Band Shirt Of The Day: Hot Water Music

I got this Hot Water Music when the newly reformed band played at the El Rey on August 29, 2008. This was right after I had moved to L.A. - might have even been my first show as a resident. If I’m not mistaken, this was the band’s reunion tour. I think they did a few one off reunion shows before doing a full U.S. tour. Officer Lewis and I got to the venue late, so unfortunately we missed In The Red. But Hot Water Music were incredible.

Band Shirt Of The Day: The Dead Milkmen Metaphysical Graffiti

Surprise, surprise, another Dead Milkmen shirt. I wasn’t lying when I told you I have close to 3,000 of them. They’ve been my favorite band since I was about 12 years old, so I’ve been buying their shirts for a long time. 

This is one of two Metaphysical Graffiti shirts I own. The other one is really small, and has shrunk up weird over the years, so unfortunately I’m unable to wear it anymore. The one pictured above was purchased from JJ’s Ear Candy (the local record shop in the town I grew up in) in 1990, which means this shirt is older than a lot of my followers, I reckon.

I kind of rediscovered this shirt in the back of my closet today. I had to stop wearing it for a while because I was getting a little thick in the midsection, so I stashed it away. I’ve lost a considerable amount of weight in the past few months though, so I figured I’d dig it out and try it on. And lo and behold, it fits again (yeah, yeah I know it’s still a bit small, but whatever).

With the exception of 2 Soul Rotation shirts, which I can’t seem to find, I still have every Dead Milkmen shirt I’ve ever purchased. Some of them don’t fit anymore, or are falling apart so badly that to wear them would destroy them, but I will never get rid of them.

Band Shirt Of The Day: The Twilight Sad

I got this Twilight Sad shirt as part of the deluxe pre-order bundle they offered for their latest record, No One Can Ever Know. I posted a picture of it (and the rest of the goodies) when the bundle arrived back in February. I am now the proud owner of three Twilight Sad shirts, and as the band releases more, I’ll continue to purchase them.

I was hoping this shirt would be exclusive only to those who pre-ordered the record, but it wasn’t. They were selling them at their concert on the 6th. Jerks.

Band Shirt Of The Day: The Twilight Sad

I got this Twilight Sad shirt last Tuesday night when the band played at The Echo in Silverlake. Over the past 3 or 4 years, these guys have become one of my all-time favorite bands. Seeing them live is an incredible experience, even when the soundguy botches the sound for 3/4 of the show. 

Band Shirt Of The Day: Mike Mictlan/Doomtree “Rap Won’t Save You”

I got this Mike Mictlan shirt this past Thursday night when Doomtree played at the Troubadour in West Hollywood. It was the second time Officer Lewis and I have seen the Minneapolis hip-hop collective perform as a group, and while they didn’t play as long a set this time around, they still fucking killed. Thursday night’s show was over 2 hours, with the group performing together, and each member doing a few songs solo as well. After the show Officer Lewis got his Doomtree hat signed by all 8 members. I was too busy getting photos of the hat signing to get autographs of my own, until the very end when we tracked down Mictlan as he was heading outside. He signed the back of my shirt in black sharpie right above the eye, as seen in the bottom pic. Doomtree are the best hip-hop around right now, hands down. And they’re some of the nicest people in the music biz as well.

Wings and Teeth.

Band Shirt Of The Day: Mercury Rev Snowflake Midnight

I got this Mercury Rev shirt when the band played the El Rey in Los Angeles on December 16, 2008. I’d been a casual Mercury Rev for years, but seeing them live was a whole different story. They really blew me away. Their performance was pretty epic - kind of like a Flaming Lips show without all the goofy costumes and giant hamster ball. I don’t even know if they’re still a band anymore, but if you ever get a chance to see them live, do NOT miss it.

Band Shirt Of The Day: Doomtree No Kings

I got this Doomtree No Kings shirt as a part of the deluxe edition of their latest album. This shirt was made and sold exclusively as a part of the deluxe set, so unless you ordered one, you’ll never be able to get this shirt anywhere. Rad.

So excited to see Doomtree live again next month.

Band Shirt Of The Day: Husker Du Metal Circus

I got this Husker Du shirt yesterday at Headline Records on Melrose. I actually used to own one just like it back in the day - I mailordered it from SST in 1996, and I wore the shit out of it. It was my favorite shirt of the 90s (surprisingly, I loved it more than my hundreds of Dead Milkmen shirts). When I left to go on tour in 1998-1999, I didn’t take it with me for some reason. Upon my return home, it had vanished. I can’t be completely sure where it went, though I have my suspicions.

Anyways, I’ve always wanted to replace the shirt, but for whatever reason I never did. Yesterday, when I was out buying my wicked-rad new shoes, I decided to stop in Headline to browse around. They have a pretty epic selection of punk vinyl and t-shirts, and they happened to have this Metal Circus shirt in a large, so I snatched it up. Heh, I said “snatch.”

The end.

