stage appearance: topless

[dimpfelmoser]

I'm thinking about male performers here, you know.
Its like this, while I recently did some research on Hardcore in the first half of the eighties, I couldn't help noticing, that most of the singers liked to perform topless; also, that there were hardly any girls in the audience, but this is a different matter.
Anyway, I became aware that, not only do most of the bands I go to see, perform fully clothed, it would be generally unthinkable for them to take off their shirts. Too old and too nerdy probably. Also, for some strange reason, many of the bands I like, have at least on female member and I think the topless act is more common amogst all boy bands. I could be wrong here, but it always seemd a rather jockish thing to do in my view.
Some people can get away with it and some can't, yet by and large I find it somwhat inappropiate, unless it is done on an outdoor festival where half of the audience is topless as well.
Also, I would like to find out who did it first. I mean, everyone has this image of Iggy performing topless, but he wasn't the first, was he?
Who was it then?

[hench]

i'm pretty sure that it was george washington who pioneered this sort of behavior.

[Pure L]

[wiggins]

Not Crap, when necessary. House shows, Converge in a place the size of your living room, David Yow anywhere, etc.

Going shirtless for 5 people who don't care who you are should be reserved for Oxbows only.

[Rotten Tanx]

I can understand why drummers do it. Though I'm a drummer and I don't think I ever would. Generally it's just for tossers who want to show you their chest.

And Iggy who hasn't worn a shirt since 1958.

[slowriot]

alright, you're talking about male performers, which is a little...whatever, i'll overlook that for now and wait for someone else to make a homoerotic joke.

the first *real* concert i ever saw (outside of the ridiculous boys2men show i was taken to when i was 10) was blur supported by the dandy warhols when i was a freshman in high school. zia from the dandy warhols performed topless and i think that's when i fell in love with live music.

shirtless laydees? not crap.
shirtless doods? no opinion.

[tallchris]

Pantsless is a far more enjoyable way to rock it on stage.

[Sebastian J.]

this is kinda homo-erotic

[dimpfelmoser]

well, yes, Henry Rollins said so in Punk Attitude about the whole hardcore scene. Like all those sweating bodies touching each other, acting out like tough guys.
Funny though that Mike Bullshit of GO! fame was the first openly gay hardcore singer.

[horsewhip]

Pantsless is a far more enjoyable way to rock it on stage.

I agree. Somewhere there exist photos of tallchris and I rocking in Olympia with trou dropped.

[CJMcG]

I remember playing a basement show in 96 during the winter and it was remarkably warm that day and extremely hot in the basement so I stripped between songs. By the end of the set I was in boxers and socks.
I also did a show at some point in 2000 at The Ottobar wearing a jumpsuit with only boxers on underneath and once again, it was too hot. It was down around my ankles by the time we were done.

[rogozhin]

The first time I saw the band Silkworm play I had no idea what to expect, I'd been a fan of their records for years but didn't know what they looked like in person or whether they'd put on a good live show. When they came out to set up I remember thinking that in particular the drummer, Michael Dahlquist was older than I imagined him being. That night, with his tight beard and big shirt tucked in to high-wasted pants he looked more like a high school teacher than the person responsible for the massive, passionate drumming on Silkworm's records. He also had this playful goofiness about him that set him in stark contrast to his band mates who looked very serious and business like setting up their gear that night. He finished putting his drums together rather quickly and sat waiting for the others, smiling and cracking jokes with the audience, I actually felt a bit nervous for him at that point wondering how he was going to pull it off!

Just then the three of them looked at each other and acknowledged their readiness to begin... at this point Dahlquist's face changed altogether, his eyes flashed, he WHIPPED OFF his shirt, picked up his drum sticks and proceeding hitting the drums as hard as any drummer I've ever seen! It was incredible to watch! I'm sure it would have been equally so had he left the shirt on but the fact that he elected to remove it added an element of daring and humour that brought the performance to a whole other level.

I think it says a lot about a person when they decide to remove their clothing during a musical performance and sadly, it's rare to see someone's topless-ness enhance the quality of the show. Michael Dahlquist was one of the few people I've seen do it with grace and intelligence.

[mhannigan]

I saw a band open the show at the Empty Bottle recently and before the band even began, the drummer took off his shirt and put on some batting gloves and then even before they started their first song someone was already shouting for him to put the shirt back on. Very funny.

[Chapter Two]

Are you very hot? Then take your shirt off. Better that than passing out. Looking at you is secondary to hearing you.

Not crap.

[tallchris]

BUMP.

[jimmy two hands]

I did this once at an extremely hot show in some all-ages space over ten years ago. I didn't have the beer gut I have now so perhaps I looked sexy, but you couldn't tell because I played a large guitar at that time that covered a good portion of my torso. The heat and sweat made the back of the guitar stick to my belly, and the strap was not comfortable. I was probably more comfortable in my t shirt, but I didn't want to put it back on. Somehow the act of putting on more clothes during a set is less excusable than taking them off.

I played a new years eve show with no shirt and with my pants around my ankles. I was wearing a robe, so I wouldn't say I was completely topless. I think I rolled up a pack of smokes in the leg of my boxers, but I can't remember. I was pretty drunk. It was awesome.

[Angus Jung]

"Matt Pike's Beer Gut" is a thing that you can "like" on Facebook. I have "liked" it.

[Rimbaud III]

"Matt Pike's Beer Gut" is a thing that you can "like" on Facebook. I have "liked" it.

It's quite something. He should release a Sleep maternity range for expectant fathers.

[Brett Eugene Ralph]

[Pure L]

Never crap.

Part of one's 'freak flag' (as it were).

If you need to fly yours, do so with pride.