Have you ever wondered about what to put on during your gig?

Tell me, and suggest...
Specify what instrument you play.

being a pop/punk/rock band, our little group all wore blue jeans, black dress shirts and black ties   it was fun!  (i don't do the whole gothic black makeup thing, so this "dressup" was TOO over the top)

our band consisted of:
guitarist/vocals
guitarist
keyboard/vocals   ( < - - - that's me!)
bassist
drummer

The band I was in from summer of 2003 through spring of 2004 was a Weezer-ish sort of rock group originally called Cambridge, which we renamed El Guapo until we realized there was already an El Guapo, so we became El Gusto.  We were two guitars, bass (me), and drums, until one of our guitarists switched over to piano.  Now, these guys were (almost) all great musicians, and there were some really good songs we played in that group.  But the group as a whole, and by that I mean everyone except me, lacked motivation and character onstage.  Now, granted, I am an actor in my spare time, but when I come to a concert dressed like a Mexican and they're all wearing street clothes, t-shirts with other bands' names on them and jeans and the like... I can't help but feel a bit out of place.  There was one show we played without our drummer, it was an acoustic show, I'll never forget... see, I have all these medals.  Because I do solo festivals through the New York State Music Association and whatnot... and I come to this acoustic show wearing about twenty of these medals on my shirt, and my bandmates are dressed all in black.  So I came out looking like the weirdo of the group, which was honestly (compared to them) very much the truth... I just didn't have to look quite so out of place, if one of the others did something radical with their clothing every once in a while.

Lesson here? Coordinate outfits.

Really.  My current band, Strepitus, hasn't played very many shows yet, but when we do, I'm going to see to it that it's discussed what we wear beforehand.  And maybe they're going to think I'm gay and kick me out of the group.  But that's okay, because I'm willing to test their tolerance.  Now where the sam hill was this going?

Ah, yes, clothing.  Basically, clothing just kinda gets in the way of stuff, that's what I've found, at least.  But I suggest, if not identically matching outfits, outfits that at least look like they belong together.  As a band, it would serve you well to look like one.

And there's my fifty-eight cents on the matter... I really have to stop typing.

I never really got the thing about clothes and music.. what I mean is that so many people seem to place more importance on how they look and behave than they do on their actual music. I even suspect that a particular way of dressing or "look"  might limit a musicians range of styles in some cases.
   I think that, if the music is good enough, you could prolly wear a bin bag and get away with it

or you could could get on stage sporting socks...there...was it the chillis that did that?

Indeed it was.
I think that half the live show is in the performance, half in the music. Sure you can have some really good tracks, but if you start going crazy onstage and all when you perform them, they will sound a whole lot better. A most notable example is Jimi Hendrix.
In some shows i wore a pirate get-up that went down better than when i was just wearing a t-shirt and jeans.

If you wear what you "always" wear then things will seem more real, organic and natural on stage, each member's personality will be more evident as per their own choices in clothing and the clothing won't distract people from the music.

IMHO people who need fancy outfits might be lacking something in the musical department.

I disagree with entheon.  While I do think that a concert is MOSTLY about the music and you should focus on talent first and foremost, it's also a performance.  You don't need to go too over the top but if you look like you put some thought into it the crowd might take you a bit more seriously.  Remember you're playing to please them.

I agree with Entheon, I can only take somebody seriously if they endevour to play well and I'm displeased when musicians are more interested in how they come accross than how their music comes across.

i would agree too most of the time, but there's a difference between dressing up ( or showing off a wardrobe) and just having fun with it

that's all i ever did it for.  it was never "guys, we've gotta dress really nice" or anything.  it was just "hey ,that'd be funny if we did this" and it was one time-only.  not a consistant trend we tried to set.  that'd be stupid.

Just wear whatever's comfortable. The fans didn't come to see you dressed up in some outfit, they came to see you play a kick-ass show. If you can do that, they probably won't give a shit what you're wearing.

My band never coordinated our outfits, we all had similar clothing styles, so it didn't really matter, we usually ended up being coordinated without having to talk about it.

I'm with Lunchtray, wear whatevers comfortable.  Just make sure no ones wearing a suit or anything before the show.  

Well there ya go. If you can do what Toejam does, i think you should. But if you can't, well, the fans probably won't care, if you play a good show.

I usually wear to gigs whatever I've been wearing all day.  Usually just jeans or denim shorts, and a t-shirt and my Pink Floyd necklace.  Like entheon said, if you wear what you pretty much wear all the time then you seem much more realistic, rather than some dork on stage trying to look cool (and not doing a very good job at it).

I play drums, by the way.

everybody who replies to this thread says the same thing.  that almost says something about the impression others will get from you, though too...

obviously, everyone's music sounds different, but if you can't get up and show people that you're out to have a good time, then you're just gonna be another band that was at "that one show."  i'm not saying you have to dress like it's a special occation, but dang, boys.  let personality show through!  i know it always does to an extent, b/c it shows up in what you wear anyway, and i'm not saying you should have a trillion peircings or something!

be original.  be funny.  obviously the focus is the music, but if you can't make an impression as a bunch of guys or girls that like to do whatever the heck they felt like, you're seriously going to just blend in.  stake your territory before some other band does it for you and steals your spotlight.  that being said, i suppose that this only applies if you're looking for a spotlight.  if its just for the local fans anyway, and you prefer it to stay that way, then spotlights aren't really all that important.

but if you're looking to catch some attention BEFORE you even start playing, you will get more undivided attention once you START playing.  and then... if it's good music... people will know who you were and you'll at least stand out more.

just make sure all your songs don't suck, otherwise you'd be dressed funny and be awful.  that's the worst.  that's why i say, don't over do it, but be original and catch someone's attention.  i'm not saying that's the way it SHOULD work in the music world, but despite any complaints, that's just the way it works sometimes.  live up to it, or do something big to change it, but don't just blend in with the friggin crowd.  just don't overdo it.

our drummer wore a backstreet boys shirt once.  he wasn't strutting around the stage with it, but it was funny nonetheless.  my keyboard stand was a ironing board (on purpose, not b/c i was poor) with a fruit cover on it.  people loved it, and consequently, we'd get more upfront attention.  we weren't going in drag by any means, it's just the little things that count when you're looking to snare some attention away from all the other bands that look JUST. LIKE. YOU.