-Flag shirt (circa 94, way before they had much popularity outside of pittsburgh) with the guy burning a flag on it would draw some good comments.

nowadays i'm into label shirts and shit like that. Inner City, Trax, Dance Mania, Technoir Audio, 7th City, Underground Resistance (the puffy paint one of course!), Hot Mix 5, and Prestige are amongst the ones i wear now. i also have a really great "The Godson" shirt which is essentially a shirt for Rick Wilhite, which i probably wouldn't wear if that wasn't my boy. oh yeah, i have the cover photo from the "Anotha Black Sunday" LP with Moodymann's face on it but no text which is awesome because no one knows who it is.

i definitely support the wearing of shirts that are unrelated to the music being played at the event. though i did recently wear my UR shirt to a techno gig which got me many many positive comments from fuckheads that i am sure couldn't name one track of theirs. unintentionally irritating, but it helped since i was handing out flyers for an upcoming gig.....

oh yeah, i also rock shirts for record shops now, especially the local pittsburgh shops when i am going record shopping out of town.

Are label shirts are the trend nowadays? I saw two young guys in a restaurant recently...they were both wearing musical shirts of some kind, one of them was a Trojan Records shirt, and it struck me "hmm...a label t-shirt...that's kindof an interesting thing" I don't remember there even being any label t-shirts back in the day. Some wonderful goth put the 4AD logo on the back of their black leather jacket, though, and it was a sight to behold.

What's wrong with being a big fan of a band and wearing a t-shirt to one of their gigs? I refuse to be embarassed about that. Band T-shirts are to wear and be seen in and compare with other fans, even. Those people out there who might think I'm uncool for wearing one are not the people I'm concerned about.

One of my favorite memories of Area:One at The Gorge was walking around and seeing the entire history of New Order represented in tour and album tee shirts.

i buy band shirts at shows (but never tour shirts) and i make sure i buy a shirt for a record store when the employees start calling me by name

lol "Hoosical Steens"

"Are label shirts are the trend nowadays?

― More Goth Than Your Grandmother (Bimble)"

i think they've been a music nerd thing. i used to rock a Moon Ska shirt back in the day with the whole roster of the label listed on the back, that was an awesome shirt. i always wanted a Sub Pop one waaaayyyy back when but i never got one. it's a bit easier to love dance music labels in general, maybe because of relatively small numbers of releases?

this is pretty amazing. i couldn't believe it was real

http://www.primark.com/whats-new/article/186

Tenji Tosspot · Top commenter · Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

A good friend of mine, John, is a strident purist when it comes to band-related shirts. Unless he was actually at the show in question, he won't wear a concert shirt. Like myself, he's perturbed by the "rock ironic chic" trend of the last few years, but he's particularly offended by shirts displaying bands that, in all likelihood, probably never sold shirts in their heyday (i.e. he hates people wearing Velvet Underground shirts, as chances are, when the Velvets originally played out, they probably weren't hawking merchandise). Moreover, he won't wear shirts that merely display the band's name or logo -- it has to have originated at a show he himself attended, or he won't go near it. A friend gave him a Clash shirt with the COMBAT ROCK logo on it (John being a big Clash fan), and he politely thanked him, but refused it,
admitting that he'd never wear it.

I would like to read a short story or novella that used this as it's opening paragraph.

Ivor Porkbelly · Do what i want when i want at Semi Retired
Worn by chavs with no musical knowledge-Pathetic..

its opening paragraph

If someone is wearing a T-shirt of a band/artist you like, is there a-n-y appropriate or non-weird comment to make other than, “I like your shirt?”

Sure! I mean, I reckon comments related to the band in question are all appropriate, as long as you don't say something condescending or creepy or dick-like, i.e., don't say anything you wouldn't say in any other circumstances. I've had some nice conversations with people this way, and some of those people are my friends now!

I was at the grocery store a few months back wearing a Misfits shirt, and one of the cashiers asked me if I went to see them play recently on their reunion tour. ... Totally legit question.

that's a good one

or just point at the shirt and say "<band name>! hell yeah!"

I've gotten "I like your shirt" when it was clear the person saying it had no idea it was a band shirt, so if you're saying it because you do know and enjoy the musical act maybe follow up "nice shirt" with something about the band

if it's a thrift store/salvaged shirt and they aren't actually into the band, would recommend shrugging it off with "oh, that's cool"

I met my first two bfs in high school because I said I liked their tshirt of certain band. There has been other band t shirt passing conversation in my life, both ways. I don't think it's creepy though if it's sincere and you don't expect anything else from the comment.

