As an outspoken and, at times, abrasively critical fan of popular music (“music snob” being a title I accept only begrudgingly), observing the music oriented t-shirts of others occupies a good portion of my thoughts while I drift about my daily activities. Until recently, these musings rarely went further than simply judging the taste of those around me: “Hey, that guy likes The Who—nice.” Or “Uh oh, another Phish fan.” My judgments were quick, simple and, above all, pointless to anyone other than myself.
This mindset changed one evening when I sported a crisp, black Rolling Stones T-shirt featuring only the group’s iconic “lick” mascot. At the time I was going through a bit of a Rolling Stones phase, discovering that the classic rock radio favorites had more to offer than the singles played during football games and car commercials, so I took pride in the gaudy cartoon tongue I brandished on my chest that evening. Later, a young girl I had never seen before approached and enthusiastically commented, “I love that band, they’re one of my favorites!” I smiled and responded simply with something to the effect of: “Yeah, I’ve really been into the Stones lately.” With that, the girl seemed befuddled and her mouth contorted: “The Stones? You mean that’s not a Kiss shirt?” Kiss? I hate Kiss! Was this girl insane? Or worse yet, did people see me and think that I liked fake-blood-soaked, face-paint-clad arena rockers?
With this event my ideas about wearing band t-shirts changed. Others who wore them became immediate suspects for rock-and-roll poserdom. Could there be people out there who wear a Rolling Stones t-shirt thinking that it’s a Kiss shirt? Or someone wearing a Beatles shirt who doesn’t know that the band is English? Why would someone want to wear a band shirt in the first place? Of course, I’m not brash enough to say that if someone can’t name every member of Metallica then they shouldn’t be allowed to wear the band’s shirt, but basic recognition of the group’s work seems requisite. With my new outlook on band shirts I noticed that two major camps exist: the indie-rock/music nerds (which includes music ranging from metal to more obscure older music), and the classic rock crowd. Also, with each set of fans come different speculations behind wearing the shirt in the first place.
The indie-rock t-shirt appears often in college towns, and I imagine that those wearing them likely think of their choice of shirt as advertising for the band. From what I’ve noticed, those falling in the indie-rock crowd are overjoyed in enlightening others to their special world of under-the-radar music, bombarding their peers with burned copies of their favorite band’s album when they express even the slightest interest. But the concept that others will run home and check out your favorite band just because you wore the group’s shirt that day seems unlikely. In fact, a more likely reaction in seeing a t-shirt that features a large pair of garden shears with words like “Armor for Sleep” or “Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!” written above them would be to wonder what the hell a slogan like that even means.
My second theory for the indie-rock/music nerd sect of band t-shirt wearers seems more likely. The idea falls more in line with my initial pre-Kiss incident attitudes in that the shirts act as a form of self-advertisement. People wear these shirts hoping for a knowing nod, a wink, or some form of re-assurance that they do in fact have good taste in music. Of course, this rarely happens. In fact, in my experience with wearing obscure band t-shirts I can think of one instance when someone called me out for my choice of t-shirt, and that person simply walked up to me, shook my hand and said “Fantastic t-shirt.” He then walked off never to be seen again. The term “music nerd” does not come unwarranted when considering these categories.
The second major type of music t-shirts fall under the earlier discussed classic rock t-shirt wearers. My own crass nature insists that the people who sport these shirts only buy them to impress others and support an illusion of good taste. I feel that it’s likely that their “great” yet safe choices in music ultimately mean nothing to them. This attitude no doubt stems from that one clueless girl and I now mistrust anyone wearing anything that remotely resembles a Led Zeppelin t-shirt; but even I have difficulty choking down such a cynical generalization. The motive behind a person promoting a band that everyone already knows rules out the idea of wearing the shirt to garner more listeners simply because of the group’s cultural saturation. It’s safe to say that Bob Marley doesn’t need your help in getting his name out there; the same goes for modern bands as well, as I doubt the Red Hot Chili Peppers still need a street team. I suppose the motive behind wearing these shirts stems from a similar vein as the music nerds in that people are simply trying to passively express who they are by showing others what they enjoy in t-shirt form. After all, that’s why I wore my Rolling Stones shirt that one fateful evening—well, that and it was clean.
Ultimately I believe the reason behind someone wearing a band shirt isn’t so much to look cool or even to promote the band, but rather out of an attempt to share what one likes with others and maybe make a friend or two in the process. Or maybe you just really like Kiss and don’t know what you’re talking about.
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