Playing Barefoot

[Lobster11]

yes, yes?

I believe he was inviting you, as TB's favorite shoeless shredder, to chime in and extol the virtues of playing barefoot....

 

[MEKer]

I play barefoot all the time. Recently also started playing wearing nothing but a T-shirt, but have trouble because I am always tripping over "myself"--ahem.

 

[sloasdaylight]

I practice with barefeet, or only socks most of the time, but I never get on stage barefoot.

 

[21niko21]

I believe he was inviting you, as TB's favorite shoeless shredder, to chime in and extol the virtues of playing barefoot....

Lol, and I finally see this...now. Better late than never. I am also a 'she' btw.

 

[LAPetrarca]

Love it! Graham Nash is another barefooter as well!

 

[bobbybass85]

I practice with barefeet, or only socks most of the time, but I never get on stage barefoot.

+1... I've grown up going to rock shows (place whatever qualifier you want on "rock" i've seen most everything) and what's the one thing you notice at all rock shows???

EVERY band member from each band is sweating, spilling beer and haucking leugies every ten seconds on to the stage. Call me weird but I have a hard time picturing the venue cleaning crew lysoling the stage (most can't even keep a bathroom clean).

It feels weird even when I'm playing at church on our brand new stage... but to each their own.

 

[Depth_Charge]

I will have to try this again to see if it was a fluke, but playing barefoot may the way for me to go. Anyone else have experience in this method?
Ken

No, but I once had a lead guitarist who insisted on being barefoot when he played, regardless if it was rehearsal or gigs. Didn't know why, it just "came to be" he said.

We were booking corporate clients as well as bars/parties, so it was becoming a bit of an issue and I had to remind him appropriate clothing included footwear.

 

[FatAndy]

Often used to play barefoot....played naked once

 

[Spectrum]

Often used to play barefoot....played naked once

To keep it family friendly, I'm not going to embed this pic, but I'll tell you it's a photo of a very famous heavy metal singer with no clothes on apparently pretending to play a P-bass. I first saw this photo in his recent autobiography. There was no real explanation with the pic...

http://www.black-sabbath.de/oz_naked.jpg

 

[Pilgrim]

I wear orthotics and if I spent 15 minutes standing barefoot on a hard surface, I'd be in so much pain that I couldn't play.

I've never been much on running around barefoot anyway...I've always preferred to keep my feet protected by shoes.

I'll keep my tennies or regular shoes, thanks! And when it comes to electrocution risk, you're a lot better off wearing something to insulate your feet rather than provide the nice electrical path created by skin-to-ground contact.

 

[stingraysvt]

Just got into playing barefoot, took my flip flops off at practice the other night then played the gig without them as well.... very clean hardwood floors, I always kept the flops there to slip back on.

 

[skwee]

There are so many reasons to keep your shoes on, not the least of which is the health hazards you could attract or cause in a cluttered, electrical, and potentially glass-filled environ. I'll keep my shoes on, thanks.

 

[stingraysvt]

if it's really rowdy I'll keep em on but we were playing for a very small crowd that was keeping their seats and it was a nice restaurant /Bar atmosphere

 

[Bassmanbob]

A barefoot thread comes up once every couple of years.

Disclaimer: The following is not to be considered a consultation or a subtitute for a medical visit.

I'm a podiatrist who is also known in the local music community. About once every couple of years I get another local musician who wasn't wearing shoes at a gig or rehearsal and needs me to pull something out of his foot. This can be very easy or it can be a nightmare. I've spent 5 minutes taking something out in my office, 5 minutes in the operating room or an hour and a half doing the same thing in the operating room. Unless the foreign body is metalic (or something that shows up on X-ray), it can be the proverbial "needle in a haystack."

Things I've removed from people's feet (general public):
glass, metal, nails, sewing needles, various pieces of wood or splinters, catfish barb, another unknown fish spine, palm tree or other plant throrn, wire, piece of flip flop foam, pins, sand, fishing hooks and I'm sure I'm leaving a bunch of things out of this list I can't remember right now.

Musicians on stage are not sexy when they have a bloody, half ripped-off toe nail from stubbing a toe.

Shoes are not only for fashion, but for protection. Do yourself a favor and wear some kind of shoe gear.

Lecture over.

 

[Semisweet]

If you prefer to play barefoot but cannot for whatever reason...

Vibram Five Fingers!

Invalid Link Removed

 

[JTE]

Well, I won't load equipment without sturdy shoes on that offer some protection, so I don't play barefoot either. I've scuffed my toes too many times while wearing sandals and schlepping gear.

John

 

[4001]

The bottoms of my feet are too soft and I don't really like the thought of, let's say, a staple going in.
Plus, try playing Moog Taurus pedals barefoot.

 

[bcouper]

Definitely my preference to play barefoot

 

[Ostie]

Used to play with a dude who played barefoot. And when I say “dude”, I mean he resembled the Big Lebowski. He even had a rug that tied the stage together….

 

[GregC]

Never have, never will. I grew up in a punk scene and have played a lot of dive bars and house parties using cheap PA rigs. Playing barefoot would have been foolish in multiple ways.