Somebody had to post this...

Sometimes I'll wear a personalized t-shirt:

How's My Comping?
Call 1/800-251-6251

Much the same here (Australia). On your jazz gigs I'g go the suit but lose the bowtie - someone will think you're a waiter - a normal tie, something not too loud. (Our drummer wears sandshoes with his suit for much the same reasons). On more casual gigs try the plain t-shirt (no real preference for black here, but a plain colour is good - or a band t-shirt if you have one), black dress pants, black jacket.

For rock gigs I like the early 70s Elton John thing of denim jacket with buttons.

Ok - we are skirting all around this issue, but I don't believe anyone has asked yet. What about matching band outfits? There is a band here in Ottawa that has taken this to the extreme, and had good mileage out of this (hard to tell from this pic, but the guitars (and bass) match too):



My band tried matching outfits with mixed results. We wore all black with Red ties. I liked the look, but out guitar played and singer didn't always play the game.

One band I was in many years ago was sponsored by a beer company. We had various matching outfits for different gigs. This one was played on the back of a truck while it drove in a parade. I was wearing my "Elton" glasses.

Great pic! Nice glasses.

Ya know, no one looks at you keyboard players anyway.

(ducking)

Beyond the bad marriage syndrome, matching outfits is another way to keep me out of a band.

For those who sweat profusely, how do you deal with load-in and set-up?

By the time I walk into the venue to survey the stage area, I'm already drenched. At that point, I haven't lifted a monster cable.

Of course, the ideal situation would be a decent amount of time to set-up, shower and change.

Those tour days are gone. Applebees doesn't afford that luxury.

In most cases, I wear a non-gig shirt and carry a towel. I'll dry off before changing into my Eric Special i.e. gig shirt.

Few things worse than feeling clammy and putting on fresh gear but the show must go on regardless.

I deal with load in and set up sweat by wearing load in clothes, and I bring my "gig clothes" with me. I always have a towel and a fan on stage. I hate sweating.

Gig attire for me depends on the band and the venue. One gig last week was sandals, shorts and a tee shirt. The next night was a nice black striped short sleeve button up, jeans, and Beatle boots.

The one band I'm in will coordinate dress when we are doing particular gigs- ones our agent gets, better venues, upper scale private parties etc. Usually all black for the guys and the girl wears something colorful.

Well gents, I've had three very severe auto accidents and it does not matter what your under garments look like or whether they are clean, they all come off.
I'm from the Houston area now and its hot here. I used to always wear black jeans, sport shirts and running shoes. I've never been one to just stand or just sit playing boards. After I saw ELP several times I started moving around playing even for weddings. Guess who got the compliments? Everyone wanted to know how I could do that and how I did it? I practiced times three= practice,practice,practice!

Well, Aidan, aren't you glad you asked?

Never did matching outfits ... except once for a Halloween thing ... Band name was "The Shades" ... we all came dressed as ghosts...sheets, whiteface and Raybans.

Old college band coordinated color schemes ... everything was black, white and the accent color of the day. We had "red days", "blue days", "green days", etc. Pretty much anything was fair game as long as it conformed with the color scheme. Oh...and it wasn't a requirement that you had to wear something with the accent color.

It was simple and worked pretty well ... a little uniformity without resorting to a uniform.

Those glasses went on any time we did an Elton John song.

Generally we dress for the crowd/time of year.

Right now, it is a t-shirt/jeans/sneakers (I prefer sandals and yeah, I get pedicures..lol) time of year unless we are in church for a formal service, then we ditch jeans and sneakers (or at least sneaker for shoes).

You can never go wrong with a simple dress shirt (solid, striped, etc.) or something funkier if you have the 'tude to pull it off, jeans (or slacks if more formal). Khaki's are always flexible in most informal situations. Being "rotund" myself, I buy a size larger so I can wear it out or open (with a color-coordinated t-shirt underneath).

When in doubt, wear black, except outside in the summer .

I usually wear a fedora, an unbuttoned dress shirt (With either a plain or musical-motif T-Shirt underneath), and jeans. It's not too formal, but it still looks sharp. I tend to dress more outlandishly than my bandmates, but I like it.

Last November, I decided to stop playing with shoes on. I use a lot of pedals, and I don't like to get shoe-prints on them. Besides, nobody looks at your feet (If they look at the keyboardist at all... )

Some interesting ideas, guys, thanks. At yesterday's wedding I wore the dress suit and shirt but dispensed with the bow tie. I think it looked OK.

I did put the bow tie on for the ceremony, but only because I was at the front next to the registrars and felt a bit "on show". Had I been at the back of the room as is more usual, I would have left it out entirely.

