Wearing a Tux on the Gig
Stan Fong
have one? Are you going to go out and rent one? Someone suggested wearing a
black suit, white shirt and bow tie instead.
Stan
charles robinson
stampede.I only use it once or twice every few years.You can find them at
used clothing stores sometimes for less than $20.
Charlie
"Stan Fong" <skin...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:JpGdnaXOl4erQFjZ...@comcast.com...
Pt
I did a dinner dance where we were supposed to wear a tux.
We all decided to wear a dark long sleve shirt and black pants.
Our female drummer was the only one wearing anything close to a tux.
I have to admit that we looked good.
I have a picture if you want me to send it.
Pt
tom walls
robins...@comcast.net says...
suit. A tux is a tux.
--
Tom Walls
the guy at the Temple of Zeus
ott...@hotmail.com
Tux can be had pretty cheap at a used clothing store, one gig'll pay
for it.
I wear one 4 or 5 times a month.
Bg
Unknown
wrote:
Stan:
If they want you to wear a tux, just put it on. I am probably on my
5th tux since I started gigging in the 70's. They last quite a long
time if you treat them nicely. Now I have 2 tuxes, my everyday gig
tux and the really nice tux, which is only gotten out for very special
occasions.
You can buy a decent tux inexpensively if you buy them from a tux
rental store. About once a year, tux rental stores sell the tuxes
they have been renting for the past year. Just call your local stores
and ask when their sale is. You can get one nice and cheap if you do
it that way. Get there early on the first day of the sale, as lots of
other people know this trick too.
Then, put on your tux and say to your wife "My name is Bond. James
Bond."
Tim
Tim Berens
http://timberens.com
timb at erinet.com
A Website for Guitarists
Learn Something. Have some fun.
Mark Guest
first gig. Don't forget the shoes...I picked up a pair recently at an "
urban young men's shop" (lots of pimped out suits, etc.) They're not
true tux slippers, but they look good with purple socks ;-)
Joe Finn
Different big bands and various orchestras will require formal attire on the
gig. I've seen guys try to slide by with the "black suit, white shirt and
bow tie" dodge but this attracts the band leaders' attention. And not the
kind of attention they want.
Try to wear a proper pair of shoes too.
You can get a decent tux cheap from a formal wear rental or a used clothing
store. Since this is a business expense you can and should declare it.
....joe
--
Visit me on the web www.JoeFinn.net
>
>
Kid Kool
Nothing looks as good as a tux. A black suit and bow tie will get you
by, but it doesn't quite make it.
Michael L Kankiewicz
A group I played with for several years bought some used tuxes at the
local rental place. I don't remember how much $, but no more than a good
suit. Was definitely a good investment. I've used it often even after
leaving that band.
MK
Chickenhead
can get a perfectly decent tux for less than $100 on eBay.
Aside from used ones, eBay's been a good source for me. I've got no problem
putting on a tux for a gig, especially when it makes the difference between
making $300 versus $60 and/or not gigging.
The musicians I hire better have a damned tux or they won't get called back.
If I've got a gig that calls for it, which is about half the gigs I do, the
musicians know that if they show up without their tux they go home without a
paycheck.
"Stan Fong" <skin...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:JpGdnaXOl4erQFjZ...@comcast.com...
Stan Fong
Stan
"Chickenhead" <kurtWITHOUTTHES...@hoNOtmSPAMailTHANKS.com>
wrote in message news:gOadnX9ql95F-lvZ...@comcast.com...
St. John Smythe
> Thanks for the feedback and suggestions. I need to go shopping.
;)
Let us hear back from you after the first time you wear one on a gig!
--
St. John
Government lies, and newspapers lie, but in a democracy they are
different lies.
sg...@hotmail.com
Chickenhead wrote:
> I've got three tuxes which have paid for themselves many times over. You
> can get a perfectly decent tux for less than $100 on eBay.
