Jump to content

Shorts on Stage


JailTime

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 62
  • Created
  • Last Reply
  • Moderators

This isn't Project Runway...it's playing in a band.

 

 

I've said it before

 

Rock/pop music is, at it's core, a big fashion show. Always has been.

 

Some succeed because of that, some succeed in spite of it, and some succeed in conjunction with that... but it's true.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

I've said it before


Rock/pop music
is
, at it's core, a big fashion show. Always has been.


Some succeed
because
of that, some succeed
in spite of
it, and some succeed
in conjunction with
that... but it's true.

 

 

+1

 

Even when the grungies were "going against fashion" they were setting a fashion trend.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Wow, when you get old enough your world gets turned up-side down every time you turn around. I mean, back in the day the Rockers divested themselves of the stereo-typical performer's look and donned the torn jeans and flannel/tee (wear what you want, clothes don't make the man) precisely to REJECT convention and molds. Come full circle to today and the "Rocker look" has become a mandatory uniform that Rockers must wear to "look the part", exactly the concept that the original rockers were giving the big bird to. F that. A true rocker wears what he wants and screw you if you don't like it. If you think you have to wear a particular "uniform" to be a rocker....well, you're missing the point. IMO

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

Sounds like you are both saying there is no solution here...at all.

 

 

I'm asserting that there isn't a *problem*, slight difference.

 

Rock'n'Roll is 30% music (sometimes less) and 70% theater. The sooner people embrace that, the sooner they're embraced by fans, IMO.

 

Not sayin' you can't make good music, but these aren't orchestral fans, they're *rock* fans. The visual aspect is easily the most important part once you have a basic level of musicianship (and even then not so much).

 

As was said about Nikki Sixx, a man who had more than his share of rock success, "[Nikki] really couldn't play bass very well, but that never stopped Gene Simmons, either". What Motley had, though (and by all accounts Nikki was mostly responsible for) were catchy songs and a *very* recognizable (and marketable) image.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators
It's not embracing an image. It's embracing an attitude. Not the same thing.



My point is that the INTENT behind whatever look you have doesn't matter one bit- the audience reads it the same. There is, of course, no one look that's going to be the best one- it depends on your genre, physical appearance, locale, and a bunch of other factors.

My other point is that it's a mistake to just say it doesn't matter and not take an appraisal of what your band looks like and if it appropriate and/or could be improved on.

In EVERY form of face-to-face human interaction, your appearance sends signals and gets reactions, at both the conscious and unconscious level. And that's amplified by any situation involving being an entertainer. Whether you like it or not, your clothes are speaking for you.

It's your choice whether you want to listen to what they have to say or stick your fingers in your ears and go "nananana".
:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
My point is that the INTENT behind
whatever
look you have doesn't matter one bit- the audience reads it the same. There is, of course, no one look that's going to be the best one- it depends on your genre, physical appearance, locale, and a bunch of other factors.


My other point is that it's a mistake to just say it doesn't matter and not take an appraisal of what your band looks like and if it appropriate and/or could be improved on.


In EVERY form of face-to-face human interaction, your appearance sends signals and gets reactions, at both the conscious and unconscious level. And that's amplified by any situation involving being an entertainer. Whether you like it or not, your clothes are speaking for you.


It's your choice whether you want to listen to what they have to say or stick your fingers in your ears and go "nananana".

:)



I really don't disagree with much of what you are saying. It's mostly true in reality. It also represents a sort of selling out of the "counter culture" ideals out of which the original rockers were born (or vice versa).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I think what really bothers me is that everyone should be able to take a common sense approach to dressing themselves for various occasions. I know everyone needs to learn these things at some point, but if you're not in the loop enough to know what other bands are wearing on stage that fit into your genre, it's time to start doing your homework.

What I was saying before is not that rock has nothing to do with fashion...I know it does, because image is, like others have said, a huge factor in how far a band gets, sometimes above the music itself. The point I was trying to make was that if you're caught up in your image over your music, then your show is going to be lacking, and your image will no longer matter.

First and foremost, bands are performers. Image can make or break a band. I understand that, as do most of the rest of us. The problem that I have is that people get too wrapped up in what they look like instead of looking at the bigger picture.

As long as you're entertaining your audience (in a good way), just be natural...as a group.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


×
×
  • Create New...