It is fun to think about the styles of dress that I and other musicians have worn over the years. I know that I have worn a wide variety of clothing on stage during the past few decades.
There has been the do-it-yourself look, that’s where everyone shows up to the gig wearing most anything that they like. It would be appropriate clothing for the stage though, but it just didn’t say to the audience to look at the band as a unit. It said to the audience to listen to us first and then have a look. Then there are the gigs where there is a more uniform look to what is worn by the band, not matching shirts or jackets necessarily, but a like color scheme to show the audience. It says to the audience that you can look and listen at the same time; it is a different kind of what I call a “show confectionery” for the audience.
Then there are the gigs where the entire band wears the exact same shirt or jacket on stage. Jackets are one thing, but when it is matching shirts that are being worn by the band members then it is often (but not always) led by a front person who wears a shirt that is very close in color to the band member’s shirts. I have been in bands where the lead singer would wear the exact opposite colors of the band member’s shirts, and when the band plays well together and is very tight, then the “show confectionery” is presented in a different way that also has a positive impact on the audience. And when I say the band is tight, I mean a really good show style band that plays medleys and different readings of popular songs; for me those bands were a blast to play in.
Some bands that I was in had a theme that ran throughout the music they created, and they would dress for the stage using the theme of the music that was to be presented. If the theme of the band’s music was love, then that would be the flavor of how the band members would dress. And on the other hand, if the theme of a band’s music was based in calling out social issues and bringing social injustice to light through the band’s music then the band members would dress for that. They would often wear things that I had never seen them wear until the date of the show, and sometimes what was worn would be stunning to me. I liked that part as well because it would bring out a set of unexpected emotions in me on stage that would make for a unique performance each show.
The rock bands that I played in later on definitely had their own theme and their own style of delivering the music. I would listen first, but I would also watch very closely at what the band members wore. Especially the lead instrument player or the lead singer. They knew the true flavor of the music that they had composed, and they knew what kind of image and message they wanted to deliver to the audience. Paying attention to all of this found me in clothing stores of all kinds, looking for things to wear on stage. The effort was always worth it; I was able to find the type of stage clothing that spoke with the theme of the band’s music and message; as well as give a singular persona of myself to the audience while performing with the band. Back in the 1980’s when I was doing this, rock music was drastically changing, and the bands that I played in reflected this. The cross-genre styling of rock bands at that time allowed me to weave my stage clothing style into the ever-changing theme and styles of the music that was being played back then.
Going back to when I had finished high school, I found myself in a great soul and r&b band that played all over Long Island and sometimes in New York City. It was mainly a cover band that played the soul, funk, and r&b hits of the early to mid-1970’s. Halfway through the 1970’s I enjoyed an awesome summer of playing music in this band. Since it was a cover band, the theme and the message of the music came through a few of the songs that it played; it was a horn section-based band with a lot of power. For us, wearing really big Afro hair styles was part of the norm back then. The bigger, the better. I even did a couple of shows wearing a pair of those wild platform shoes that men and women wore back then. Those shoes were very popular. But I found that my feet would hurt some after playing a really long gig in platform shoes, so I chose another shoe style a bit closer to the ground, and that made my feet a little happier. But that band definitely did surprise me with what they would wear to some of the shows we did, the lead male and female singers could dazzle an audience with just their voices alone. But what they would wear would also help to raise the band’s appeal to another level for each audience that we played to. And I did like my big Afro hairstyle.
But when I started my first original jazz/rock style band at the start of the 1980’s, I wanted everyone in the band to dress well for each audience that we were to perform for. To me, it shows respect for the audience, and the one thing that I did frown upon in that band in its beginnings was the wearing of tennis shoes or “sneakers” on stage. A little later, I relaxed this view with this band as long as their shoes fit in with what we were trying to do. If someone did wear tennis shoes on stage, they needed to be clean and neat. Hey, it was my band, and it was all I could ask for. And the people in that band responded to the theme and style of the music that we composed and blended it with what we wore on stage quite nicely.
Since then, the jazz bands and the blues bands that I have played in over the years have also had their own theme, style, and message to their music. Finding stage clothing for one of the contemporary jazz groups that I was in during the early 1990’s included dressing rather snappily on stage, and for me to wear a sport coat on stage for many of the shows was fun. It was a jazz band that was playing some modern styled music, it was quite original and the music did well on the national charts. Without a singer in that band on any song ever, there was still a bit of fun and a thrill for the crowd when the band leader would take a moment to remove his coat; and others in the band would also find a moment in the show to remover their own coats as well. It was fun for the audience to share those moments. Most of the time, if I wore a coat or a sport jacket on stage, I would wear it for the entire performance. If I would take it off at some point during any performance, it was always because it was too hot on stage, whether the band played indoors or outdoors.
When I would play solo bass guitar shows, my own shows have a style and a bit of a theme as well. Playing solo, or even as a duo, you know that the audience is really going to scrutinize you from head to toe and really check out how you are dressed on stage. For those, I do pay attention to every aspect of what I wear, because I know that people are naturally going to look me up and down closely as I perform. Again, this is yet another type of “show confectionery” that can be bestowed upon the audience when giving a solo performance. I have seen solo performers dress in some really startling outfits on stage, but their music and their theme match up so well with what they wear.
While the clothing styles have changed and even morphed over the years to the ever new, the musicians in bands will continue to introduce new looks on stage that amaze people and more. I think that it is fun to take a close look at what is being worn on stage by musicians and artists over the years. And I was glad to take part in what people saw and heard from the stage as an artist. And your style of dress is?…
Leave a Reply