>
> Aside from used ones, eBay's been a good source for me. I've got no problem
> putting on a tux for a gig, especially when it makes the difference between
> making $300 versus $60 and/or not gigging.
>
> The musicians I hire better have a damned tux or they won't get called back.
> If I've got a gig that calls for it, which is about half the gigs I do, the
> musicians know that if they show up without their tux they go home without a
> paycheck.
>
>
>
>
> "Stan Fong" <skin...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:JpGdnaXOl4erQFjZ...@comcast.com...
> > How do you guys feel about wearing a tuxedo on the gig? What if you d
> > have one? Are you going to go out and rent one? Someone suggested wearing
> > a black suit, white shirt and bow tie instead.
> >
> > Stan
> >
Before DJs destroyed the "club date industry" I used to do at least 150
gigs a year that required a tux.
One of my Tux's was so decrepit, the dry cleaners phoned me up and
told me to get over there and pick it up, because they refused to work
on it!
At one catering hall in Brooklyn, the waiters knew me so well from
my funky tux that they used to call me Sid Vicious.
One night, as I was leaving, about twenty of them were waiting at the
door for me, screaming "Sid! Sid! Sid! over and over again.
I still have that one tux jacket left, but the pants have
metamorphisized into some substance that defies chemical analysis.
I still do a lot of gigs with the jacket, but I wear black pants with
it.
Maybe there's someone in the ng who owns a dry cleaning place who will
have the courage to clean and press my jacket- nobody else will!
Joe Finn
> Before DJs destroyed the "club date industry" I used to do at least 150
> gigs a year that required a tux.
> One of my Tux's was so decrepit, the dry cleaners phoned me up and
> told me to get over there and pick it up, because they refused to work
> on it!
> At one catering hall in Brooklyn, the waiters knew me so well from
> my funky tux that they used to call me Sid Vicious.
> One night, as I was leaving, about twenty of them were waiting at the
> door for me, screaming "Sid! Sid! Sid! over and over again.
> I still have that one tux jacket left, but the pants have
> metamorphisized into some substance that defies chemical analysis.
> I still do a lot of gigs with the jacket, but I wear black pants with
> it.
> Maybe there's someone in the ng who owns a dry cleaning place who will
> have the courage to clean and press my jacket- nobody else will!
Great post. That really takes me back, too.
Until you have sweated it out in a tux under hot lights that attract every
flying insect currently known to mankind on an outdoor gig in August; you
really don't know what it means to be a musician.
I attended a Boston Pops event at Tanglewood a couple of years ago on such
an evening. For those who may not know, the shed at Tanglewood is a venue
that is open to the evening air and everything that takes wing upon it.
Those Boston Pops cats are world class, too. I could relate to their plight
somewhat, but my shirtsleeves and Bermuda shorts allowed me chuckle a wee
bit; being glad it wasn't me up there, etc. It's amazing to behold the sheer
number and magnitude of bugs that all those frenells attract. ......joe
Marc
Like others, I bought a very nice used one at the local tux shop (I
bought a new shirt, of course!). One gig paid for the tux. I was
playing in a big band, and we used them frequently throughout the year.
With my quartet, we've often been asked to wear suits, but never a tux.
And wear nice shoes!
Marc
tom walls
kurtWITHOUTTHES...@hoNOtmSPAMailTHANKS.com says...
>
> I've got three tuxes which have paid for themselves many times over. You
> can get a perfectly decent tux for less than $100 on eBay.
>
>
thinks he's the hep cat daddy.
Chip L
> Charlie gives good advice. I wouldn't recommend substituting a black
> suit. A tux is a tux.
> --
> Tom Walls
> the guy at the Temple of Zeus
You need to own a tux If you're going to play any formal socials where
some or most of the men are wearing tuxes.
I suggest to the client that we not wear tuxes if none of the guests
are formal. Just looks odd. But a tuxed combo looks very appropriate
if the male guests are 'tuxed'.
Consider the tux part of you 'jazz rig'. As mentioned you can easily
pic up a used tux very inexpensively.
