Musicians on stage wearing black clothes...

[mildbill]

I guess its better than what GG Allin used to wear on stage.

Definitely better than what he left on stage.

 

[SLPimp]

Front woman needs to step up her game.

I don't mind toning it down a little for a spotlight front person, but I'll be damned if that means I have to dress like a member of the catering crew. I play in a female-fronted band at the moment, and when I told her that I deliver rock star attitude on stage and dress the part she gladly accepted the challenge. We may both be well-dressed in tasteful colors, but she'll always be prettier and a better singer.

I would also go with tasteful black (dress slack, dress shoes, button down long sleeves, vest or jacket) if we were allowed to accessorize with bright accent colors (ties, vests, pocket squares, etc.) for the sake of a spotlight front person of great regional renown. A little diva-ish, but more justifiable. Local singers who need as much help as they can get to sell it on a local small to medium stage? Those front persons would be doing themselves a big favor by coordinating some colors into the entire band's attire.

Again, very stage/venue/music specific. Some bands don't care, their audiences don't care. The rooms I play, the clients who book us, the kind of party music and atmosphere we're trying to create, black dominant is almost always not just a bad choice, it's a bridge-burner.

Right there with you. When I do weddings I pull out the seersucker suit.

 

[Ronzo]

What if it's 100 degrees, you are playing outside, in the sun? Black with long pants even then?

Yes.

Wick-dry black shirt and long black pants. Yes. Even in South Florida in the summer. Tux if it’s a wedding or a similar event.

 

[Ronzo]

Right there with you. When I do weddings I pull out the seersucker suit.

Please, please tell me you’re kidding.

 

[jerry]

I'm fashion illiterate. Black matches any color, so when I need to look respectable...black pants, black shoes. Black jacket optional.

That's exactly my corporate gig clothing!

 

[selowitch]

Aren’t there dark-colored suits that are engineered for the heat that one can buy?
I hear poplin is a good material for this purpose.

 

[QORC]

I think it depends - what SORT of black clothes? how well do they FIT you? Do you have a build that carries it off or do you have the build/look that frankly it doesn't matter what color you wear, you're still going to look like an old porker and you're over thinking this?

 

[Gustopher]

You can go ahead and look down on me then, we wear shorts when we play marinas and outdoor gigs in the warm weather months and I would never see the reason not too at these venues. You think people at a lake marina bar, channeling their inner Jimmy Buffet want to see us sweating in dress pants or jeans? lol, we play party music for people to have a good time with... not jazz standards. The whole dress code snobbery on TB is hilarious, nowhere outside of this website have I ever encountered it. I guess you really wouldn't approve of my flip flops either

I agree shorts are not good stagewear and I look down on other musicians who have worn shorts on a gig. I only wore shorts to a gig once because it was outdoors and effectively 103° with high humidity and I simply had to ventilate to stay alive.

 

[SLPimp]

Please, please tell me you’re kidding.

Nope. Brown seersucker suit for summer, gray wool for winter. Kilt and jacket for weddings I'm not playing at.

 

[selowitch]

You can go ahead and look down on me then, we wear shorts when we play marinas and outdoor gigs in the warm weather months and I would never see the reason not too at these venues. You think people at a lake marina bar, channeling their inner Jimmy Buffet want to see us sweating in dress pants or jeans? lol, we play party music for people to have a good time with... not jazz standards. The whole dress code snobbery on TB is hilarious, nowhere outside of this website have I ever encountered it. I guess you really wouldn't approve of my flip flops either

I should have qualified my remark because if you’re playing on an island in the middle of a pool (for example), shorts would be more than appropriate.

 

[selowitch]

What about the black or navy suit accented by a T-shirt or handkerchief of a particular color?

 

[aprod]

I feel like a stage hand when I wear black.

 

[Artman]

You can only complain to one of these guys now.

 

[AceOfBassFace]

I think all black can look good if done right:



Looking good as a band takes just a bit of effort, whether it's all black or any other combination of colours. Men, if you don't have the sartorial 'chops' to look good on stage, ask your wives/gf/mums/sisters to help out.

 

[Koshchei]

Nope. Brown seersucker suit for summer, gray wool for winter. Kilt and jacket for weddings I'm not playing at.

That is some decisive eclecticism. I salute you.

 

[dkelley]

In an orchestral or venue setting, opt for a dark navy suit or tux. Under stage lighting, navy appears black but black has a nasty, unnatural green sheen in some instances. Learned this from a couple of lighting directors.

Riis

All orchestras wear either black or black and white (I played in orchestras for years). They never wear dark navy or similar, so I suspect the stage lighting you're talking about isn't what they use for orchestra concerts Makes sense it would be different - for anything other than classical, we musicians tend to play on stages that have multiple colors of lights all aiming on us to sort of form a generally white light with, well, color in it depending on where you move to on stage.

 

[electracoyote]

I think all black can look good if done right:



Looking good as a band takes just a bit of effort, whether it's all black or any other combination of colours. Men, if you don't have the sartorial 'chops' to look good on stage, ask your wives/gf/mums/sisters to help out.

Good point, and good example. Slim young folks in all-black matching turtle necks, suit jackets, tailored form-fitting slacks, Cuban-heeled dress boots, and stylized haircuts sure do look good.

Older overweight dudes in black tees, black dad pants, and black Sketchers, not so much.

Unfortunately, for most local-level musicians, black dominant is not a fashion statement but an uncreative default. I agree with you, black dominant can be a fashion statement if bands would put in that kind of thought and effort.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

I'm fine with black. Just, please, no bandanas.

 

[Chad Michael]

"Video killed the radio star"

(not sure why, but this came to mind just now)

 

[rocu]

Never wear black because:

1. You still look fat no matter what color you wear (truth be told, WE still look fat)

2. Everyone will assume you are the sound guy or a stagehand or a roadie or that you should be bussing tables

3. You blend into the dark stage and folks can't see you, not a good thing for most bands without good lighting

Reasons to wear black:

1. You are in an orchestra

2. You are backing up some real talent and want them to stand out

4. It's a wedding gig and that's what the bride wants

5. You are Johnny Cash

Please feel free to add to these lists