Band Shirt Of The Day: Alcest

I got this Alcest shirt back in October when the band played the Troubadour in West Hollywood with Enslaved and Junius. The show was pretty phenomenal - I honestly never thought I’d get the opportunity to see Alcest live. They did not disappoint.

Band Shirt Of The Day: Ministry The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste

Totally been lagging on my Band Shirt Of The Day posts…sorry.

I got this Ministry shirt in 1990 or 1991 at one of two record stores - either Insurrection in Reno, Nevada or JJ’s Ear Candy in Carson City, Nevada. Sadly, neither of those stores still exist, but growing up in northern Nevada, those 2 (along with Mirabelli’s at the Park Lane Mall in Reno) were the only physical stores where I could find cool tapes or t-shirts. Otherwise it was all done via mailorder. This shirt is pretty cracked and faded as you can see, but what do you expect after so many years?

Anyways, The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste is still an amazing record, even 22 years later. I consider it the most important industrial album ever recorded, though I’m sure some would argue that. Every time I listen to it, I’m magically transported back to Tank’s Mom’s townhouse in Carson where we all spent several nights drinking cheap beer and listening to music. I still remember how excited I was when I first discovered Ministry (industrial Ministry, not dance Ministry)…I had never heard anything quite like them up until that point, and it was such a new and fascinating sound to me. I wish I could still get that excited about discovering music. 

Band Shirt Of The Day: Poison Idea

I got this Poison Idea shirt in probably 1995 or 1996 at the old Taang! Records Store on Melrose in Los Angeles. Does anyone remember that store? You had to walk down this weird hallway, then up some stairs to get to it. So bizarre.

Anyways, I picked this up after years of searching. A friend of mine in high school had a short sleeved version of this shirt and it took me forever to track this one down. In days before the internet, you actually had to rely on mail order catalogs and actually visiting record stores in order to find cool shirts like this. Crazy, right? On the cuff of one of the sleeves of the my friend’s shirt, it read “Record collectors are pretentious assholes.” Unfortunately, the long-sleeved shirt didn’t have this phrase on it, but whatever.

I still love this shirt even though it’s starting to show some serious wear and tear. I honestly have no idea how I got all those holes in the back of the shirt. The cats maybe?

Band Shirt Of The Day: Gasoline

I got this Gasoline shirt in 1999 or 2000 when I booked the band a gig at the Cooler Lounge in Las Vegas. These guys were a killer garage rock trio from Japan that had a few records on Estrus. After the show, I invited the band to stay at my place, so they joined me and some friends back at my pad for an afterparty. Funny thing was, none of them spoke English. I still have no idea how we were able to communicate so well. I guess booze and music are universal languages.

Band Shirt Of The Day: Smoke or Fire

I got this Smoke or Fire shirt when the band opened for NOFX at The Music Box in Hollywood on February 7, 2009. I took my pal Charlie as a late Christmas gift (or early birthday gift, I forget). This was my first time seeing Smoke or Fire, and probably my 43rd time seeing NOFX. Smoke or Fire were pretty fucking incredible. Charlie and I were down in front screaming along and making fun of the girl in the crowd who looked like Axl Rose.

At this point in the tour, Smoke or Fire must have been pretty hard up for cash because all of their t-shirts were marked down to $10 each, and all of their CDs and LPs were marked down to $5. So I bought 3 t-shirts and Above The City and This Sinking Ship on vinyl.

Also, Charlie took this picture of us. I like it because it looks like I’m about to murder him.

OH, I just found this other pic that Charlie took while we singing along with Smoke or Fire. Look behind us and you’ll see the Axl Rose chick wearing a blue bandanna. Welcome to the jungle.

Band Shirt Of The Day: Barry Manilow

Let me start this off by saying that I’m not wearing this shirt ironically or anything. I actually do like Barry Manilow, and I’ve seen him in concert more times than I can even remember.

I got this particular shirt the first time I saw Barry live. It was ‘94 or ‘95 when he played at Caesar’s in Lake Tahoe, NV. Odd that Tahoe isn’t listed on the back of the shirt, but whatever. Tank, my roommate and BFF from high school was getting ready to marry his high school sweetheart, and I was one of the groomsmen. Tony and I shared a love of all thing Barry, so my wedding gift to him and his fiance was tickets to the Manilow show. We were the youngest people in the showroom by at least 30 years and it showed. But we had the time of our lives. In fact, to this day I still have some of the streamers they shot out into the crowd at the end of the concert.

Tank and I have since seen Barry 3 more times together, and I’ve seen him a few times on my own. Say what you will about the man and his music, he puts on one hell of a show.

Band Shirt Of The Day: Drag The River

I’ve seen Drag The River live countless times, but surprisingly this shirt was not acquired at one of their concerts. This shirt was made available exclusively (I believe) through Suburban Home Records if you pre-ordered the deluxe edition of Drag’s b-sides collection, Bad At Breaking Up, which I did back in 2008.