Band Shirt Archive.com Blog

Band Shirts Of The 80s, 1982 Featuring Pink Floyd The Wall

Mon, 04 Jan 2010 14:03:56 -0600

1982 was a good year for music and band shirts. 1982 saw the release of come truely classic 80s albums including Michael Jackson's Thriller, Duran Duran's Rio and Prince's 1999.

The best of the thing that came out of 1982 from the band shirt perspective was the series of shirts for Pink Floyd's file The Wall. While it's true that by 1982 Pink Floyd wasn't the band remember from Dark Side of the Moon they did put out some fine shirts. Presented here are three fine examples, all of a similar style that were released in 82. Shirt #768 (pictured left), shirt #1374 and shirt #1385.

If you think back to classic 80s bands you can't ignore Duran Duran. In 1982 they released their essential album Rio. Here are a couple Duran Duran shirts from that year, shirt #1454 (the album cover) and shirt #1453, one of their tour shirts.

As promised, here is a great 1982 Grateful Dead shirt. The design is by David Lundquist, This shirt is a personal favorite because I own it.

The last band shirts from 1982 I want to feature come from Ozzy Osbourne. If you were into 70s and 80s heavy metal they I can virtually guarentee you had an Ozzy Osbourne or Black Sabbath shirt; which is awesome because Ozzy had some great shirts from that period. Here are a couple shirts from that infamous year; biting the head off a bat on stage equals infamy in my book. Shirt #763 is a really sweet bat wing design and pretty rare from what I've seen. Here is a much more common shirt from 1982, archive shirt #1365, Ozzy's head being held up high by an executioner.

Band Shirts Of The 80s, 1981 featuring The Rolling Stones

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 08:52:27 -0600

Welcome back to 1981 and the second installment of my band shirts of the 80s blog series. I'm starting off our trip back in time with this Rolling Stones 1981 North American tour shirt supporting their album Tattoo You. The Stones US tour was the highest grossing tour of 1981. The shirt to the left is my favorite shirt from that tour but here are a few other 1981 Rolling Stones shirts, shirt #793, shirt #932, shirt #772 and shirt #358.

I think I'm going to have to include a Grateful Dead shirt in all of my shirts of the 80s blogs; the 80s where huge for them and their shirts never disappoint. Here is a 1981 Grateful Dead shirt.

Other sweet shirts from 1981: Jefferson Starship Modern Times shirt #1124. Cool Tom Petty shirt from Hard Promises tour, shirt #1398, The copyright says Top Petty. I'm curious, was it designed by Petty himself? Lastly, I think 1981 was a big year for thermal, here is a Styx thermal shirt from their Paradise Theater show. I wonder why we don't see thermal very often anymore.

Band Shirts Of The 80s, 1980 Grateful Dead Shirt

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 00:39:38 -0600

After an extended hiatus from blogging I'm determined to start again. To kick off my return to blogging I'm starting a my salute to band shirts of the 1980s. I'm going to cover one year per blog.

I'm going to start off with this sweet Grateful Dead shirt from their 1980 tour 'On The Road Again'. In 1980 The Dead played 87 shows from coast to coast, beginning and ending in Oakland. Their amazing year of touring ended with five shows in six nights at the Oakland Auditorium. The back of this shirt has a nice graphic as well.

1980 was also a good for Black Sabbath shirts. Take a look at the variation on the graphic for shirt #1402, there is a little Texas state logo where the reapers head is on shirt #748.

Other 1980 notables, A nice Bruce Springsteen shirt that lists the E Street Band members on the back #1376. Here is a rather impressive Van Halen shirt, shirt #964, from their 1980 tour promoting Women and Children First. Make sure you check out the back of the shirt as well, the graphic of the band is equally colorful.

Band Shirts Of 2009, 100+ New Phish Shirts And Counting

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:48:07 -0500

I couldn't concluded a tour of 2009 concert shirts without stopping to appreciate the newest generation of Phish shirts, both official and lot style. I know I blog about Phish shirts a lot but they have by far the most active community of lot shirt scene. I've always been a sucker for a good lot shirt.

Now, I can't say for certain that there will be 100 new phish shirts created this year but with Festival 8 only days away I think that number if a fair guess. Think of the dozens of shirts that came out of Hamptons alone, then their return to Red Rocks, and now Festival 8; it adds up.

To the left is one of my favorite new shirts of 2009. The Twitter/Tweezer shirt. I'm really looking forward to wearing this at one of my internet geek conventions, I expect it to be a real conversation starter. I should really pick up an extra to give to the one guy there who's also been to a Phish concert.

Here is a quick link to the 2009 Phish shirts in the archive, and to the 2009 Phish shirts available on eBay.

