Band T-shirt Etiquette

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"So did I incur karmic damage by wearing my Spectrum t-shirt to a Spiritualized show?"

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.

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 17 September 2002 22:10 (twenty-one years ago) link

Christ, I'm also guilty of appalling spelling. That should be Fish SHOWS, not shoes. And, of course, it's ElvIs, not Elivs.

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 17 September 2002 22:12 (twenty-one years ago) link

I don't wear band advertisements to shows anymore - because I'm self-conscious that people think anyone who wears a band's shirt is trying to advertise his own coolness.

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.?

dave225 (Dave225), Wednesday, 18 September 2002 10:51 (twenty-one years ago) link

joey ramone was just wearing a ramones tshirt in the video for i wanna be sedated, so does he sux0r

ron (ron), Sunday, 22 September 2002 05:08 (twenty-one years ago) link

just about everyone i know has the sonic youth "confusion is sex" t shirt. they all seem to accidentally wear them on the same day. alex your friend is a tshirt NAZI! but yeah the motorhead t-shirt trend is pretty annoying, i doubt sporty spice likes them either.

di smith (lucylurex), Sunday, 22 September 2002 08:58 (twenty-one years ago) link

dear etiquette alex:
when i go to a fish show i wear fish shoes: is this done?

mark s (mark s), Sunday, 22 September 2002 09:03 (twenty-one years ago) link

So long as your Fish Pants are on, it's all good.

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 22 September 2002 10:21 (twenty-one years ago) link

Forget not thine fish socks.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 22 September 2002 15:49 (twenty-one years ago) link

i doubt sporty spice likes them either
Never underestimate the good taste of popular artists. And don't overestimate the good taste of ultra-hip 'underground' artists either, my respect for quite a lot of artists went down considerably after seeing their all-time top 10.

Siegbran Hetteson (eofor), Monday, 23 September 2002 12:18 (twenty-one years ago) link

one month passes...
Anyone notice that Ginuwine is wearing a Clash t-shirt in the new video for Fat Joe's "Crush Tonight"? Think he's a Clash fan?

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 11 November 2002 15:26 (twenty-one years ago) link

Yeah, but it's not an *ORIGINAL* Clash shirt...it's a weak CANAL STREET JEANS knock-off of the classic kamikaze pilot model. But, y'know, points to him for being original, I suppose. How many other hip-hoppers/r'n'b folk extol the merits of 70's Punks? What's next? Redman in a Public Image Ltd. shirt? ODB in a Killing Joke shirt?

Motel Hell (vassifer), Monday, 11 November 2002 17:41 (twenty-one years ago) link

Don't try to wind me up by blaspheming, MH, it won't work.

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 11 November 2002 17:42 (twenty-one years ago) link

one month passes...
I know it's not okay to wear a band t-shirt if you're in that band, but is it okay if you're only out on a date or married to someone in that band?

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

Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Friday, 13 December 2002 19:38 (twenty-one years ago) link

Guy on the left is giving Austin Powers some competition.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 13 December 2002 19:52 (twenty-one years ago) link

three weeks pass...
http://www.jcchasez.nu/pics/pics/vibe0203/01.jpg

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

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 3 January 2003 01:07 (twenty-one years ago) link

I hate "tour shirts", but I wear band shirts constantly. Almost exclusively. The only rule: don't wear the shirt for the band you're seeing. (I broke that rule once, for Dropdead's 10th anniversary show.) Wearing a shirt for a different genre then what you're going out to see is great. Advertizing that you like hardcore at a hardcore show is not interesting. However, advertizing that you like jazz at a hardcore show might result in meeting some very interesting people. Oddly enough, wearing my "Cray Research" shirt to hardcore shows has never generated a response from anyone. Hmm.

Dave Fischer, Friday, 3 January 2003 05:43 (twenty-one years ago) link

Timberlake seems more of an MC Hammer man than an MC 5 man.

Motel Hell (vassifer), Friday, 3 January 2003 07:10 (twenty-one years ago) link

Calling all pop-loving, Timberlake-defenders to thread.

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

Mr. Diamond (diamond), Friday, 3 January 2003 09:40 (twenty-one years ago) link

MC-5 were also blue-eyed soul, DO YOU SEE!?

Sterling Clover (s_clover), Friday, 3 January 2003 17:10 (twenty-one years ago) link

So, is Justin going to release a single advocating "DOPE, GUNS & FUCKING IN THE STREETS!" too, and jump start the White Panther Party? Can't wait!

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 3 January 2003 18:23 (twenty-one years ago) link

I heart Justin even more now!! Classic!!

Aaron W, Friday, 3 January 2003 18:29 (twenty-one years ago) link

Now isn't it VERY likely that JT thinks MC5 is an early NYC rap group?
I mean, he's only 12 years old.

