Performing in a sport coat

[jefflester]

Shorts and bare feet for me, but then I'm a drummer.

[journeybear]

All-time favorite stage costumery? Hot Rize / Red Knuckles And The Trailblazers.

Oh, and I used to wear shorts on stage. I'll say that again: I USED to. A lot of folks do around here, where summer has by now stretched to 8-9 months. Then I looked at some photos. Stopped immediately. Jeans or pants ever since. And yes to Hawaiian shirts. Lawdy, I have a collection. Even in the jug band in New England. No one else did, but fearless leader liked the look for me. Oh, and generally speaking, I just about always wear a hat. I think it helps me look cool, even if it's a semi-goofy straw hat of some sort. But if I'm wearing something other than a Hawaiian shirt, such as a plaid button-down or T-shirt, I tend to wear a Mandolin Café ball cap. What else?

[Walter Peterson]

http://www.malcolmholcombe.com/ http://www.harksheide.de videos: Hans Jürgen Hiller, ...
This guy does not dress up.

[Dagger Gordon]

I'm in the Scottish Highlands, so it's pretty simple - if we need to 'dress up' we wear the kilt.

Having said that, it ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it.

We do a lot of gigs in a private venue for extremely wealthy, often American guests, and the manager once said something like 'If you look like you always wear the kilt - even look like you probably sleep in it - all the better'. They like a certain sense of somehow getting the real deal, which kind of goes beyond getting dressed up. So you want your clothing to look really lived in, and indeed yourself!

Within that, one member of our band, who is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his bagpipe playing, always puts on a hat when he puts down his guitar and gets the pipes out. He sees it as part of his performance.

[JiminRussia]

I’ve never seen Tony Rice perform in anything other than a suit. I’ve never seen Sam Bush in a suit. I’ve often seen them perform together.

[musicofanatic]

Shorts and bare feet for me, but then I'm a drummer.

I used drum in a blues band, using my old Radio King kit with a 28" bass drum...though I never went through with my threat, I always claimed I could wear no trousers at all, seated behind that bass drum.

[Bren]

The band I sub for sometimes has a "uniform" of sorts, for weddings etc - white shirt, black trousers, black waistcoat.

the idea is the band might appear in the background of wedding photos and you have to look "professional",which possibly means a different thing to the local clients than it would to wealthy tourists.

My adult kids have ribbed me mercilessly about this photo, which just goes to show that one man's "professional" is another one's "dorky dad":

[tiltman]

one man's "professional" is another one's "dorky dad":

That's hilarious. (I live with a 15 year old daughter...)

In the Summer, I'm lucky if I can get our guitar player to remember to put on pants to play a wedding (he's a teacher, shorts all Summer).
On the other hand, our bass player frequently sports a vintage dark brown leisure suit - for no apparent reason.
We keep it casual.

Kirk

[elmicko]

Malcolm is a universe of his own. He doesn't dress for the stage but also drools all over his guitar and half the stage. But when he says "don't play that zippity do dah bull****", you gotta listen to him. The man is a legend.

[Denny B]

I've never really cared what anyone wore while they were performing. I've seen some slick looking people that couldn't play their way out of a paper bag, and some that looked just this side of homeless who could knock your socks off.

I listen with my ears, not my eyes.

[jesserules]

Seeing a show is part of experiencing a show.

If I want to listen with my ears & nothing else I stay at home and fire up the player, get the headphones on just right, and close my eyes.

Saves money too !

[Bill McCall]

I've never really cared what anyone wore while they were performing………..

You should have seen The Temptations. They had a real fancy show, different color tuxedos for each set. Dancing and singing weren’t bad either.

No Mando though.

[David L]

Almost all of the groups I've played in wore stage clothes: lots of orchestra gigs in tuxedoes (while moving lots of percussion equipment), reception gigs in suits, city band gigs in white shirt and black pants (black shorts in the summer), country band and "Opry" gigs in matching western shirts, and decades of dance gigs in Hawaiian shirts (name of the band was "Dave and the Wave"). If I get called for a one-off, I always ask the leader what to wear.

If I'm playing drum set, I always play barefoot, or socks if it is formal (or cold). The shoes stay on until I'm seated, I'm not going barefoot in a bar!

[lowtone2]

T shirt, jeans, chucks.

[gspiess]

Flea don't wear no sport coat..

[Hendrik Ahrend]

To paraphrase one of Bill Monroe's tips: "If you're on a stage, look as if you belong there." I like that.

[Charlie Bernstein]

I watched Sam Bush one time doing sound check a couple of hours before the show. He was wearing khaki shorts and a polo shirt. I had to look twice to see it was Sam. When he came on stage he had his blue jeans and tie dyed tee shirt.

I saw Rickie Lee Jones do a sound check once. She asked a fan not to photograph her because she didn't have her beret on.

[Charlie Bernstein]

I've never really cared what anyone wore while they were performing. I've seen some slick looking people that couldn't play their way out of a paper bag, and some that looked just this side of homeless who could knock your socks off.

I listen with my ears, not my eyes.

Well, sure! But that's not the point, is it? The look complements the sound. It makes me feel good, and it makes the audience feel good.

It's just like food presentation. Good food on a hubcap on a packing crate can taste just fine, but the same food with china, tablecloth, and candles, will usually make your date much happier.

[Charlie Bernstein]

T shirt, jeans, chucks.

I'd still jam with you.

[Charlie Bernstein]

http://www.malcolmholcombe.com/ http://www.harksheide.de videos: Hans Jürgen Hiller, ...
This guy does not dress up.

The costume probably befits the audience.

[Charlie Bernstein]

All-time favorite stage costumery? Hot Rize / Red Knuckles And The Trailblazers.

Oh, and I used to wear shorts on stage. I'll say that again: I USED to. A lot of folks do around here, where summer has by now stretched to 8-9 months. Then I looked at some photos. Stopped immediately. Jeans or pants ever since. And yes to Hawaiian shirts. Lawdy, I have a collection. Even in the jug band in New England. No one else did, but fearless leader liked the look for me. Oh, and generally speaking, I just about always wear a hat. I think it helps me look cool, even if it's a semi-goofy straw hat of some sort. But if I'm wearing something other than a Hawaiian shirt, such as a plaid button-down or T-shirt, I tend to wear a Mandolin Café ball cap. What else?

Just washed all my Hawaiians and Hawaiian wannabes. Took four loads.

And yeah, I don't want see other guys' knees, and I know no one wants to see mine.

[gfury]

Caught in the act ...

Bass player wore a suit and tie ....

[Larry Simonson]

I recall the late professional golfer Payne Stewart saying something like " if you dress like me you better have the game to go with it".

[Dagger Gordon]

I once went to a Grateful Dead concert in Maine in 1983.

Part of the fun was not so much what the band were wearing, as the audience, who had all sorts of outfits. Makes it more of an event, I guess.

https://occasionaloutfits.com/what-t...-dead-concert/

[Dagger Gordon]

And yeah, I don't want see other guys' knees, and I know no one wants to see mine.

You don't want to go to Scotland, Charlie! Plenty knees showing 'neath the kilt.