Wearing the Artist’s T-Shirt To Their Show Is A Concert Taboo?

You've probably already answered the headline above based on how you feel about wearing an artist's T-shirt when you're heading to their concert. Somewhere along the line, a long time ago, that became a concert faux pas. Although, who cares?

I certainly couldn't find the origin of this long-standing unwritten concert rule. Nor have I consciously followed it. I bought concert T-shirts for the first few shows I went to. Then I stopped. I either grew out of the T-shirt too fast, or it wasn't a great fit, or they weren't comfortable. As I grew up they also became more expensive, and frankly, more often than not I wasn't a fan of the design.

So in many cases, I couldn't commit that concert taboo because I didn't own the shirts to start with, and I wasn't getting a lot of shirts either. At this point my life though, I'm not growing and if I see a shirt from an artist I love I'll get it.

I did ask my friend Bill, who is way more plugged into fashion and looking good than I am before we went to a Samantha Fish show last summer and his advice was, I'm paraphrasing, wear whatever you want including a Samantha Fish T-shirt. So I did. I did it again the next time I went to see her, and my girlfriend borrowed one of my other Samantha Fish T-shirts for the show too.

You now know obviously which side of the argument I fall on. Yet, I was still curious why some folks consider it bad form to do that. The idea is, that you're at the show so you obviously like the artist, and everyone else does too. If you're sporting a different artist's T-shirt or a T-shirt related to something else you like or enjoy, it's a potential bonding moment or conversation starter with fellow fans you haven't met.

That's not a bad reason to wear something different, especially if you're heading to a show by yourself or looking to spark up a conversation or friendship with someone at a show.

After that reason, though, most of the rest of the reasons are just stupid and revolve around everything from being perceived as "trying too hard to be cool" to following some unwritten code that makes you cooler if you follow it. You know, juvenile schoolyard B.S. if you ask me.

Get our free mobile app

So why am I contemplating this now? Well, I'm heading to Chicago to see The Rolling Stones this summer, and bluntly I'm getting the iconic black Stones tongue logo T-shirt to wear to the show, and one for my girlfriend too. I also saw a post about the topic on a Gen-X Facebook page about the topic.

I squarely agree with my buddy Bill on this one. Wear whatever you want to a show. If it's that artist's T-shirt, cool. If it's a related artist's T-shirt or an artist many other folks at the show will appreciate, cool. If you're more comfortable dressing up a bit and wearing a polo shirt, fine by me.

Besides, if you're so cool you'll judge me for wearing a Samantha Fish T-Shirt to a Samantha Fish show, or the Stones tongue logo T-shirt to their show, then I'm not sure I want to know you, because what's that say about you?

Bottom line, I'm wearing whatever I want to shows and don't care what anyone thinks. You should too!