Band Shirts Of 2009, Nine Inch Nails Wave Goodbye Tour

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:11:11 -0500

Today the 2009 Band Shirt Express stops to check in on the shirts from the last Nine Inch Nails concert tour. I'm issuing a collector's item alert for the shirts of this tour. Any NIN fan will know that early in 2009 Trent Reznor announced that this would be the last tour for Nine In Nails for the foreseeable future.

To the left we have one of the shirts that was available on the very last leg of their 2009 tour. It's a simple shirt really. It has the classic NIN logo on the front; bookended by '1989' and '2009'. The back of the shirt lists the final tour's dates. Earlier in summer NIN toured with Janes Addiction, that tour produced this cool "NIN/JA 2009" shirt.

If this really is the last NIN tour for the foreseeable future then this shirt should hold some value. This shirt is currently listed at $60 on eBay. Although, sense the last show was only a month ago I would predict that this shirt will come down to the $30-$40 range after some time passes. Here is a quick link to the available 2009 Nine Inch Nails shirts.

I'm looking for a good picture of the NIN/JA 2009 and the NIN shirt pictured to the left. If a reader out there has access to one of these shirt and could add it to the archive I would be forever in your debt.

Band Shirts Of 2009, Pearl Jam Sports Logo Shirt Series

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:16:34 -0500

Fans of both the professional sports and Pearl Jam should appreciate this stop on our tour of the band shirts of 2009. I know I've covered Pearl Jam shirts quite a bit lately but I just couldn't help writing about their series of t-shirts that spoof NBA and MLB logos. I know a lot of bands sell shirts commemorating specific shows but Pearl Jam has really taken it to a new level this year.

The shirt to the left is one example, it's a modification of the Portland Trailblazers logo. The back of the shirt has the day of the show as the play number. The shirt was only sold at their Portland show on 9/26/2009.

From the looks of it they did one shirt for most of the stops on their tour. Some of the other teams spoofed include the Lakers, the Jazz, the Dodgers, the Padres and the Sonics. Here is a quick link to some of the 2009 Pearl Jam shirts currently available.

I'll update this blog post as I track down quality pictures of the shirts. If you have one, please add it to the archive!

Band Shirts Of 2009, Black Crowes 2009 Tour

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 11:36:58 -0500

This stop on band shirt tour 2009 has me particularly excited because I'm a big fan of The Black Crowes. Not only of their music but I'm a huge fan of their shirts.

In my humble opinion The Black Crowes consistently produce some of the best band shirts of the modern area. Their shirts are a great example of true band shirt art; while staying true to theme, the 2009 tour shirts are on exception. To the right we have what they call "Twin Head Crowes Tee", its available here at BlackCrowes.com. Make sure you also check out this new shirt for the 2009 tour, the "Hobo Crow Tee", also available here on BlackCrowes.com.

Band Shirts Of 2009, Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood Tour

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 10:09:43 -0500

Welcome to our next stop on our tour of 2009 band shirts. Today the tour bus stops to check out Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood's 2009 incarnation of Blind Faith. After playing just one venue together in 2008 Clapton and Winwood set out on a short tour in 2009. Here we have just one of the shirts from that tour.

This is actually just one of many very cool t-shirt designs to come out of this tour. However I haven't been able to track down good pictures to add to the archive yet. You can check out the 2009 Eric Clapton shirts in the eBay lists.

Just remember, while the tour lasted only 14 shows this shirt will last hundreds of washes.

Band Shirts Of 2009, The U2 360Â° Tour

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:10:12 -0500

Welcome to the first installment of my new blog series of band shirts of the 2009 tour season. Our first stop on the virtual concert tour is U2's 2009 360° tour. To the left we have a t-shirt from the U2 360° tour. The graphic on the shirt is the logo for the tour. The 360° tour was one of the biggest tours of the summer and has been extended well into 2010.

This shirt is available on the U2 Official Store for about $30. If you want to save a few bucks you can get the same shirt on eBay for $15-$20; just be aware that there's a good chance its a bootleg. Here is a quick link to the 2009 U2 Shirts available on eBay.

Free Blink 182 T-Shirt Contest

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:54:22 -0500

Ok, the title above is a little misleading, the contest isn't only for a Blink 182 t-shirt, the contest is also for tickets to see Blink 182 in concert, VIP style, in New York City. But as far as I'm concerted the t-shirt is the real grand prize. So you know, the Blink 182 t-shirt to the left is not the actual t-shirt you will win. It is however the first Blink 182 shirt I ever owned and wish I knew what happened to it.

Here is what you need to know if you would like to enter the contest. The title of the contest is "no, i'm not Tom Delonge" and it is being run by MacBeth Footware. To enter you have to go to the contest webpage and download the Tom Delonge mask. After you've printed out the mask you have to make a video of yourself, post it on YouTube and fill out the contest form. Make sure you check out the rules before you enter.

