Some Thoughts On Our First Two Shows, 1/2
(taken by my girlfriend Hailey en route to the One Direction Tour on July 13)
Lights? Check. Screens? Check. Banner? Check. SHIRTS?! Check. Food? My God, we’re going to be in for a long night.
Jeff Finley describes in his e-book “Thread’s Not Dead” the perilous events that just may occur when traveling on the road as a clothing line. While we are not lugging hundreds of pounds of expensive equipment behind us (as of right now, the line’s method of transportation is a Ford Windstar, AKA a soccer mom van), it is crucial to have all the necessary components for our display, both physical AND physiological, in perfect order to ensure that everyone is chipper and smiley for the entire night. For example, I personally prefer bringing the pieces of the booth out in a specific order so as to set up in a specific way (which, by the way, seems to piss everyone else off, haha). Hailey likes me being present to help the crew set up rather than walking away and mingling or snapping and uploading pictures via Instagram. Dev simply enjoys not being pestered with subpar jokes every five seconds (wow, I really think I am starting to see that maybe I’m the problem, haha).
All rambling aside, at our first show, our little tragedy happened to be not remembering to bring food to keep our bellies full for the night. We are supposed to be people persons while trying to promote - after all, no one is going to want to wear a t-shirt affiliated with a bunch of cranky teenagers covered in sweat - so we kept the tone upbeat until the show was over. And then everyone told me to shut up until we arrived at Steak N Shake with triple cheeseburgers on our plates.
Every aspect of a concert has always been intriguing to me - what goes on inside the venue before the show; the bass drum vibrations that seem to hit you during sound check even before you walk through the front door; the no-name bands that attempt to promote to the kids in line, even if they’re not playing that night; the first sighting of the twirling of hands signaling everyone to step aside as the mosh pit opens; the dimming of lights as your favorite band takes the stage. It’d always been my dream to impact hundreds of kids’ lives by playing in front of them under a few blinking lights with my heart, mind, and soul totally exposed for all to see. Never did I imagine that some of the artists that do this actually approach me to say they like what I’m doing and that the apparel I create mirror their personal tastes or philosophies (maybe not always directly, but you get the idea). Because artists - especially musicians - like to stay true to themselves and their message, they outfit themselves appropriately. I hope to keep doing me and putting genuine thought into what designs I print on shirts because every human being has a story to tell.
Thanks for reading, guys. I’ll have more thoughts to release in the near future! It’s time to work on some designs for a new tank top coming soon!
Sincerely,
Peter
