When rock t-shirts are no longer cool
Once-upon-a-time I remember when it was cool to show your allegiance to your favourite band by wearing an appropriately branded t-shirt whenever you saw them perform live. For example, when attending a Crowded House concert you wore the Crowded House tour t-shirt you bought the last time you saw them. Ditto for U2, Midnight Oil, Hunters and Collectors -- you get the picture. But most people grow out of this, right?
Wrong -- especially if the crowd attending The Godfathers gig at Kentish Town's The Forum on Thursday night was anything to go by. Grown men in their 40s and 50s should know better. It is especially UNCOOL to arrive at the gig all rugged up in winter woollies to then peel off several layers specifically to show off the tour t-shirt you bought in 1993!! I kid you not.
Heavens. I went to see the Super Furry Animals a couple of weeks ago and it never occurred to me to wear an old tour shirt. I didn't buy a new one either... but then I was definitely in the ah, more mature, portion of the audience, so I think that's all right.
Posted by: Colin | Sunday, February 17, 2008 at 01:59 AM
umm ... I know this is my age showing ... but WHY is it uncool? I would have thought that it was pretty good to go to a rock concert in 1993 and to still be going to rock concerts in 2008. I would have thought it was pretty good that the t-shirt still fitted him. What makes it uncool ...
Posted by: Julie | Monday, February 18, 2008 at 10:59 AM
Julie, I guess I just can't reconcile in my head grown men behaving like teenagers or young 20-somethings... it's like they're hanging onto the last vestige of youth when they should really know better. Harsh, I know, but in my eyes that's decidedly uncool.
Posted by: kimbofo | Monday, February 18, 2008 at 09:16 PM
In the early 90s, wasn't it still normal to buy a T-shirt that was the biggest available? One that practically came down to your knees was best. So if the same T-shirt is now the final layer, the other layers having been peeled off, and is now rather figure-hugging, then it must be a sign that someone's been at the pies! ;-)
Posted by: Mr D | Monday, February 18, 2008 at 10:29 PM
Mr D, so true (and very funny!!), although in many cases the t-shirts only came in one size and that was HUGE. I remember on many occasions trying to "shrink" t-shirts by washing them in ultra-hot water and then sticking them in the clothes dryer on hot setting for hours on end. Who cared about carbon footprints in those days? ;)
Posted by: kimbofo | Monday, February 18, 2008 at 11:03 PM