Good luck to all who enter and if the eventual winner of the contest reads this blog, please upload a picture of that shirt.

Michael Jackson Shirt Mania Has Ended

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 08:49:26 -0500

Well, I think the Michael Jackson mania is starting to fade away, at least as far as his shirts are concerned.

A couple months ago in a blog called Michael Jackson Shirt Mania I talked about the explosion of shirts available and the explosion of prices of those shirts on eBay. I noted that the amount of shirts had increased 1000% in just a matter of days. Prices of shirts commonly reached $800-$1000, not to mention some shirts absurdly priced in the $5,000 - $10,000 range. I sure hope nobody paid those kinds of prices because things have come back to earth in the two months sense Jackson's death.

Today there are just 1400 shirt listings and the max asking prices is a mere $375. Most of the classic Jackson shirts are going for reasonable amounts in the $125 to $75 range. The rarest of the Michael Jackson shirts and the ones that consistently demand the highest prices are the 1984/1985 Thriller tour shirts that have the zombie graphics on the back, like the one to the left. Here are direct links to two of these shirts in archive, Thriller tour zombie shirt #1, Thriller tour zombie shirt #2. These shirts are currently selling in the $250-$300 range.

It's nice to see that the opportunistic merchandise vultures have moved on and that prices have started to come down for the true fans. If you waited until now to pick up a piece of music history congratulations.

Vintage Shirt Of The Day, Iron Maiden 1985 Texas Slavery Tour Shirt

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 08:26:33 -0500

I'm finding new respect for 80s Iron Maiden shirts after browsing eBay today. Here is the one that jumped out at me this morning. The shirt is an Iron Maiden "Texas Slavery Tour 1985" tour shirt. It was sold the seven stop tour from Feb 23rd to Mar 8th. The stops where Beauford, Houston, Waco, Dallas, San Antonio, Lubbock and El Paso.

The shirt has two really great graphics so be sure to check them both out in more detail on the description page; shirt front, shirt back. This shirt is listed on eBay an amazing $750.

Vintage Shirt Of The Day, 1975 Alice Cooper European Tour Shirt

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 10:07:32 -0500

A couple times a week I browse through some of my favorite eBay stores to see if there are any hidden treasures. This shirt caught my eye right away. I think its because you don't really see shirts like this anymore. If I'm wrong, somebody let me know.

The Alice Cooper shirt to the left is from the 1975 "Welcome To My Nightmare" European tour. You can tell that from the back of the shirt, I'm not sure if the same shirt was sold on the North American tour or not. The front of the shirt shows a much younger Alice Cooper. The graphic and especially the lettering style really screams 70s. Make sure you zoom in on the front shirt graphic.

There is a lot of history behind this shirt as 1975 was a big year for Cooper. It was the year he released his first solo album "Welcome to my Nightmare" which eventually went on to the Billboard Top 10. Ultimately, the success of the solo album ended the era for the original band lineup.

Truly an great shirt and a piece of music history. Check back soon as I'll be featuring more Alice Cooper shirts in the future.

This shirt is currently available on eBay for $750, if your looking for one check out the 1975 Alice Copper shirts currently available.

I Caught Allman Brothers Shirt Fever At Red Rocks

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 10:41:51 -0500

After an amazing concert at Red Rocks 2009 I've once again caught the Allman Brothers bug. I dug around and found this nice shirt from the 1979 "The Enlightened Rogues" Tour. I really like the silver lettering on the front, really in good shape considering the shirt is 30 years old. I actually saw somebody wearing a shirt very similar to this one at Red Rocks, the front looked identical but I didn't get a look at the back. This shirt is on sale on eBay for $200, I wonder if they were really wearing one at the show? Props to them if it was the same shirt, here is a picture of the shirt front and the shirt back.

Ok, back to the shirt fever I mentioned in the title. What made me a little ill was what they were charging for shirts at the merchandise booth. The average price for a new Allman Brothers t-shirt at the venue was $35. I regu'arly hear people griping about the price of shirts at concerts and in the past I didn't understand. I always thought that $20 - $25 for a shirt was enough, but reasonable enough to buy one. When I saw the prices at Allman Brothers I finally got it, $35-$40 for a shirt is outrageous. The shirts are very graphical but I can't imagine that the cost per shirt is more than $7.50 a shirt considering the volume.

Let that be a lesson to any band out there, if you're not selling shirts your missing out on revenue for your band.

Just so we're clear here, my opinion on the price of their shirts is completely unrelated to my love of the band. The show was fantastic, Gregg Allman sounded great, Warren Haynes and Derick Trucks were on fire and conversations with old hippies are always interesting. If you get a chance to see the Allman Brothers don't even think about it, get tickets now.

