What do you wear when you play gigs?

[Thegreatzambini]

Interesting subject, no one has ever posted this question before….

 

[foolforthecity]

Then there's always this. In basic black.
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Jetglo, for you Ric types

 

[2112]

My current stage look:

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I like the idea of dressing "one step up" from the audience.

Check

The black-on-black look, like Johnny Cash, is always classic.

Check

 

[ProbablyTooLoud]

My Adidas

 

[Gervais Cote]

You must know our drummer.

Children of the '80's.

Don’t know your drummer but I know this guy :




And that guy :

 

[Wyrdlow]

Steel-toed boots, shin guards, hockey mask, helmet, and Kevlar vest. With ceramic plates.

Some great venues you're playing!

 

[hrodbert696]

Wear what you will. As an audience member, I find it super cringey when bands dress up like “rockstars”. All black, chains/spikes/studs, eyeliner, hair styling etc., or they have band gimmick/stage persona. It all just smacks of insincerity.

I want to see the performers as a genuine person, not some character. It’s the one thing about Khruangbin that really turns me off…well, that and the cultural appropriation, but that’s a different conversation.

Clothing choices are a form of expression. If you go to see a KISS concert, you aren't going to hear them play music (they don't, anyway). You go to see the crazy makeup and platform boots and pyrotechnics. That's an extreme example, but that whole schtick IS KISS.

Meanwhile, like I posted earlier, even wearing your street clothes on stage is an expressive choice, because it is a stage. The ideal of a pure "authenticity" with no staging at all is a will-o-wisp. It doesn't exist. Like I said about avant-garde art before; hang a garden shovel in an art museum, and whether or not it's really art, it's no longer just a garden shovel. The sheer act of people looking at it puts it in a different role. The same is true of people getting onto stages.

Regular guys don't do things on stages with people looking at them. If you wear your regular clothes on stage, you are now playing the role of Regular Guy. That's also a part to perform.

Sometimes Regular Guy IS the part you want to perform, and that's fine. And sometimes people get too absurd trying to dress up in a role they can't really pull off - spacemen or Troll Warriors or something, whatever they're supposed to be. The key thing, for me, is to ask what kind of a show you're performing, what you are using your art to express, and to dress accordingly.

 

[Tim Schnautz]

Most bands here dress casually at gigs. I typically wear jeans, a henley shirt, running (comfortable) shoes, and a hat of some kind. The rest of the band dresses similarly. We have an upcoming gig at a nearby casino (our first time there) which stipulates no jeans. And that's not a problem. I have some Old Navy black khaki type pants that I will wear that are very comfortable.

I guess I'm just curious as to what everyone wears for gigs.

Depends on the situation. Anything from sg
Horta and a tank top, to casual, to a nice suit and tie to a tuxedo
But Halloween gigs are different

 

[Medicine Man]

Yeah, depends on the gig. A friend of mine did a bar gig dressed in a full steampunk prog rock outfit with a cape. It didn't land. I have a pink sequin sports jacket and some other over the top stuff, but most of my gigs aren't high enough profile to bust out more than a dark colored button down and jeans. I agree with people who say the shoes are where it's at. The same outfit with nice leather boots vs white new balance makes a very different statement.

 

[Pilgrim]

I dress according to the event, but I always want to be dressed well enough to show some respect for the audience. I do NOT want to look like I'm about to crawl under a car to change the oil. No open flannel shirts, dirty tennis shoes, sloppy cargo shorts, etc.

When I play country gigs, I have some fancy snap-button shirts I picked up from Ebay. They look great with black jeans. Western hat optional but NEVER a crushed straw; only a good quality felt which is shaped properly.

Non-western shows, I may have a blues brothers style fedora. Hawaiian or guyabera shirt optional.

Dress up for the event, not down. You're in show biz.

 

[Pyrrho Epoche]

GG just wore his tattoos---sometimes a dog collar. If I gigged, I would wear whatever I put on for the day.

Maybe more importantly, did you wash yo ass?

 

[Tom Kinter]

Most bands here dress casually at gigs. I typically wear jeans, a henley shirt, running (comfortable) shoes, and a hat of some kind. The rest of the band dresses similarly. We have an upcoming gig at a nearby casino (our first time there) which stipulates no jeans. And that's not a problem. I have some Old Navy black khaki type pants that I will wear that are very comfortable.

I guess I'm just curious as to what everyone wears for gigs.

I always wear clean underwear, because you never know, you know?

 

[Wyrdlow]

Black jeans, black denim shirt w. pearl snap buttons, sleeves rolled to elbow, black hat, black boots - can't go wrong really. My oppo on guitar is similarly attired and we bookend our fiddler, who wears whatever she likes!

 

[MacGuffin]

Black jeans, black denim shirt w. pearl snap buttons, sleeves rolled to elbow, black hat, black boots - can't go wrong really. My oppo on guitar is similarly attired and we bookend our fiddler, who wears whatever she likes!
View attachment 5318601

I like and it checks many or all the boxes I listed before.
This is presumably "one step up" from the attire of the audience.
Black-on-black.
Similar but not the same.
Attire matches the part you play.
Presumably a bit of "flourish" for the lead, the polka dots on the dress.

 

[Wyrdlow]

Depends on the situation. Anything from sg
Horta and a tank top, to casual, to a nice suit and tie to a tuxedo
But Halloween gigs are different
View attachment 5318593View attachment 5318594

You literally have a 'Halloween gig' bass!? Brilliant mate! Kudos.

 

[logdrum]

Depends. Suit up if you have too, but always decent. No letters or numbers on the shirt unless it
s part of the BANd outfit. Best illusion I was an audience of, was a drag band. They also played really well. In the southwest a bolo tie can transform jeans into a formal level.

 

[Wyrdlow]

I like and it checks many or all the boxes I listed before.
This is presumably "one step up" from the attire of the audience.
Black-on-black.
Similar but not the same.
Attire matches the part you play.
Presumably a bit of "flourish" for the lead, the polka dots on the dress.

Cheers! Well, we keep it similar on the ends, but there's usually more flourish in the middle! Quite restrained that night.

 

[Curtbass]

Usually a Henley and dark canvas like pants. Sometimes just gym shorts. Sometimes a suit.

 

[foolforthecity]

Various forms of filthy bottom-dwelling attire over the past 4-5years

edit: time to slip into some more low-budget attire for tonight’s game

 

[Spidey2112]

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And ALWAYS:
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Bunk, I'm seeing something totally different than shoes in the last pic.