Maybe old hat question, what do you wear when playing a gig?

[bigchiefbc]

I just wear whatever, honestly. Most of the time it ends up being jeans and a motorhead or floyd shirt.

Although I will say that playing in a costume for our Halloween gig this year was pretty fun. I may have to try that again sometime on a non-Halloween gig and see how the crowd reacts.

As for the laptop-guys, yeah that really annoys me, I've gone to a decent amount of shows like that. We use a laptop on-stage for Seismic Feedback, but it's just to have cubase act as a midi controller for our drum-beats and program changes on our synths. Almost all of the synth parts are actually played live on keyboards. That's why I never wanted to get into soft-synths, I like the fact that we can play the parts live on an actual hardware synth and not look like tools hiding behind a computer screen.

[Deltaphoenix]

Like BCBC, the only time I have dressed up is on Halloween gigs. Althpoough I may be in a Misfits cover band next year and that would require getting a Misfits Skull Face painted on my face for gigs. The band gigs like 6 times a year though so no big deal and will be fun.

I have played a few laptop gigs but I had a controller (Maschine) and kept the laptop off to the side. I ultimately got bored of that quickly and have switched to all hardware for my electronic beat/noise/bloops.

[Uncle Grandfather]

I may have to try that again sometime on a non-Halloween gig and see how the crowd reacts.

I've always toyed around with the idea of doing something similar to what Phish does on Halloween shows. Only nstead of playing an album from another band from start to finish as faithful to the recording as possible...I'd pick an album from another band and play all of the songs in the style of a completely different genre. not that original, but seems like it might be kinda fun.

[Bassus Sanguinis]

Depending on the band.

My old black metal band had very strick dress codes: no jeans, no t-shirts (unless for showing support for a worthy band/ cause), nobody goes on stage without makeup, no sneakers, etc ec. Usually boots, leather pants, and perhaps a shirt. Once we put on suits for the first set and played the second set in leather, coverd in blood. (If You need laundry tips, just ask me)

And in a distant past I played in this cover band, making money by being a human jukebox fo rock pop classic hits. And I was told to wear more color - so I put on my old black Nuclear Assault t-shirts and said the print was the most colorful I could find

Nowadays it depends on the gig nature: we can go on stage to deliver doom in torn jeans and decades old band shirts or whatever, and sometimess we dress up casual smart for a poetry matinée. And once a bass player of the group turned up for a show at local underground metal club dressed as Hunter fucking Thompson from Fear and Loathing in LA, complete with the fucking safari hat and all. That was a huge WTF moment

[retinal orbita]

I wear exactly what I wear during the day. Jeans, tshirt, sneakers... I've been trying to class myself up since I hit my thirties and recently I realized I don't care and my wife doesn't care and I'm quite happy dressing casual for everything.....

Now I'm thinking about wearing an old hat, just to really immerse myself in this thread.....

[osbornkt]

And once a bass player of the group turned up for a show at local underground metal club dressed as Hunter fucking Thompson from Fear and Loathing in LA, complete with the fucking safari hat and all. That was a huge WTF moment

Yes! That's awesome.

I usually play in whatever is convenient. Nothing too baggy, or else musical saw ends up catching on it or something...Shoes that are easy to turn knobs with...Only played without a hat once, though, and that show was awful. Got to keep the head covered now.

[jrmy]

I used to play in a cover band in which we each dressed as a persona - I was "the hard rock / metal guy," which was pretty easy: torn black jeans, tall Doc Marten boots, big leather wrist cuffs, Motörhead t, denim vest vovered with Maiden & AC/DC patches, fingerless black studded gloves. It was pretty silly, but definitely worked with the theme of the band. It was almost easier to go up and rock out on 80's tunes when in a getup like that.

For my regular band, we typically go with slightly nicer selections from our regular wardrobe (still jeans & tees). I need to get a good pair of gig sneakers.

[hbombgraphics]

the only thing I really put much thought into ever about my clothes is my sneakers
its pretty much the same jeans about every day and whatever t-shirt I grab
I used to like wearing black t-shirts for shows, none too specific, just black seemed to soak up sweat better, that wasn't much of a rule either, just a guideline
and I always wore a dirty hat

never played in a band with a dress code, and probably never would

as an example these two pictures are separated by about 10 years

[foomanfat]

Also in the "whatever I'm wearing that day" camp.

[ryan summit]

leather pants, and PERHAPS a shirt.

rock n roll dont exist like you no more bassus
"perhaps ill wear a shirt
perhaps not
all i know is its gonna be loud
and someones gettin split in half when im done"

[Gone Fission]

Also in the "whatever I'm wearing that day" camp.

Exactly.

[Greenfuz]

I wear my normal clothes


but I wear my better/favourite clothes

and I actually shower/put junk in my hair

most of the time

[D.o.S.]

Start with clothes.

[Greenfuz]

end show without?

[D.o.S.]

Malleable.