A lot of my long term friendships started that way.

Weird one - I went to the movies last night with my Queensryche tour shirt from last year and the manager says "I love your shirt by the way", so I said thanks and he kept saying "Al Bundy" after and it looked like he was talking about my shirt to the guy next to him as he was still facing me and the other guy didn't know who Al Bundy was so he explained it.

Obv kinda confused as my shirt very much did not look like Al Bundy nor was he a Ryche fan. Thought maybe it was a side convo or he was making fun of my receding hairline but i was embarrassed and confused.

Already embarrassed i hand my ticket to the taker to scan only to be told it was for the wrong Regal cos I was an idiot when i bought the tickets.

Went home and locked my door.

me and my ex met when he complimented my punk jacket that I had adorned the back of with duct tape that said "Part-Time Punks" ... it was part conceptual and part because I liked that song. I don't think he was familiar with the song, but he liked the concept and in highschool he was the arty kid that drew flyers for his friends' punk bands' shows

For dudes like me who are mega shu sometimes it helps start a convo i wouldn't have been able to otherwise

granted, "arty kid" in that high school context meant being able to draw a variety of skulls with fine-point sharpie

https://data.whicdn.com/images/20497400/original.png

When The Occasion was still playing around NYC I once saw a friend wearing their tee and said "Nice shirt, what's The Occasion?" I'm still proud of that joke.

I have this cool Beach Boys "Black Flag" shirt:

https://www.misswit.net/images/product_image/Black_Flag_w_address.jpg

I love it for lots of reasons, but mostly because the Beach Boys and Blag Flag more or less hailed from the same place. Anyway, I love the Beach Boys but (tbh) have never really listened to Black Flag. I wore the Beach Boys shirt to Trader Joe's once, and the green haired dude working the register complimented me on it, then started talking about ... Black Flag. I kind of nodded along and made small talk, but, like, read the fine print!

My favorite shirt might be this Opeth shirt that some Egyptian fan translated and redesigned into cursive Arabic:

https://mir-s3-cdn-cf.behance.net/project_modules/max_1200/84a36227805587.5636bbbe12a21.jpg

I like it because it's a cool design made cooler the more you know what's going on with it. Might wear it to the show tomorrow, not that anyone will know, because it will be like 7 degrees and no one sells Opeth sweaters or long underwear.

I also love my Grant McLennan shirt, for much the same reason. It's his last name, but designed to look like the Monkees logo. Though I once wore it out and someone thought it was a Phish logo.

I wore the Beach Boys shirt to Trader Joe's once, and the green haired dude working the register complimented me on it, then started talking about ... Black Flag.

As a (barely relevant) follow-up, I will note that I have regularly seen Henry Rollins shopping at Trader Joe's.

Was he wearing a shirt?

No shirt, no shoes, no service.

I had my peak "band shirt to gig" moment a few years back, went to see Mogwai here in Hobart (ass end of the earth) and thought you know what, my CAN "Future Days" t shirt is perfect so I wore that. By a chain of coincidences I ended up going out with Barry Burns and a few friends until about 4am. At one point in the evening Barry squints at my shirt and says, "I fuckin love your shirt man. Actually, I think CAN might be my favourite band of all time." This vindicated the shirt choice dilemma so perfectly that I could turn up to every gig for the rest of my life in a Ralph Lauren polo and still feel cool overall.

I've complimented two people wearing t-shirts of a band I am in and neither knew who I was

I have made lifelong friends by talking to people wearing interesting band shirts at gigs.

A teacher at my daughter’s preschool was wearing an Sweetener World Tour T-shirt… I told him “That’s so awesome!,” asked him which of the local shows he went to, etc.

He could not have been less f’in interested in having that conversation…

Also: I was at a stand-up show recently where a young woman in the front row was wearing an Iron Maiden T-shirt. The comic asked her - "Are you really a fan, or are you wearing it ironically?" She replied - "No, I'm really a fan." So he asked her what her favorite Maiden album is (they're one of his favorite bands).

There was a really long, awkward pause, and she finally said: "OK... you got me."

He cringed and was like, "You said you were a fan! I wasn't setting you up!"