Vintage Shirt Spotlight, 1984 Bob Dylan/Santana European Tour Shirt

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 07:50:16 -0500

Here is the shirt of the day. Here is a great shirt from the 1984 Bob Dylan/Santana European tour shirt. The shirt has a great European themed graphic. A bottle of wine and an opener, a map of Europe, a Passport. It's really a great band shirt. The back of the shirt has a list of the tour dates.

Great shirt, goes for about $100-$125 on eBay these days. Check here for available 1984 Bob Dylan shirts. Check out this shirt in more details here.

Music History Lesson, The Moscow Music Peace Festival

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 09:29:58 -0500

I've always said that band shirts are a part of music history. Here is a perfect example of that. This shirt commemorates a moment in music history and a moment in modern history.

For those of you aren't familiar with the Moscow Music Peace Festival, as I wasn't, I'll give you a brief recap of what you can learn from Wikipedia. First off, this festival was so full of backstage drama and hypocrisy its pretty funny. So, the festival took place in Moscow on August 11 & 12, 1989. The mission of the featival was to promote world peace and the international drug war in Russia. Enter the hypocrisy, most of the performing bands were notorious drug users, drinking and drug use were reported backstage. The show performers where Cinderella, Gorky Park, Scorpions, Skid Row, Motley Crue, Ozzy Osbourne and Bon Jovi. Apparently the other bands were unset by perceived special treatment of Bon Jovi. Ozzy even threatened not to perform. The show is considered the peak of the 1980s Glam Metal genre. Many also say that the concert, which exposed Russia to western culture, was an important step on the path to democracy.

A couple interesting bits of trivia about the concert. It was the first time in the Soviet Union that concert goers were ever allowed to dance at a stadium rock concert. Also, it is after this show that Ozzy Osborne apparently tried to kill his wife/manager Sharron Osborne after drinking several bottles of Russian vodka.

Anyways, I thought this Moscow Music Peace Festival shirt and the story were interesting and I wanted to share it with my site visitors. Check out the shirt in more detail here.

Vintage Shirt Spotlight, 1980s U2 Tour Shirts

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 10:39:27 -0500

I've noticed a lot of people visiting the site looking for U2 shirts lately. You've all inspired me to take a look at available vintage U2 shirts. I've notice that vintage U2 shirts demand a high price on eBay. This 1985 shirt from The Unforgettable Fire tour is priced at $149.99, auction info here or take a look at the archive record here.

If you really fancy yourself a U2 fan maybe you will be interested in owning memorbelia from their first US tour in 1981. The shirt is a true rarity and is priced at $349.99, more info here.

The last U2 shirt I'm going to mention is probably my favorite. Its a shirt from U2's War album. This particular shirt is unworn deadstock, it's priced at $200.

Looking For A Sweet Vintage Phish Shirt?

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 09:56:19 -0500

Now that Phish's summer tour is officially over vintage Phish shirts are all the rage. Fans must be digging deep into their closest because there is an exceptional selection of shirts available right now on eBay. If your looking for some real gems or just looking to replace a worn and tattered favorite check out the current inventory of phish shirts.

Pictured to the left is my favorite one currently available to buy now for $34.99. The shirt is Dr Suess inspired Phish McGrup lot style shirt that was originally available in the mid 90s. Its a rare opportunity to own this shirt.

Another Vintage Pearl Jam Shirt, Music For Rhinos

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 10:32:27 -0500

I recently featured the vintage "Choices" Pearl Jam shirt on Band Shirt Archive. Here is another cool Pearl Jam shirt from the very early 1990s that I really like.

Now, I don't have any recollection of this shirt but I'm finding a new respect for Pearl Jam's early shirts. What does "Music For Rhinos" have to do with Pearl Jam? Nothing as far as I can discover and that's what I love about it. Its fun, its different and it has some personality. That's not something you can say about every band shirt you come across.

Make sure you check out the back of this shirt too. It says "Pearl Jam" on the back in a really fun collage writing style. Make sure you check out this shirt in more details. If you like this shirt and what to pick up your own be prepared to spend around $50.

Holy Amazing 1970s Band Shirt Batman!

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 08:30:48 -0500

How many bands can you identify? I came across this awesome band shirt on eBay this morning. The auction listing says the shirt is from 1976. The shirt has an amazing front graphic with drawings of all the popular bands of the day. According to the credits on the shirt the art was done by Pat Ryan - 1976.

I don't know what else to say about this shirt other than it's a real classic and would be a great addition to anybody's collection. The shirt is currently listed for a mere $300.

Check out the shirt in more detail and help me identify all the bands.