Beware The Ides Of Merch
When you go and see your favourite band or singer do their thing in the live arena, you'll have noticed that there's often a couple of pushed together trestle-tables, with a big softboard thing behind it. Well, you probably won't have noticed the tables and board as much as the T-shirts, badges, posters, support band DVDs, wristbands and general band-related tat someone has pinned up, next to little brightly-coloured signs with nice round numbers on, like '£15' next to a T-shirt, or '£25' next to a hoodie. This, younger readers, is the 'merch' stall, and it will allow you to feel really close to your musical heroes by wearing them upon your body.
But the murky world of merch isn't just confined to the foyer of your local concert hall. For starters there'll definitely be a bloke outside selling terrible-quality T-shirts, some of which may look better than the official ones. Do NOT be fooled. These will shrink down in the wash so badly that your prized MCR teesh (which now reads 'M Ch mi al Ro anc ') would be too tight even for your Gothic Barbie to wear.
He may also have enormous posters, based on posters he's colour-copied from Kerrang!, or the NME, or Top of the Pops Magazine (if it's, like, Napalm Death or someone). These are also a horrendous rip-off, if only because none of your money goes to the band or the magazine (and of course, magazine copyright is a topic close to your heart, right?), and shouldn't ever be encouraged, but at least they won't shrink off your wall on a humid day,. So if you MUST get your cash out for the chancers, choose wisely.
Then there's that stall in your local indoor market. You know the one. It hasn't changed since 1983, and all it sells are studded wristbands, studded belts, scarves, union jack flags, cloth patches with heavy metal bands on them...and posters. Posters of fast cars, posters of muscley men holding babies, posters of more metal bands, and posters which often have THE most unflattering picture of McFly you have EVER SEEN, but which you've just GOT to have, cos...well...it's McFly, right?
Then there's the endless array of officially-sanctioned stuff you can buy in Woolworths, the Shakira pencil case, the Rihanna hamster cover, the Bel's Boys set square and protractor kit....or the endless array of officially-sanctioned stuff you can buy in Boots...'Unhinged' by Britney Spears, 'Glamodourous' by Fergie, or 'I Like Smell' by Natasha Bedingfield.
All in all an endless array of ways in which you can telegraph your musical taste to everyone in your local shopping centre, without ever having to say a word. And they say the INTERNET is wonder of modern communication...pah!
With that in mind, it's time for a ChartBlog survey...
What's your favourite piece of musical merch? Is it your Fall Out Boy Wentz-wig? Your Beyonce big-butt-pants? Your Robbie Williams rudebox (with real swearing)?
Answers in the box below, people. And the best one wins this invisible T-shirt, with a specially-made picture of [insert your fave artist's name here] kissing you on the face, so you can make all your friends jealous.
Runners up will receive my undying respect. And that's the kind of prize you can't just GIVE away, even if I clearly am just about to do that very thing...
Comments
I haven't seen wristbands at a gig in ages weirdly. Fav ever is a giant GIANT lostprophets hoodie which i got off the street guy years ago. It's my 'look people don't talk to me please cause if you do well i'm just going to have to hide inside my jumper until you go away' hoodie.
my mcr t-shirt form the 22nd march at the birmingham nia gig :) ....you know you want to give me that invisible t-shirt, you really do, with gerard way please :P
I love my Red Hot Chili Peppers T-shirt...
Though i got it off eBay & some of the letters are starting to peel... :s
I suppose it makes it look like i've worn it to death by loving it so much & wearing it all the time, when really its clearly unnofficial and a bit crappy.
It is luverly though.
:>
i never buy stuff off the street guys. thats just one thing i stay clear of and i only buy gig tickets straight from the box office, never from any unoffical source. im wierd with fake stuff though, i dont even like having burnt cds when i can go out and buy them :S i like having the real thing. i think its cus i dont have a collection of cds, i have a cd collection, does that makes sense? and thats why i dont download, you cant look at all the pictures then either! i got a wristband from muse in november but i havnt seen them recently i dont think either, not sure though.
My favourite item is my Linkin Park belt buckle. If you want to see some proper merch however, then check out Metallica. They are bettered in the art of sticking there logo on near enough everything only by Kiss. You can get Metallica car matts for crying out loud!!
can I just say I'm new to this and I feel a right pratt for putting my surname in the name field, I just didn't think. . . please don't laugh at me?
awwh we don't laugh! Just giggle amongst ourselves ;)
I usually buy tickets from the box office. But only because I'm signed up to like every mailing list like ever created like ever!!
My problem is the official merch they sell is all t-shirts I'd never wear cause I don't wear t-shirts really. I'd buy wristbands and stuff if I saw them but hardly ever see anything good.
I used to buy cds but not much anymore. Get them on itunes a lot just 'cause it's easy even though their limits suck.
a sly giggle here and there I think I can just about handle.
I went through a phase of buying sweatbands at gigs, until it dawned on me that I never wear them, so I was wasting my money. This phase was after a previous phase of buying a t shirt at every gig I went to, even if the t shirt was horrible and I never wore it again. I guess I felt that my gig ticket was not proof enough that I had been in attendence. Again I realised I was wasting my money.