Off clothes shopping in a few days to get some more ideas!

Just tell 'em you're the Sandie Shaw of keyboard players.

Hmm.. My gig is a metal band, so I put on big military-style black boots, black pants (more or less tight) with buckles and chains, black fitted t-shirt. Before I wore a nice fitted black buttoned shirt, but thought it was too much.

So my outfit is all black, and looks good with my red (not Nord red, Karma red) keyboard.


I think that the looks is as important as the music.

When I see a band which looks (and acts) inconsistent with their sound, it ruins the expirience for me.

I dress as nice as a can, which means "business casual" and as hip as possible within reason. I'm usually the best dressed person in the room and have always enjoyed that since pianists generally do dress to impress.

But I have a problem with my contemporary church gig... they dress in some of the most casual wear ever - shorts, old t-shirts and flip-flops would not be out of the ordinary. I'm not comfortable with it but I dress down as much as I can to go with it.

My church gig is contemporary, but not quite that casual. Occasionally some of the teenagers will show up that casual, but not usual for adults. A very few of the older adults dress up like traditional church service.

In the church band, I usually wear a reasonably dressy shirt, occasionally a tie, Dockers, wingtip shoes. Cold weather would be with a jacket or suit coat. Before the humidity sets in in the spring (or in the fall) a silk shirt. I try not to wear black - its always too hot if going outside - learned in doing a few jobs in Florida to wear light colors - COTTON is a lot cooler than any of the synthetics. Occasionally, band and worship team or choir will all wear particular shirts and colors when some special presentation is made.

With the jazz group (mostly young adults) I'm not as casual as above, but still the basic Dockers and shirt. I don't like T-shirts unless there is a pocket; even then, they are hotter than a button-up all cotton shirt.

With the country/gospel group, a bit of "country-western" wear in shirt, belt buckle, etc.

The only time I ever wear a bow tie is with my tuxedo and/or dinner jacket - and I don't gig in them, I'm more likely to be going to a formal dance with my wife.

In years of working on electronic equipment in homes, churches, and businesses - I got in the habit of dressing to look neat and well-groomed. A large part of that came from a desire to have the business prosper.

We're a different deal because we do an 80's tribute - but we have band outfits that we wear everywhere. The girl singer wears whatever 80's garb she dreams up. The rest of us wear black jeans, black button-up shirts, and black Chucks, with skinny ties that match the color of whatever she's wearing. We also wear wigs, headbands, and other accessories.

When people book us for weddings, we make it clear that THAT is what they are going to get. If they don't like it, or start to question it, we tell them to go hire a wedding band - that's what we do.

So why am I telling you this? Because I think you would be surprised what you can get away with at a wedding. I DO think that in any occasion, you need to differentiate yourself as a musician - however you choose to do it. And I think it's good if there is SOME sort of common theme amongst the band - you don't have to have uniforms, but it looks bad if everybody is much different in their attire IMHO.

A little OT... some other local bands have started dressing EXACTLY like us.. and they aren't even 80's themed bands. I guess they think it's working for us so they should do it, or whatever. So we're in the process of working on new wardrobes for our shows just to keep ourselved different from all the other yahoos out there.

guys... i generally operate like this. any bands i play in, i got the gig because the musicians have seen me play before. i would always wear a pair of flaired jeans ( i mean big ones!!) a tight tee shirt and no shoes. i have tasteful tattoos and am certainly no pumped monster!!! (sort of like some who would belong in an aero smith video). my point is this - what ever you were wearing when the people who book you first saw you.... you are entitled to wear a similar out fit (even if that is a donald duck suit)plus if you have sytle, carisma and play a killer gig den who cares what u wear. always look the best in the band and remember - some pepole may laugh at you cause you look different.....but you will be laughing at dem cause they all look the same!!!

I've don't like when people in the band (usually the singer) wear a shirt with their own band's name on it. Just seems kinda weird.

Depends on the gig...

My church gig? At one point they asked me to wear a tie, a few years ago.. then I quit playing there for a while. Now I'm back and all they told me was that I couldn't wear shorts for the services. "Even designer shorts?" I asked, ever the wise guy...
So I wear a casually nice shirt and pants, no necktie, and it's fine.
If I were playing a secular gig I'd just dress pretty much the other musicians did in that venue. If I stand out, I want it to be for playing well!
I never had to be in a matching outfits scenario... it wouldn't bother me, but I wouldn't seek it out, either.

I met a club owner when we were visiting a nudist resort. So what you are saying is…

o.k you got me der!!!