# Wearing a shirt for the band/artist you're about to see: yea or nay? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 21, 2019, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-a-shirt-for-the-band-artist-youre-about-to-see-yea-or-nay/838981 "2019-08-21T03:23:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-a-shirt-for-the-band-artist-youre-about-to-see-yea-or-nay/838981/1 "2019-08-21T03:23:08Z")
Went to see Iron Maiden last weekend. I wore a Slayer shirt, Mr. Rilch wore his Metallica shirt, and Friend wore…a polo shirt. Meanwhile, the arena was rife with Iron Maiden shirts, way more then we saw of shirts for the headliners at other recent shows. I mean, you always see some, but it was especially prevalent at this show. I first started noticing it when we stopped to eat beforehand (at a place close to the venue). “But you never wear a shirt for the act you’re going to see!” I said. “You wear a shirt for another act in the same genre.” The waiter agreed with me, but Mr. Rilch and Friend did not. That said, the guy in line ahead of us with a shirt from the Seventh Son of a Seventh Son tour gets a mulligan; if he bought it then and can still fit into it, good for him. Still, I’unno. What say you? ---
**Author:** ![Esprise\_Me](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprise_me/32/2947_2.png) [@Esprise\_Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprise_Me)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-a-shirt-for-the-band-artist-youre-about-to-see-yea-or-nay/838981/2 "2019-08-21T03:34:37Z")
I think it’s kinda weird to wear a shirt for a different band than the one you’re going to see. I get that it’s a thing; it’s just always seemed strange. Like wearing a basketball jersey to a baseball game; did you get your plans confused when you got dressed? ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-a-shirt-for-the-band-artist-youre-about-to-see-yea-or-nay/838981/3 "2019-08-21T03:35:35Z")
I think it’s lame… kind of trying too hard. In a “Oh, Bruce, I’m a huuuuge fan!” way. But what’s even lamer is trying to make rules for other people to follow. Now, rules for yourself, I’m fine with. F’rinstance, I don’t wear my Wisconsin Weiner shirt (has a bratwurst on it) until I’m far from the Dairy State and want to show my loyalty. I don’t wear my Happydale High (nickname for my college) shirt when I’m at a party at the school. But wouldn’t you be cooler if nothing anyone else was doing was bothering you? Hmmmm? ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-a-shirt-for-the-band-artist-youre-about-to-see-yea-or-nay/838981/4 "2019-08-21T03:44:03Z")
It’s like buttoning the bottom button on your vest - there’s no actual reason not to do it, except it makes you look like a rube to everyone who knows it’s just not done. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-a-shirt-for-the-band-artist-youre-about-to-see-yea-or-nay/838981/5 "2019-08-21T03:51:34Z")
Meh. I’m all for wearing an archived shirt to show the recent converts what’s what. But a current or semi-current shirt? Iffy. To use Springsteen as an example, if he hit LA tomorrow I’d wear my “Born In the USA” tour shirt if I wanted to look _arriviste_. For cool points I’d have to wear my “No Nukes” shirt. Or a Disciples of Soul shirt. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-a-shirt-for-the-band-artist-youre-about-to-see-yea-or-nay/838981/6 "2019-08-21T03:58:48Z")
I had a white t-shirt with the Stones tongue throughout my whole nineties of concert going, and it served me well from Guns’n’Roses over Townes Van Zandt to Rage Against The Machine. Always found it uncool to wear a shirt of the performing act, and I always like to check out the different shirts of audience members, sometimes listing concert tours which I attended. It makes for a more diverse audience (I’m not a fan of uniformity). ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-a-shirt-for-the-band-artist-youre-about-to-see-yea-or-nay/838981/7 "2019-08-21T04:03:09Z")
If you’re wearing a T-shirt advertising the current tour, that seems kind of lame. As in “Here is where I am right now – in case I get lost, I can just check my T-shirt!” A T-shirt advertising an old tour wouldn’t bother me, though. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-a-shirt-for-the-band-artist-youre-about-to-see-yea-or-nay/838981/8 "2019-08-21T04:18:42Z")
[If the people on stage have no problem wearing their own shirts](https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/musicians-wearing-their-own-merchandise.837151/), why should the audience behave differently? ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-a-shirt-for-the-band-artist-youre-about-to-see-yea-or-nay/838981/9 "2019-08-21T04:22:18Z")