Horace Mann, Friday, 3 January 2003 18:31 (twenty-one years ago) link

Alex, you're just not trying!

felicity (felicity), Friday, 3 January 2003 23:30 (twenty-one years ago) link

>>A good friend of mine, John, is a strident purist when it comes to
band-related shirts<<
I'm glad John is focusing on the really important things in life.

Ojala, Friday, 3 January 2003 23:33 (twenty-one years ago) link

Well, at least he doesn't have a damn silly name like "Ojala".

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 3 January 2003 23:47 (twenty-one years ago) link

I'm a straight guy, and Justin in that picture makes me all confused. Like I don't even want to think about women. Is this normal?

Changing Lanes, Saturday, 4 January 2003 06:19 (twenty-one years ago) link

Don't blame the MC5 for that, bub.

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Saturday, 4 January 2003 06:22 (twenty-one years ago) link

*interrupts bashing*

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*

Hunter (Hunter), Saturday, 4 January 2003 06:29 (twenty-one years ago) link

That Vibe cover makes me want to vomick.

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.

Helltime Producto (Pavlik), Saturday, 4 January 2003 08:33 (twenty-one years ago) link

But it would make Moby cry.

original bgm, Saturday, 4 January 2003 08:36 (twenty-one years ago) link

Alex,

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

Ojala

Ojala, Saturday, 4 January 2003 13:45 (twenty-one years ago) link

Oddly enough, wearing my "Cray Research" shirt to hardcore shows has never generated a response from anyone. Hmm.

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

Ian Johnson (orion), Saturday, 4 January 2003 18:02 (twenty-one years ago) link

Ojala....how does ridiculing your name make me a racist? How am I to know what race/creed/colour you are?!?!?! Throwing the "r" word around is a pretty big accusation.

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

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Saturday, 4 January 2003 21:48 (twenty-one years ago) link

When I see bands on tour wearing their own shirts it only says to me 'we are on tour and have no clean clothes left so we are wearing our merch.' Seems perfectly respectable to me, especially the bands that sell their own underwear.

Jordan (Jordan), Saturday, 4 January 2003 21:51 (twenty-one years ago) link

Ojala IS NOT my nickname. It is my name, FOOL! I can take anything a dork like you can dish out!

Ojala, Sunday, 5 January 2003 02:29 (twenty-one years ago) link

ding ding, round ONE.
http://roms2.mame.dk/png/sf1.png
FIGHT!

Lord Custos Omega (Lord Custos Omega), Sunday, 5 January 2003 03:17 (twenty-one years ago) link

I don't really wear band t-shirts anymore. I wrote and then erased a longish post expaining why, but basically I'm just over it.

Sean (Sean), Sunday, 5 January 2003 04:40 (twenty-one years ago) link

Never said it was your nickname (maybe you should read again).

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

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 5 January 2003 19:29 (twenty-one years ago) link

Alright......I know her husband produced their most celebrated album....but does that give her the right?

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 17 January 2003 02:35 (twenty-one years ago) link

one month passes...
I was at the upscale-type mall and noticed they're selling MC5 t-shirts at the Levi's store. Not that it really bothers me, just was a bit weird. (They were still playing better music there, relatively speaking in a Soundtrack of Our Lives sort of way, than the radio.)

Aaron W (Aaron W), Monday, 10 March 2003 21:34 (twenty-one years ago) link

I doubt that the MC5 tshirt will become a fashion statement - so at worst, some kids will check them out to find out why they were on a shirt. .. and some of those guys might make a few more bucks...

dave225 (Dave225), Monday, 10 March 2003 21:38 (twenty-one years ago) link

i made my own This Heat t-shirt.

john fail (cenotaph), Monday, 10 March 2003 21:39 (twenty-one years ago) link

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.

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

schnell schnell, Monday, 10 March 2003 21:54 (twenty-one years ago) link

her husband so uglee he not in wedding photos. fact that.

piscesboy, Friday, 21 March 2003 17:46 (twenty-one years ago) link

My favourite one is an ancient Cramps one, showing a lady trussed up and hanging upside down, with the motif "Stick em up baby, reach for the sky, here's something new you might like to try".
Always gets comments.
Also, a great Revolting Cocks tshirt.

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.

russ t, Friday, 21 March 2003 17:57 (twenty-one years ago) link

Unconsiously, after the first couple weeks after a i get a show t-shirt, i box it up and don't put it on again for at least 5 years.

christoff (christoff), Friday, 21 March 2003 18:03 (twenty-one years ago) link

a recent favorite of mine was seeing both Bruce and Colin of Wire in Toronto sashaying about in their newest merch.

ken taylrr, Friday, 21 March 2003 22:38 (twenty-one years ago) link

one month passes...
i have a devo shirt.

(deja-vu!)

Andrzej B. (Andrzej B.), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 03:05 (twenty years ago) link

three months pass...
Today I was walking past Urban Outfitters and saw in the window a Ramones shirt done up Shania-style.

It was also HOT PINK.

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

Ally-zay (mlescaut), Friday, 22 August 2003 18:35 (twenty years ago) link


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