• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join freeLog in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Dressing well and dancing


This idea of dressing "well" an moving is difficult if not impossible to put into words. Almost seems to come down to a matter of self awareness. I use to intentionally dress like i "wasnt trying" to convey an image. The result is looking out of place/bad default. Leading to getting defensive when tour managers confront me on the subject thus making enemies and nearly being fired once actually replaced default. I realized that's about as phoney as it gets the end because whether or not you put an outfit together with intent virtually everyone will assume you did. Choosing to not choose if you will. Stevie Ray did try. He did HIS version of the cool Chicago/new York blues guy thing button down shirt, pork pie hat. While in new york around the time of the first double trouble albums. Moved back to texas; no longer filtering his image to fit the northeast scene the signature buckle hat appears. If it's not obvious that you are image conscious you are effectively aware their for "tastefull/styilish"
As for dancing. I don't know how to relax and avoid tension w/o moving to the music. I learned to relax studying Janek Gwiezdala and Gary Willis. Janic started waring thoughtfully chosen clothes that fit well, often contacts and a hat. Curiously when he got divorced... Gary also managed to cultivate an understated signature look. Only a shade off from truly not trying. My conclusion; If don't take my self seriously its naive to expect anyone else to.
 
:D

Again, "look the part" is a vague term. You don't necessarily have to be shiny and squeaky clean to look the part.

'Look the part" is indeed vague. However, while you and I may understand the significance of the road worn bass, I doubt if the general punter...who has no clue about instruments...might. All he/she sees is a bass that looks like it's been used to dig the garden :D, and may wonder why the artist does not take more care of it. Granted this is not always the case with punters, but it is certainly possible IMO. As far as road worm basses are concerned, the punter could infer from "looking the part" to be that of a lazy so'n'so who does not give a f**k about his gear. Rory Gallagher was the same, "road worn" wise, as SRV. I know people who, while being big Rory fans (both musicians and general gig goers alike) don't like the whole road worn idea. It is a matter of interpretation, and it is impossible to generalise in this context.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: two fingers
I read somewhere that in order to be a good bass player, you need to dress well and dance while you are performing live. How many think that these two things are really necessary for being a bass player in a gigging band?

Dressing well and dancing have nothing to do with being a good bass player. You can either play or you can't. John Entwistle hardly ever moved on stage yet he is considered one of the best bass players of all time.
 
IMG_3663.JPG
IMG_3915.JPG
I think you gotta be what you are. I wear a shirt and tie at work everyday ... usually with jeans ... so I just toss an $8 Goodwill sport coat and an old thrift store hat on to play gigs.

Drummer is into tie-dye and t-shirts and that's what he wears. The other guys are less formal, but comfortable.
 
You only have to look around your local music scene to see if this whole concept is valid or not. In my area the "biggest" cover band is a band that dresses and acts like 80s nerds. They play well, not virtuosos. All the non musicians rave about how great they are. They put on a show that is fun and energetic.
I have been in bands on both ends of this debate . from my experience great musicianship will never be as commercially successful as great entertainment.
Each of us need to choose and be aware of where we fall in this spectrum and understand the ramifications of our choices.
Musicians complain that rates haven't one up since the 80s. Right about when grunge came out and music/musicians got demystified. It went from bands being larger than life to just some ordinary guys with guitars who look like they just woke up. Coincidence?
Image does matter. Choose yours wisely.
 
I read somewhere that in order to be a good bass player, you need to dress well and dance while you are performing live. How many think that these two things are really necessary for being a bass player in a gigging band?
In a way yes in other ways no. It can be good to look like a band for some genres, it can also be good to draw more attractive females to shows which causes more males to come to shows meaning more people at shows. But to me there’s a certaint point where I have to draw a line. I don’t agree with it getting to the point where the band ends up looking cheesy, looking like a dad band, being too gimmicky, or where we’re punishing ourselves wearing a suit on a stage while sweating like a pig under hot stage lights. We do tend to avoid shorts when possible but in my band we don’t even say you can’t wear shorts. The humidity in the summer here can make 70 degrees feel like a hundred degrees so when it’s 100 degrees like it is today it’s absolutely brutal outside and in packed out smaller venues. We basically try to do just enough to not turn the females away. Because we realize how much that impacts the overall turnouts at shows. So while we don’t really have any rules as far as what to wear in my band we do tend to throw around the sayings “don’t look like a hobo”
 
