Obscure prog band t shirts spotted at major prog band concerts.

[Digital_Man]

I'm wondering how many times you were at a YES, ELP, Roger Waters, King Crimson or heck even a non prog band show and saw someone wearing a concert shirt you did not expect to see. You can also mention a major prog band if it was at a show that would be considered out of place for the most part(for example I saw a guy wearing a Yes shirt when I saw the Who back in 89).

I suppose obscure is a relative term and these days would not include Porcupine Tree or Dream Theater or even Marillion but I suppose most newer bands would qualify.

Here are a few that come to mind for me:

Amnesty International festival(Peter Gabriel, Tracy Chapman, Bruce Springsteen and Sting)-1988: When walking to get in I saw a guy wearing a Tangerine Dream t shirt.

King Crimson- 1995: Ozric Tentacles t shirt.

Yes- 2001: Progday t shirt

King Crimson- 2001: Porcupine Tree t shirt (they weren't really that big yet so it took me by surprise)

Yes-2004: I saw a guy who was probably in his late teens or early 20's wearing a Mars Volta t shirt(this was after the first but before the second MV album).

[bill g]

Hmmm. I wore a Thinking Plague t-shirt at a Thinking Plague concert. Does that count?

[NogbadTheBad]

I'm wearing my Univers Zero, Present & Miriodor shirts to ROSfest next year

[Garyhead]

Wore my Beatles Hard Days Night Tee to Nearfest.

[GuitarGeek]

Some guy was wearing a Nektar shirt at the Yes/Dream Theater show at Blossom Music Center in 2004.

And at the King Crimson show in Albany last week, there was a guy wearing a Steve Hillage shirt.

Wait a minute! That was ME!!!!!

[GuitarGeek]

Wore my Beatles Hard Days Night Tee to Nearfest.

I've worn Kiss, the Grateful Dead, Boston, and probably a couple other really "inappropriate" shirts to NEARfest as well as ProgDay. Ian specifically took the opportunity to chastise me for wearing a Kiss shirt to the Univers Zero show at La Maison Francaise.

[NogbadTheBad]

Ian specifically took the opportunity to chastise me for wearing a Kiss shirt to the Univers Zero show at La Maison Francaise.

& I was right to do so

I saw a Meshuggah shirt at Crimson tonight that was a bit of a surprise.

[GuitarGeek]

& I was right to do so

I can't help it if my satorial choices are more creative the rest of you lot. It'd be a boring place if we all wore "appropriate" band shirts at prog gigs.

For what it's worth, I wore that Nektar shirt to a Boston gig in 2004, and even at that show, someone recognized it! Same thing happened when I wore it at the Scorpions/Deep Purple/Dio show a couple years earlier.

[Shadow]

I'm wearing my Univers Zero, Present & Miriodor shirts to ROSfest next year

I think prescribed drugs would work better.

[D.Eric]

I wore a Doctor Nerve shirt to Fridays Crimson show in Philly. No recognition.

[Jay G]

Sorry but I do not believe you should wear a shirt of the artist you are seeing that evening. This is just my opinion. I try to wear the most opposite shirt of the artist I am seeing or a shirt loosely affiliated with that artist but not that artsist.

Some Examples:
My son wore Megadeth to see Johnny A
I wore a Terry Kath shirt to see Chicago and also California Transit Authority
I wore Montrose to see California Transit Authority since Mark Bonilla was close friends with Montrose (I should mention that many times when I see Mark he is wearing a vintage Gentle Giant shirt while playing old Chicago songs)
I wore Montrose shirt to Sammy Hagar
I wear Sammy Hagar shirt to see Toby Keith since they are friends and have covered one anothers songs
My son wore UFO to see Jimmy Webb
I wear Glen Campbell to see Jimmy Webb

We just have fun with it again as long as we do not wear a shirt of the artist we are seeing that night.

BTW, I have seen at least 5 people wearing Nearfest shirts as various events I think the last time being Cheech and Chong at the Keswick.

[The Fantastic Progo Rican]

A waiter at a bar in Cleveland, looked still in his 20's with a Neu! t-shirt.

[NogbadTheBad]

I think prescribed drugs would work better.

