Being Too Judgmental Of Kids And Their Cool T-Shirts
I am a long-time veteran of going to rock shows to see live bands play. I'm one of those types who don't even need to know much about the band to go see them play, because I just love rock and roll that much. I have turned my love of rock into a career by writing magazine reviews of local shows. Since I've been going to shows for a long time, I know all of the ins and outs...and what is "in" right now, are cool t-shirts.
There is one thing that has never been acceptable through the years of rock music's growth and evolution. By no means is it ever socially acceptable to wear the t-shirt of the band you are there to see. Since t-shirts are the most comfortable thing you can wear to a hot, packed rock show. Cool t-shirts were an inevitability.
The really upsetting thing is how hard these youngsters are striving to be the one wearing the coolest t-shirts in the room. The attitude doesn't even make sense to me that they would even care to participate in such a frivolous activity. Doesn't that go completely against the tenets of what rocking and rolling is all about? Be your own person and rebel, rebel, rebel?
Of course, I was just as guilty at that age of using clothes to fit in at these shows. I would sometimes go to two or three rock shows a week, and I would dress according to whatever music I was going to see. Leather at the metal shows, hemp at the jam band shows, and boots at the punk shows. If there had been somewhere demanding cool t-shirts to fit in, I would have been there too.
I grew up and matured, of course. I learned that it's the depth of your character that is important, and not the clothes you wear. I wonder if these kids will grow up to realize that the cool t-shirts they cultivated so fervently don't mean quite as much as they thought. I also wonder if they will judge the generation that comes after them as severely as I've judged them. I surely hope not.
There is one thing that has never been acceptable through the years of rock music's growth and evolution. By no means is it ever socially acceptable to wear the t-shirt of the band you are there to see. Since t-shirts are the most comfortable thing you can wear to a hot, packed rock show. Cool t-shirts were an inevitability.
The really upsetting thing is how hard these youngsters are striving to be the one wearing the coolest t-shirts in the room. The attitude doesn't even make sense to me that they would even care to participate in such a frivolous activity. Doesn't that go completely against the tenets of what rocking and rolling is all about? Be your own person and rebel, rebel, rebel?
Of course, I was just as guilty at that age of using clothes to fit in at these shows. I would sometimes go to two or three rock shows a week, and I would dress according to whatever music I was going to see. Leather at the metal shows, hemp at the jam band shows, and boots at the punk shows. If there had been somewhere demanding cool t-shirts to fit in, I would have been there too.
I grew up and matured, of course. I learned that it's the depth of your character that is important, and not the clothes you wear. I wonder if these kids will grow up to realize that the cool t-shirts they cultivated so fervently don't mean quite as much as they thought. I also wonder if they will judge the generation that comes after them as severely as I've judged them. I surely hope not.
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There is a great site about cool t-shirts, which can be found at cool t-shirts where you can see how it's done right.
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