I don't think I've bought a band t-shirt since Pavement in '99

-pop todd-

i will give him 40 bones for the shirt and be done with it....its his first big show - go for it...

as for the bootleggers - dont do it. they are typically lower quality and crap. i made that mistake on a smashing pumpkins tour back in the day.

I haven't browsed the merch table of a moderately successful or recognizable indie band since seeing Deerhunter in April. I think they were selling most of them for $20 and a few older/odd sized ones for $15.
Mahjongg was selling their shirts for $15 when I bought their latest album at a gig here a month or two ago, but they are on par with most indie bands that come out of Nebraska.
I'll have to wait until I see She&Him at the end of the month in Omaha to make a final judgement call.

I don't drive up to Omaha to see any huge arena shows and we don't usually get shit here at ours, so I'm out of the loop on this topic now.
I know that merch prices were getting pretty ridiculous when I still worked at the arena here, so I can only imagine that it has continued to get a lot worse.

I was impressed with the $15 "Muscle Shoals" shirt I got from the DBT show a couple of years ago. Most bands charge like $30, in my experience. I had to laugh at a friend who paid $65 for an Ed Hardyesque Iron Maiden shirt.

the last concert t-shirt i remember buying was at the 1986 texxas jam (annual summer rock festival held at the cotton bowl from mid-'70s through late-'80s)

van hagar 5150 logo was prominently featured, if i recall correctly

"Eddie" Hardy?

*golf clap*

most are between 10-20

i remember seeing sigur ros back in '06 and their shirts were 40 clams....damn

MMJ wanted $30 for the tees and $40 for the sweatshirts last night. They've come along way since I bought a $10 tee on their At Dawn tour.

Arcade Fire & Spoon had them for $25 which I think is still too much...

i think i paid $25 for a Live shirt in 1992

hopefully some kid bought it at Goodwill and wears it ironically.

I also buy any t-shirts one size above what I normally wear. Most bands/bars/restaurants use cheap shirts that shrink immediately upon washing anyway. It's rare that I get one that doesn't.

As for buying concert tees, I'll get one once in a blue moon but I run a lot and will usually toss out 3 or 4 out of my collection of tees every year because they're just falling apart or they've shrunk to the point of no return.

Then again, I'm a sucker for the "t-shirt as memento". I'll get 1 or 2 every year from some bar or brewhouse and, occasionally, a band. That said, no way in hell I'd ever pay more than $15 for one. Maybe $20 if it was for a band I really really liked.

Yeah I am too. I used to grab at least one every out of town party weekend trip I took. I get to feel old when I look down at the gym and see Jazzfest 2002 or Street Scene 1999 on them. I've had so many of them wear thin or holey over the last few years that I'm really in need of picking more up.

I don't go on nearly as many of those weekend trips as I used to though so I'm a little more receptive to the idea of getting more concert tees. I think in theory I'd be ok paying 25'ish for a tee but I'm not really interested in advertising for the type of bands that charge that or more anyway.

I'd much rather have a Henry Clay People (if they didn't stink live) or a The Weight t shirt than say a new DBT's shirt. I usually look at the merch rack when I go to shows but I usually don't like the color/designs enough to buy them. Ones I do have: The Iguanas, the Saw Doctors, Sex Pistols, MMJ - at dawn tour. I think that's it. I bought one for the Decemberists on the Castaways & Cutouts tour but started to hate them a year later and gave it to goodwill. If anyone sees a homeless dude in Hollywood wearing a light blue Decemberists shirt, it's probably my fault.

i have a few 2 or 3 band shirts, but not that i bought at actual concerts. i don't want to be that guy carrying around a stupid shirt all through the concert or waiting in line after the show when I'm half drunk.

Yeah, you've even drunkenly bought me mementos (a badass longsleeve t when we went to the Sugar Bowl, some vinyl at a Hold Steady show) which I in turn cherish.

I kinda like the t-shirt as memento too, but I have this obnoxious stack of free white shirts from various races as a result. They're all exactly as ugly as the others, I need to just polish some shoes and use them up.

Bought him one.
$35.00

First concert. Birthday present. 11 years old.
Worth it.


(With tour dates printed on back)

Worth it if only to embarrass him with it later

Good job poppatodd.

but how was the concert?!?

How do you think? It was a spectacle; it was fun.
Although T-Pain opened for them and, despite the lack of pyrotechnics, his energy was higher than the BEPs. I think that Cary liked him almost as much as the headliners.

Yeah, this'll be one that he laughs at later in life but still, for a kid his age this band will probably be a cultural touchstone when they look back.

It'd be like me going to see Michael Jackson in the 80's or something as my first concert.

Good job PT. Now, his first concert WITHOUT you will be another story.

Totally worth it, dude. Nice job.

Fixed.

This site has some cool, vintage-esque tees of mostly West Coast and Hawaii-based bars, restaurants, venues: http://www.desteenation.com/