  • Like
Reactions: eff-clef
You only have to look around your local music scene to see if this whole concept is valid or not. In my area the "biggest" cover band is a band that dresses and acts like 80s nerds. They play well, not virtuosos. All the non musicians rave about how great they are. They put on a show that is fun and energetic.
I have been in bands on both ends of this debate . from my experience great musicianship will never be as commercially successful as great entertainment.
Each of us need to choose and be aware of where we fall in this spectrum and understand the ramifications of our choices.
Musicians complain that rates haven't one up since the 80s. Right about when grunge came out and music/musicians got demystified. It went from bands being larger than life to just some ordinary guys with guitars who look like they just woke up. Coincidence?
Image does matter. Choose yours wisely.

I would say that the answer really aligns with your goals. If you want commercial success(profits) then it would be best to pander to the audience and pay as much attention, if not more so, to the look of the band instead of the artistic integrity of the band.

For me, its more so about the artistic integrity, not audience pandering. That's where i get the most satisfaction, when i am playing the music i like, the way i like, and all around on my own terms. I play music/create art for myself primarily, not others. Thankfully i am not so far out there that there is no intersect between my tastes and that of a common audience, to an extent.

And really this just shows where my musical ideals lay. Ideally the motive of music should not be commercial success but an artistic expression of who you are in some way. I am going to put my thing out there and hope you may enjoy it to. If you don't, that's fine, and we just weren't meant for each other.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Tony In Philly
Musicians complain that rates haven't one up since the 80s. Right about when grunge came out and music/musicians got demystified. It went from bands being larger than life to just some ordinary guys with guitars who look like they just woke up. Coincidence?
Image does matter. Choose yours wisely.

I think technology and the rise of the DJ has done that more then how bands dress. Musicians became demystified because of things like MTV news and the birth of the internet. You no longer just heard about bands when they came thru town, you heard stories and got to peek behind the curtain every day.

If we're going to blame the clothes, I'd say Dr. Hook and such would have to shoulder as much blame as the grudge bands.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Tony In Philly
I think technology and the rise of the DJ has done that more then how bands dress. Musicians became demystified because of things like MTV news and the birth of the internet. You no longer just heard about bands when they came thru town, you heard stories and got to peek behind the curtain every day.

If we're going to blame the clothes, I'd say Dr. Hook and such would have to shoulder as much blame as the grudge bands.
Tech and DJs didn't really come into play until much later if I remember correctly. It least in my area. I was very actively gigging then and i saw the demand for live music drop fairly drastically.
I'm sure this wasn't the only factor. DJs, smoking laws, DWI crackdown........
We as a community should do what we can to revive our industry. Musicianship, showmanship, promotion. Its more than just the notes that we play if you want to Be a gigging musician.
 
Tech and DJs didn't really come into play until much later if I remember correctly. It least in my area. I was very actively gigging then and i saw the demand for live music drop fairly drastically.
I'm sure this wasn't the only factor. DJs, smoking laws, DWI crackdown........
We as a community should do what we can to revive our industry. Musicianship, showmanship, promotion. Its more than just the notes that we play if you want to Be a gigging musician.

I don't think you remember correctly to be honest. I grew up in that era and went to shows or clubs every weekend. The audiences definitely didn't drop off. What happened was the local bands still wanted to play Aerosmith and that wasn't what the audience wanted to hear.
 
I don't think you remember correctly to be honest. I grew up in that era and went to shows or clubs every weekend. The audiences definitely didn't drop off. What happened was the local bands still wanted to play Aerosmith and that wasn't what the audience wanted to hear.
Actually the band I was in at the time was covering stuff like INXS, Simple Minds, Rem, U2........
Very danceable and pretty well-done.
All this being one mans opinions.
 
I don't think you remember correctly to be honest. I grew up in that era and went to shows or clubs every weekend. The audiences definitely didn't drop off. What happened was the local bands still wanted to play Aerosmith and that wasn't what the audience wanted to hear.

And sadly they still want to play Aerosmith. I still see ads put out of folks trying to start bands playing "AC/DC, Scorpion, Guns N Roses." It just seems so out of touch.
 
I'm having a great time getting little gigs where we can and playing well for whoever shows up. My style of dress doesn't make me play better, but when I'm in sport coat in 90 degree heat and sweating and we are killing it, well it just feels so damn good.

I admit that I don't suit up at jams or open mice and such, just gigs.