I Don’t Have a Thing to Wear ……

ScreamingDave

Performance related, I guess. 

I have a long held belief that bands should dress up to play live.  Not like wearing a chicken costume or anything, but just make an effort.  I hate seeing bands play in the same T-shirt and cargo shorts they loaded in wearing.  The audience have made an effort to come to the gig, so the band should make an effort,  

How does everyone else feel?

Teyeplayer

Absolutely! They don’t call it rock’n’roll for nothing. The outfit should be part of the persona.

Rowby1

I’d rather bands made an effort to rehearse and learn the songs than spend time dressing up…..far too many seem to spend more effort on their image than their sound.

For my part I never play in what I wear to load in and soundcheck, even if it’s just a change of T-shirt sometimes. 

stickyfiddle

Fully agree.

 If you’re there as entertainment you should look like you give a shit. (And if you’re not entertainment you should go home…)

People have expectations in terms of correlation between a band’s sound and look (often described as hearing with your eyes) and imo it’s good to play up to that at least a little bit. 

Roland

ScreamingDave said:

… bands should dress up to play live…

stickyfiddle said:

… you should look like you give a shit …

Fully agree with both of these. 

Rowby1 said:

I’d rather bands made an effort to rehearse and learn the songs than spend time dressing up…..far too many seem to spend more effort on their image than their sound …

Looking the part should be an adjunct to performance, not a distraction from it

fastonebaz

I feel bands should look like the songs they're singing too give proper credibility tothe show.

Musicwolf

A couple of my jackets that I wear regularly

And sometimes you just have to go full-on Stephen Mulhern

Musicwolf

stickyfiddle said:

 If you’re there as entertainment you should look like you give a shit. (And if you’re not entertainment you should go home…)

Absolutely.  If you get on a stage then you are an entertainer and it may be that you happen to play a musical instrument.

punchesjudy

I tend to instantly know I’ll hate a band if I walk in and see some tit in a sparkly waistcoat. 

GavRichList

Strongly disagree. It’s entirely about context for me; if you’re daft punk playing the pyramid then absolutely… but if you’re Joe Shit and the Knobheads playing the local Wetherspoons on a Wednesday evening and you’re wearing a cape, then you look a meat-pipe whichever way you look at it. 

digitalkettle

GavRichList said:

Strongly disagree. It’s entirely about context for me; if you’re daft punk playing the pyramid then absolutely… 

Dunno...they always look like a couple of helmets to me

Sporky

T-shirt and combats would be an appropriate look for a lot of good bands. As Gav says, context is important. 

Keefy

In my view you can never be overdressed for the stage.

Revolutions

If you’ve ever done a 4 week tour in a small van, dressing up is generally the last thing on your mind.

stickyfiddle

I def agree with Gav that context is everything.

 If you’re playing grunge in a pub then the #1 goal is not to just look like every other plebs in there for the evening. In that case plaid shirt & boots is probably better than spangles and a feather boa. 

And equally if you’re playing Motown & disco then that getup will have you looking a bit odd. 

But what’s most important (after actually playing well - obviously) is looking cohesive as a unit. Which doesn’t mean dressing up but just coordinating at least enough so you look like you’re all in the same band 

Kurtis

Not really. I mean Bruce Springsteen did alright in jeans and t-shirt.

Maybe different for a wedding band or whatever. 

thecolourbox

I think it's the kind of adage where you dress for the gigs you want in a sense - as others have said some well known artists make quite simple style work for them by being blooming cool, others create a kind of world of their own by dressing in a certain way. I think it's a case of dressing in what makes you feel confident to entertain, not just what you're comfortable in. 

Somebody else mentioned something like "not looking like the others in the room" and I'd definitely agree with that (unless you're a band in a genre that's kind of intrinsically linked to a certain clothing style - thinking of like grunge or emo or punk etc). Not quite the same but that's the kind of basis I run with for my wedding piano gigs - I look like "the musician" but still smart enough to fit in. Context is everything as others have said. 

I think if you're happy playing the t-shirt and cargo shorts type gigs then all power to you, if you want something else then you might need to dress accordingly

stickyfiddle

Kurtis said:

Not really. I mean Bruce Springsteen did alright in jeans and t-shirt.

Maybe different for a wedding band or whatever. 

No he didn’t. He wore that stuff in the 80s after he’d been famous for a decade. Before that it was a very carefully orchestrated whole-band persona. 

And you can’t tell me this wasn’t discussed in advance…. 

Kurtis

stickyfiddle said:

Kurtis said:

Not really. I mean Bruce Springsteen did alright in jeans and t-shirt.

Maybe different for a wedding band or whatever. 

No he didn’t. He wore that stuff in the 80s after he’d been famous for a decade. Before that it was a very carefully orchestrated whole-band persona. 

And you can’t tell me this wasn’t discussed in advance…. 

OK, jeans and a shirt then 

I bet Bruce wasn't wearing anything like the white suit and hat? 

maltingsaudio

I agree bands should make an effort, likewise Crew should wear something which makes them stand out. At the end of the day it’s all advertising, doesn’t matter how good a band is if you can’t identify them quickly

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

Keefy said:

In my view you can never be overdressed for the stage.

I put that notion to the test last Xmas...