There are two kinds of concert-goers: Those who have the good sense to skip the merch table and those who insist on buying an overpriced T-shirt at every single show. I’m the latter, of course. How else will people know that I’m so cool I go out on weeknights sometimes? How else will they realize I have great taste in music and definitely, maybe heard about that band before they were big?
I still remember the rush of buying my first concert tee, way back in 2006 at a show featuring The Academy Is…, Panic! At the Disco, Acceptance, and Hellogoodbye. (A slightly embarrassing lineup to me now, but I was 16 and angsty about…things, I guess.) It was the first time my parents let me drive to a show in the city unsupervised. I was there with my best friend and my crush. This was LIVING, and I wanted to mark the life-changing milestone with a shirt. I picked one that had a purple monster on it because I was 16 and dumb. I think every concert tee since has been chasing that first high.
The point is: I have a lot of T-shirts and no savings. But that’s okay, because band tees are cool again! (The trend was declared “dead” in 2016, after Kendall Jenner was spotted at Coachella wearing a Megadeth shirt.) Thanks to the one-two (and three- and four-) punch of A Star Is Born, Bohemian Rhapsody, Vox Lux, and Rocketman this fall is all about wearing your musical tastes on your literal sleeve.
And there are so many options to wear your band love. Pick up a vintage find on Etsy, à la Lady Gaga (her character in A Star Is Born, Ally, wears a Yes tee), or go modern with a Beyoncé crop top. Either way, a Look Is Born.