I'll take the unprescribed if available

[jeffo621]

I saw a Slint t-shirt at the King Crimson concert last Saturday. While Slint is not prog per se, their influence on the post rock, math rock and a few other genres is undeniable. Plus I always feel cool when I listen to Slint. I could never figure that one out.

[dgtlman]

Saw a NearFest shirt while walking into a Yes show in Dallas, I think around 2000. I made a comment to the guy, "Hey did you go to NearFest?" He said, "Yeah, we played there!" Turns out it was the Underground Railroad crew.
Wore a Glass Hammer shirt to Uriah Heep abut a year & a half ago.
Wore a Saga shirt, front row/center, to Rush on the Signals tour. Geddy even acknowledged it a couple of times to my amazement. Or maybe it was the big-assed camera I was using to snap photos.

[progeezer]

Not prog (although that to me is very debatable), but whenever I wear my shirt with the psychedelic "group head" from the "Forever Changes" cover & the Love logo, I always get positive feedback.

[No Pride]

Not prog

In one of my dad's photo albums, there's a picture of my ex-wife and I returning from our honeymoon in New Orleans... and she's wearing my Eric Dolphy tee shirt. It's not every day you see a hot chick (she was 31 at the time) wearing an Eric Dolphy shirt.

Her and that shirt are long gone.

[Blah_Blah_Woof_Woof]

I wore my "Come on, bring the Illi-Noise" Sufjan Stevens t-shirt to NearFest one year. I got positive comments.

[tom unbound]

My brother and I went to see VDGG in Buffalo in '09. After the 3rd person commented on my Steve Hillage shirt (we just got there), He turned to me and asked "Who's this Steve Hillage guy ?" It was a real 'LOL' moment.....

I always wear my 'Camembert' shirt to the Yes shows, but to no avail...

[Digital_Man]

I saw Rush play in Scranton at the Mountain Montage in 2007. This was probably in the late summer but I don't remember specifically when. At some point I decide to go to the rest room. On my way there I see a guy wearing a Porcupine Tree t shirt. Keep in mind there were about 25-30,000 Rush fans here so there was just a sea of people. So I say something to the guy about his Porcupine Tree shirt and before the conversation could go on too long the guy next to him who was presumably his friend says to me something like "didn't I talk to you at Nearfest?" I didn't recognize him because I used to talk to a lot of people at Nearfest but I didn't doubt it so I said something like "probably." It's funny how something like that can happen at even a big concert like Rush.

[progeezer's ghost]

mnprogger had a Pure Reason Revolution shirt on at the Yes show in Madison. I struck up a conversation with him and a friend of his and mentioned that I was a member here not knowing who he was.

[AZProgger]

I wore a Flower Kings shirt to a Mike Portnoy autograph signing at the Sam Ash in Phoenix. This was right after the Transatlantic Whirld tour, and during Mike's last tour with DT. All these kids were handing him DT merchandise to sign, I handed him my copy of The Whirlwind.

[Scrotum Scissor]

I saw a Slint t-shirt at the King Crimson concert last Saturday. While Slint is not prog per se, their influence on the post rock, math rock and a few other genres is undeniable. Plus I always feel cool when I listen to Slint. I could never figure that one out.

Because they WERE damn cool! Spiderland was one of the most captivating albums of the early 90s, completely redefining the very concept of "boundaries" in contemporary rock. The emerging grunge community, on hearing this record, admittedly knew nothing of this kind of immense freedom in structural expression, and particularly as regards the joint fixture of rawness and strictness (although NoMeansNo, Cheer-Accident and Shudder to Think actually beat them to it). Two of the members were even admitted to psychiatric hospitals after finishing recording, which should count for something - I mean, you won't get much cooler than that!

[NogbadTheBad]

Wearing my Cuneifest shirt for day 2 of RIO. Saw 2 Ukandanz shirts at breakfast this morning, complimented the guys on the shirts and found out they are in the band New album next year woo woo.

[zombywoof]

Wearing my Cuneifest shirt for day 2 of RIO. Saw 2 Ukandanz shirts at breakfast this morning, complimented the guys on the shirts and found out they are in the band New album next year woo woo.

Happened to me at NEARfest. Saw a tall, grey haired guy with sunglasses wearing a VdGG shirt who was loading into the hotel. I complimented him on his shirt and he reacted rather strangely. Turns out it was Hugh Banton.