It is valid, in my opinion, to assume a person wearing a band shirt to be a fan of that particular band and while I wouldn't torture them with trivia questions I would at least expect them to give me a coherent answer to a question like "You like Led Zeppelin, eh?".
I wear band shirts not only because I like that particular band but as a way for like-minded people to maybe start a conversation with me at social gatherings.
Back in middle school I wore a Woodstock shirt to school and one of my classmates came up to me and was just like, "Oh man I love Woodstock". I literally had no idea Woodstock was even a thing (I thought it was just some random words on a graphic tee). Wanted so badly to just tell him that I only got it because I thought the bird on the guitar looked cool but ended up getting tongue tied :,)
I've been listening to Led Zep my whole life, own their albums on vinyl, can sing along to every song off of the first four albums, have covered them in more than one band.
Gun to my head? I couldn't name more than a couple songs.
Between having a terrible memory and listening to entire albums over individual songs I can't make songs from any band I love, hell, half the time I couldn't name the album. I try to listen to a few new albums every week, how the hell can I remember all that? I spent four hours trying to find a solo I heard last month to show my girlfriend, listening to every album I've listened to since then, she stopped caring long before I found it.
I don't know where I was going with this, but if a douchebag pulled the shit from the comic on me I think I'd beat him to death with my original Zeppelin II pressing.
I saw a girl around twelve a few years ago wearing a Friends t-shirt; younger than the time since the shows ended. I didn't really watch the show but I was surprised to see someone so young wearing it. I asked about it and she said she just liked the shirt. I said "oh, okay" and moved along.
Not sure if there was a sudden surge of Friends content recently or if the show was rebooted or something, but here in Germany, a lot - and I mean a lot - of young people walk around in Friends shirts. Probably sold in H&M or something
A couple of months ago, we were finishing up on our grocery shopping when Sledgehammer started to play over the system. Our eleven-year-old daughter, whose favorite has been Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now since she was like 6, stopped and said, “this guy sounds so familiar… is he the guy who does the Biko song?” Our jaws dropped. I try to play a wide variety of music from every decade in the modern era when we’re traveling so, despite that being my favorite of his, I don’t think it’s been in rotation more than a few times over the years, and its not like its something that would come up on YouTube when we would spend evenings playing music videos from our childhoods. This relatively deep cut from Peter Gabriel resonates with our kid more than his hits do— wait, what kids are even into Peter Gabriel in the first place? Fuckin’ Biko, man, wild. I hadn’t even heard that song, let alone knew what it was, until I was 17 and our only good radio station was playing all the weird stuff as it was dying, back in ‘99, and all the DJs were gone so nobody was announcing what just played.
Also, she likes to emulate David Byrne’s weird-ass choreography while humming from “Once in a Lifetime”. She’s a li’l weirdo, I love it.
Your daughter has a good ear, especially being able to ID him over the grocery store PA system lol. Yes, "Biko" is some heavy shit, heck I'm impressed. Exposure to art is important, it helps make you aware of the world around you and its history, you know? It's invaluable knowledge. You're doing all right, pop.
My mother in law gave me this shirt, not knowing it was anime.
I've never seen a single episode of Gundam, but I occasionally receive compliments from people and don't have the heart to tell them I'm not as cool as they think I am.
A majority of my shirts have been band related since I was old enough to buy my own clothes. I've never been questioned, interrogated or otherwise questioned about my appreciation for the band.
On that same token I've never felt compelled to interrogate or judge anyone else on their choice of band shirt.
If a person wears a shirt they don't know the content of, they are just quickly showing you they are shallow. "It's just a cool shirt and I like the vibe"
about a shirt for a group is not something someone of interest says.
Live and let live, no need to be rude to anyone, just observe and move on.
I'm not trying to be a gatekeeper, don't be rude to people. Just acknowledge that they make shallow choices, to yourself.
Emitting brands and messages you have no clue about is shallow.
Edit it'd be like wearing a thin blue line shirt because you like simplified colors and wanted a vaguely American Tshirt, not knowing it is tied to alt right policing movements.