When you say you don't wear t shirts do you mean in general, or just band t shirts? and are you against them or something?
i always buy the t-shirts with the tour dates. they act as like a memory. downloads are good if you like one song, but if you want the whole album than theres nothing like having the actual cd i think, even if i have to pay a bit more. and what if your computer crashes and you only have downloads and you loose eveything....then your stuffed.
bout buying from the box office...i have a real hatred of touts. as long as you get the tickets early enough then whats the problem, and if you really like a band youre going to be well informed about tour dates before or as they go on sale. its like my mcr ticket was about £20 from the box office but i know someone else who payed like £60 from a tout just cus they decided they wanted to go after the tickets were sold out. its a rip off and a huge sham. everything possible should be done to stop these idiots, cus its teenagers who like bands etc here missing out or forking out just to help these crooks make a 'living'. get a real job!
Lol I only wear ones with a low neck or a v which you just don't get at gigs unfortunately! Not really against them I just prefer wearing other stuff lol.
"what if your computer crashes and you only have downloads and you loose eveything."
I never learn! I'm the world's worst at backing up things. A couple months ago both my ipod and my laptop got wiped at the same time and I was seriously near tears lol.
Aye sometimes you just get unlucky though. I knew MCR were on sale. I logged on to buy them way on time. I didn't get through. What can you do, eh?
well if all the touts didnt buy them then there mite have been some left! bad luck you didnt get one though, it was seriously the best gig ever, soooo good! the band were mindblowing!!! all the effects were amazing too - the fire, the confetti, the set, the hospital bed...it wasnt a show, it was a performance!
Yeah it sounds awesome. There'll be plenty times though :P
haha, I hope you dont think I was having a go at you about the t shirt thing. I sounded abit defensive, like I am chair of the RSPTS (Royal Society for the Protection of T Shirts). I see what you mean now.
Don't get me started on touts, I paid £17.50 for my LP ticket to see them in London last week. Someone bought one of a tout for £190!!! I kid you not. What a sham!
I love having the actual CD, you cant beat it!
thanks for agreeing with me jamie, bout the touts and the cds :) your on bout linkin park not lostprophets when you say lp right? i think thats the gig my friend wanted me to go to with her but i culdnt go :'( how was it?
no probs! thanks for agreeing with me, great minds think alike and all that! ; )
Yeah, Linkin Park. I forget there are 2 bands that could use that acronym (oh yeah! I know big words!).
It was alright, you didn't miss much. . . sorry I'm just trying to make you feel better, I can't lie, it was amazing! and I got to meet them before the show, which was way cool! The only down point was that they were only on for an hour as they had to be finished by 10 because G-A-Y was on afterwards, lol.
you got to meet them! im jealous, but not as jealous as my friend i couldnt go with would be...she loves them sooo much. i think she still went but with someone else, im not sure though. im glad you had a good time anyway.
Only ONE piece of merch', huh?...
An art-damagey Southern California Christian psychedelic punk band named Breakfast With Amy, who were active in the first half of the '90s, sold flourescently multi-colored shorts with their logo on them after the one gig by them I saw. Bought a pair, hardly ever wore them, but they're certainly more memorable than, say, the pin I bought at a Gossip gig last year.
Fraser, do signed cds count as merch?
[Strictly no. But it's just a poll, so SPILL THE BEANS, GIRL!]
Lol, okay. My copy of Famous Last Words that's signed by the whole of MCR is my favourite piece of merch.
I know this is from a while ago but....
MAKE YOUR OWN MERCH PEOPLES!!!!! It's so much more fun and no-one else'll have your shirt/hoodie/whatever. Aaaand, it's cheeper.
My favourite piece of merch is my :( [that'd be colon-open-bracket] t-shirt that I made 'cos I ran out of money when I saw them live.
That, or my Enter Shikari hoodie (which is actual merch that I didn't make) 'cos it's the old style that they don't make any more.
:OOOOOOOOOOO
why didnt i see this sooner!?!?!?! ellie you have a signed famous last words single!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! you are soooooooooooo lucky! i am sooooooooooooooooooooooooo JEALOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My gosh Kerri, that's one sticky keyboard you have there! *hides*
I know I'm a bit late to comment, but I can't believe how conservative you all are with your merch. Many concerts I've ended up spending £50+ on absolute tat I just *HAD* to have, such as the Will Young tea-towel and useless 'tote' bag, the Keane pillowcase, fridge magnet, strange lanyard thing I'm never going to use etc. I once liked a keyring so much at a gig I bought it for six whole pounds (and this was in 2005) and another just in case I lost the first. :-(
ah yes, the wonders of a sticky key board (again i didnt see this had been recently commented on til now) it gets extra sticky when im angry or happy or whatever, wierd huh? and the caps lock seems to spontaneously turn on too...
oh and just to say i wont be commenting for a few days as im on a bio trip to wales (:() so if you care i havnt gone missing and if theres a hot topic dont worry ill be back to comment about it soon! :)
Oooh have fun. I finally found my way to the America.. yay it's HOT :)