Chip L
Victorrey
down collar white shirt and a bow tie. Looks pretty silly and I've seen
leaders/contractors get pretty worked up over this as well as the wrinkled
(like it was kept in the glove compartment) look.
One contractor that I do a fair amount of gigs for always requires a tux,
regardless of the gig. I think he is afraid of what players will wear if
left to their own devices.
If you are a working musician doing dates that require formal wear, you
should have a real tux - just another aspect of the business.
A good source for inexpensive and indestructable tuxes is Formal Fashions,
Tempe AZ, 800-528-7909. The pants that they sell have a mechanically
adjustable waist . Given that eating is a function of general bidness gigs,
the adjustable waist comes in handy. Vic Reyes
"Chickenhead" <kurtWITHOUTTHES...@hoNOtmSPAMailTHANKS.com>
wrote in message news:gOadnX9ql95F-lvZ...@comcast.com...
Willie K. Yee, MD
<robins...@comcast.net> wrote:
>I have one that I've had for years looks like it was caught in an elephant
>stampede.I only use it once or twice every few years.You can find them at
>used clothing stores sometimes for less than $20.
I bought mine at the Salvation Army for $15, and paid $160 to have it
tailored by a real Italian immigrant tailor.
$175 for a well fitting tux is not too bad I guess.
I got it when my wife's best freind's daughter was having a black tie
wedding. I swore in my hippie days I would never wear rented clothes
for any reason (I figured if I won the Nobel prize, I would be able to
afford the tails for that occassion). I was in a bit of a dilemma,
stopped into the SA on a lark, and the only tux there happened to fit.
God obviously wanted me to have it. Have worn it on gigs twice (one of
which was just before the wedding under discussion).
charles robinson
Charlie
"Willie K. Yee, MD" <wk...@bestweb.net> wrote in message
news:44c7aa24....@nntp.bestweb.net...
Stan Fong
"St. John Smythe" <sin...@n4vu.com> wrote in message
news:ea6dnt$5sk$2...@n4vu2.n4vu.com...
> Let us hear back from you after the first time you wear one on a gig!
>
> --
> St. John
> Government lies, and newspapers lie, but in a democracy they are
> different lies.
I just came back from shopping for a tux. No luck at the thrift store I
checked. So I decided to search at real tuxedo shops. I figured if I had to
look good, I minus well go all the way. I ended up getting a slightly used
tux. It was their "special package sale". I bought wool slacks, wool coat
with a shawl collar, vest, bow tie, shirt, plus all of the button and cuff
link jewelry. All of this was for $169.
Then I bought a cumberbund to give me the option of not wearing a vest when
it's too hot. ($12) I also bought the shiny black patent leather shoes
used. Why not for $20. Then I paid another $12 for alterations. They did it
while I was there to save me a trip across town. Since it's a 2 day gig, I
didn't mind spending the money. Now I'm all set. If I don't sound good on
the gig, at least I'll look good sounding bad. The only thing I'm missing
are the purple socks Mark G mentioned. :>) Now I have my own tux.
Stan
St. John Smythe
> I just came back from shopping for a tux. No luck at the thrift store I
> checked. So I decided to search at real tuxedo shops. I figured if I had to
> look good, I minus well go all the way. I ended up getting a slightly used
> tux. It was their "special package sale". I bought wool slacks, wool coat
> with a shawl collar, vest, bow tie, shirt, plus all of the button and cuff
> link jewelry. All of this was for $169.
Well done, Stan. It'll change your life.
--
St. John, whose first tux was $40, but that was a while ago...
Chip L
BTW, did you ever imagine when you were 20 y/o that you would some day
get excited about owning your own tux and shiny tux shoes???
Chip L
Doug Allen
gig. The players are: Tal Farlow, John Abercrombie, Larry Carlton, Larry
Coryell, John Scofield, with John Patitucci and Billy Hart in the rhythm
section. They look spiffy and sharp!