Inappropriate stage attire

Man Of Constant Sorrow · Veteran Member Joined: 25 Jun 2023 Posts: 473

Warmer weather / Summer approaching ... which means outdoor gigs, and hot (ambient temps) club venues, and-so-forth.

I KNOW there are many different aspects, opinions and attitudes regarding acceptable and appropriate attire to wear while performing.

In MY view, there are some awful and cringe-worthy outfits I know I will be seeing guys (and gals) wearing.

Such as: (Number ONE !) - cheesy cargo shorts, sandals (or Crocs, dorky white sneakers), Hawaiian shirts, baseball caps (or worse: cheesy Pork Pie hats).

How about sloppy, overweight, corpulent, rotund (read: FAT) guys wearing outfits like "The Dude", in the film, "The Big Lebowski"? Ugh.

Pretty bad to see "stage attire" that looks like almost everyone in the audience.
Non-musician people hear with their eyes, too. If you make an effort to look interesting, you will sound better to them.
The band should dress at least one level higher than those in the audience.

Look like a professional human-being ... as opposed to someone who was ejected from a crack house for dress code violations.

It is SHOW BUSINESS ... right?

Oh; one more thing: sunglasses ("shades").
I believe every saxophone player keeps at least two pairs in the case with the horn,
Please explain to me how sunglasses automatically make you "cool".
Soooo ... I can cop a pair of sunglasses from the Dollar Store, and magically, I
become a "COOL Dude" ?? Right.
Gimme a break !

Please share YOUR thoughts / attitudes.

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kehaulani · Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2024 11:04 am Post subject:

It's a bitch when the rest of the world doesn't act like one wants it to, isn't it?
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Man Of Constant Sorrow · Veteran Member Joined: 25 Jun 2023 Posts: 473

If that is intended as a "snarky" comment, it does not surprise me, coming from you.
Is that the best you can do?
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Sub-Optimal Hillbilly Jazz

homebilly · Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2024 1:04 pm Post subject:

our society has sadly been engaged in the race to the bottom culturally
for a very long time. even sadder still the rest of the world is following suit

i agree with you 100%
we should try and show some respect to our profession

for this Wynton has been a stellar example
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kehaulani · Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2024 5:23 pm Post subject:

huntman10 · Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2024 5:56 pm Post subject:

Just curious, but has anyone else ever played a summer band concert in a crowded bandstand when the thermometer displayed 114 degrees at the McDonalds up the street.

Actually, the worst was the 40 mph sandstorm that hit in the middle of one piece, and sent us scrambling and trying to protect our horns from flying stands.

I have played several of each of those, every summer for the last 16 years. 10 Sunday evening and Independence Day concerts each summer. We do have a "uniform", but it involves polo shirts and wait for it, kakhi shorts, often we th cargo pockets, and "tennis shoes". And an approved cap. Just sayin'!
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LittleRusty · Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2024 6:42 pm Post subject:

Man Of Constant Sorrow · Veteran Member Joined: 25 Jun 2023 Posts: 473

huntman10 · Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2024 9:54 pm Post subject:

homebilly · Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2024 12:25 pm Post subject:

Man Of Constant Sorrow · Veteran Member Joined: 25 Jun 2023 Posts: 473

Music is art.

Any effort bands, band members put into enhancing their professional appearance will be appreciated by the audience.

The vast majority of men have ZERO sense of style. Nothing new about that.
There are so many ways to look like you put "some effort" into your appearance, for all so many styles/genres of music being performed.

Find a stylish woman in your life ... spouse, parent, in-law, cousin, girlfriend, aunt, daughter ... whomever. Ask that person(s) to be honest ... brutally honest with you. Admit you need help.
Or ... keep embarrassing yourself in public, and post some vague, lame excuse here on threads like this.
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richmanwisco · Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2024 6:17 pm Post subject:

A musical performance can take many shapes and forms. Appearance is just one component of the performance. If you are attending a performance with a preconceived notion of how the performers should look and disagree with it, that's your prerogative. Perhaps you weren't the intended audience.

One thing I will never, ever do is pass judgement on any performer. It's art. You either like it or not. That's the amazing thing about our wonderful country is that we have the freedom to express ourselves however way we want.
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nieuwguyski · Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2024 11:51 pm Post subject:

I suppose we could all limit ourselves to the gigs that allow us to wear "acceptable" duds, or migrate around the country as "gigbirds," chasing the perfect temperature range.

Back in 2019 I subbed with two bands at the Gilroy (California) Garlic Festival. Gilroy is south of San Jose and the festival happened in July. The day of the festival it hit 105 degrees in Gilroy.

The first band was a reggae band with which I played trombone, wearing cargo shorts and a Hawaiian shirt. The second band was a latin rock group with which I played trumpet and trombone. The leader of that band insisted on a uniform of long-sleeve dress shirts, black dress slacks, black socks and dress black shoes. Any deviation from the dress code would result in a dock in pay.

Two members of that band had to leave the stage for medical attention during the gig, due to heat-related distress.

I made pretty good money playing with both groups, but I would only play again with the group with a "realistic" dress code.
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LittleRusty · Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2024 1:11 am Post subject:

Seymor B Fudd · Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2024 2:13 am Post subject:

Seymor B Fudd · Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2024 2:26 am Post subject:

And: last gig was performed by the band wearing white shirts, bow tie and tuxedo. Black shoes
The audience: mean age 70+.

"The way we look tonight..." well - sometimes they should take that away...
I can agree on today´s declining standards when it comes to how to be dressed at public performances.

Oh yes the world is full of things that ain´t what they used to be (if they ever were).

As a friend of mine said: "it wasn´t better back in the day but it is far worse today".

However getting worked up about things is probably good for your circulatory system.
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Trumpjerele · Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2024 7:31 am Post subject:

As Oscar Winde used to say, only superficial people don't give importance to appearance.

The fashion industry is booming, nowadays appearance is more important than ever. Artists take care of their image.

Miles Davis was ahead of his time in this regard as well.

Winton Marsalis looks good in his style, Christian Scott too.

Now there is more variety, but that's not worse.
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Man Of Constant Sorrow · Veteran Member Joined: 25 Jun 2023 Posts: 473

-Careful, Trumpjerele --

Stop making sense!
There are a lot of fat slobs whose feelings may get hurt.

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Sub-Optimal Hillbilly Jazz

rhatheway · Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2024 6:01 am Post subject:

Living in Texas where it is almost always warm (it begins getting warm/hot in March and typically goes through at least November), I'd suggest that appropriate attire is definitely an issue for any band that performs outside.

My personal experience (and opinion) is that as long as the members all wear a consistent shirt (t-shirt, polo, whatever), that provides the cohesive "look" (or uniform, if you prefer) of the band, that's all that really matters (and musicianship, of course). Beyond that, whether they wear shorts, jeans, slacks, crocs, tennis shoes, flip flops, etc. really doesn't matter to the audience. They're there to hear the music, not critique the sartorial styling of the band.

Note: this is only for outdoor concerts. For indoor events, a consistent dress code should be applied (because after all, if you're where it does get warm, you'll usually have the AC on inside).

As for sunglasses, if it's an outdoor event, some people have eyes that are more sensitive to sunlight than others, so they wear sunglasses. It's really no big deal, and it's not people trying to look cool. We just did an outdoor concert this past weekend and about 10% of the folks wore sunglasses. So did most of the audience. If you live where it's sunny people are used to it, it's not a distraction or anything else, it's just a fact of life down here.
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