Hell, yeah. Why not? I’ll wear a shirt for the act I’m seeing and I’ll ignore any sideways looks from the people around me. Who says it’s a rule? I never heard of it. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-a-shirt-for-the-band-artist-youre-about-to-see-yea-or-nay/838981/10 "2019-08-21T04:27:02Z")
Absolutely I would wear a shirt for the band playing! It seems completely crazy to me that anyone would think otherwise. I saw Queen + Adam Lambert two weeks ago and practically everyone at MSG had on some type of Queen related shirt. It was awesome! ---
**Author:** ![Personal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Personal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personal)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-a-shirt-for-the-band-artist-youre-about-to-see-yea-or-nay/838981/11 "2019-08-21T05:25:42Z")
Doesn’t matter to me what the attendees wear, but it sticks in my craw when a performer wears one of their own tees. No rational reason. Just does. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-a-shirt-for-the-band-artist-youre-about-to-see-yea-or-nay/838981/12 "2019-08-21T05:34:04Z")
I wouldn’t do it, because I know of the stigma, but I honestly don’t see the problem with it. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-a-shirt-for-the-band-artist-youre-about-to-see-yea-or-nay/838981/13 "2019-08-21T06:12:13Z")
> [@installLSC](#): > > [If the people on stage have no problem wearing their own shirts](https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/musicians-wearing-their-own-merchandise.837151/), why should the audience behave differently? Of course they have no problem wearing them. They’re the ones selling them. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-a-shirt-for-the-band-artist-youre-about-to-see-yea-or-nay/838981/14 "2019-08-21T06:22:43Z")
I’ve never worn concert tees. Not even as a teen. But if I were to wear one, I can’t think of a better possible time than at the freak’n concert. Count me in as another one who has never heard of this rule. And I worked as a ticket scalper for a decade. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-a-shirt-for-the-band-artist-youre-about-to-see-yea-or-nay/838981/15 "2019-08-21T07:55:06Z")
It’s kinda like when you’re traveling. Never wear a shirt advertising the location you’re in. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-a-shirt-for-the-band-artist-youre-about-to-see-yea-or-nay/838981/16 "2019-08-21T08:37:46Z")
I think sports fans missed the memo. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-a-shirt-for-the-band-artist-youre-about-to-see-yea-or-nay/838981/17 "2019-08-21T08:47:46Z")
When I went to see Iggy Pop when I was young, I was in a plain shirt, but I wore a Patti Smith Easter button over my heart. Just because. Another time I went to a Talking Heads concert, and saw somebody in the audience showed up in full Devo yellow hazmat suit & goggles. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-a-shirt-for-the-band-artist-youre-about-to-see-yea-or-nay/838981/18 "2019-08-21T09:07:19Z")
If you just bought it at the merch table, go ahead and wear it. Otherwise not. Slightly related, my sister wore a Pope John Paul II shirt to a Metallica show last century. She was was the undisputed winner of that show from the responses she got. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-a-shirt-for-the-band-artist-youre-about-to-see-yea-or-nay/838981/19 "2019-08-21T11:36:24Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > I’ve never worn concert tees. Not even as a teen. > > But if I were to wear one, I can’t think of a better possible time than at the freak’n concert. Since I view concert shirts as a way to say “I was at this concert, ain’t I cool?”, I’d say a better place is anywhere but the concert where no one is going to be impressed or surprised that you’re at the concert. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-a-shirt-for-the-band-artist-youre-about-to-see-yea-or-nay/838981/20 "2019-08-21T12:04:49Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > “But you never wear a shirt for the act you’re going to see!” I said. “You wear a shirt for another act in the same genre.” That’s always been my POV. Likewise, I never wear a bar’s t to that bar. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-a-shirt-for-the-band-artist-youre-about-to-see-yea-or-nay/838981.md?page=2)