Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
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 free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Wearing hats while playing; yes or no?
- Thread starter Fender_Bender
- Start date
-
- Tags
- playing
I've been tempted to do something along the lines of Jay Kay from Jamiroquai where he wears some big crazy hat every show, for kicks.
It depends on whether or not you're already considered to be cool. If so, yes. If not, it won't make you cool. But it will get laughs. It's a bit like wearing shades indoors.
Hats in general are fine, it’s when people try to use them solely to make themselves “look cooler” that it becomes a bit of a circus.
I knew a guy that wore a top hat all the time, and he thought it was soooo cool. All he accomplished was to become a laughingstock around town. But he did love that hat.
I knew a guy that wore a top hat all the time, and he thought it was soooo cool. All he accomplished was to become a laughingstock around town. But he did love that hat.
PaulCISSA
Unsweetened, highly-caffeinated
The hat/cap/beanie/whatever this is serves as a way for me to visually distinguish weekday office me from weekend gig me. I don't think anyone else cares, but it's a mindset thing for me. I wear one a lot of the time I'm playing in a sort of grungy, nappy place where a t-shirt and jeans are the correct uniform.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
The people paying you, or those coming to hear/see you (so you get booked there again)?
A hat is ok, but I don't always wear one. Tonight I’m wearing a tan, and chocolate brown straw fedora with 3.5” brim for my gig. Was thinking about wearing my black bison felt Stetson Sheridan (look it up), but felt is too hot. A hat must be cool on the head, and something that sets you apart from the audience. Remember what B.B. King said; “Always dress like you’re going to the bank to get a loan.”
I’m a fan of hats onstage and frequently wear them, on and off stage. What pushed me over to this point has having a close buddy of mine who worked as the lighting director at a church I played give me some good-natured ribbing about how the stage lights glared off of my bald head when I get hot and sweaty while playing. I was a bit embarrassed and only after wearing hats onstage did I also discover that it cuts down on the stage lighting itself and makes things easier to see.
I usually rotate between ball caps, trucker caps, flat caps, a couple fun top hats and an Irish-made eight panel cap. The weather, stage clothes and the formality of the show dictate which hat comes out.
I usually rotate between ball caps, trucker caps, flat caps, a couple fun top hats and an Irish-made eight panel cap. The weather, stage clothes and the formality of the show dictate which hat comes out.
