Ok, I am outing myself as the frequent 2-space-after-a-period miscreant. [NOTE: The linked thread was previously private and able to be seen only by the eyes of RTH thread authors. Those who are weak of heart may want to avoid this thread altogether. – Mr Mod.] I am willing to go public about my history and difficulties with following the Mr. Moderator Rules of Spacing After Periods. I am willing to do this to
- Be transparent in this day and age of taking ownership for one’s public faux pas
- Promote further discussion and/or
- Incite a revolution.
For the years I have been writing for this blog, Mod has been bugging me off line about seeing the error of my ways, and calmly correcting my posts. Little did I know that Mr. Royale, in a very well kept to himself breach of marital fidelity, has been siding with Mod all along.
But enough of the Grammar and Punctuation Police.
How would this tight-ass set of rules—I mean common—understanding of spacing and punctuation, relate to the World of Rock?
Are there some Rules of Rock that you learned back in the day and now find out are just so outdated? Is there a (tight-ass) set of Rules of Rock that are just meant to be broken? Is there some band/musician/style of music/song that has helped you see the error of your ways?
I look forward to your responses.
Mmm, these are some tough questions for me to answer. As a rule follower (and maker) I usually gravitate toward rules, at least those I immediately sense I care to uphold. I probably don’t give a second thought to rules presented to me that I know I’ll never follow. Let me think about this and see if I can distinguish some rules I’ve learned were meant to be broken from those I simply am incapable of properly following (eg, singing harmonies on-key – I simply struggle with pitch, it’s not like I don’t want to sing properly).
Oh wait! There’s one rule I definitely feel is made to be broken: keeping consistent time. In most cases, I think it helps when a song speeds up a little bit during the middle eight or solo. I would never use a click track or worry too much about a song’s tempo changing a bit, if the performance is happening.
I rigidly adhere to 2 spaces after a period and will continue to do so. Because it’s the right thing to do. And that’s why. Viva la revolution!
Not a big fan of rules in rock, but I do adhere to the one space rule.
Will someone please explain the rule that “you never wear a band’s T-shirt to their concert?”.
Why is it so different from wearing a jersey to your local arena or stadium to cheer on your fave team. What is the origin of this rule and who’s is policing it?
For the record the only time I’ve worn a band’s shirt is after buying it at the merch table and not wanting to carry it around all night.
Also, I’m totally against a band member wearing their own or another band shirt unless it’s part of an overall uniform.
The Stones often wore their own shirts. I’m a sports guy. I say wear your it your team’s colors if you want. Break that rule!
I like when musicians say nice things about or wear shirts for other musicians.
It does annoy me when people wear band tour t-shirts and didn’t go to a show on that tour.
My brother made fun of the Ramones wearing their own t-shirts, like that was ridiculous or something. They were sort of on their own there, but that was one of the many rules they broke at the time that probably no longer exist.
Mr. Mod says the Stones wore their own shirts but I don’t think I’ve ever seen them wear t-shirts of any kind, except maybe sleeveless designer ones on Mick? Weren’t they from the pre-T-shirt era?
Photos like this are what I had in mind, Suburban Kid:
http://blog.toryburch.com/wp-content/uploads/TODO_RollingStones_960x650.jpg
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ub_28_RTB50/Ug1ObkquswI/AAAAAAAAz9k/RfjnTvr98kU/s1600/the-rolling-stones.jpg
Maybe it was only Mick who was pushing the brand, but I thought it was fine for him to do.
It seemed like “back in the day,” you wore the band’s t-shirt as a badge of honor for attending the band’s show. Nowadays (notice: decline into old fartdom coming up), kids can buy a Led Zep or Pink Floyd or whatever t-shirt at Lucky or Urban Outfitters or wherever. Whereas I can admire that these young-uns are digging up the music of their elders, it is laughable to think they were attending one of those concerts. Perhaps the question should be Could Someone Please Explain children and teens wearing a concert shirt or t-shirt from a band who hasn’t performed in 20 years or more?
Going back to cliff’s original question, I do like going to shows and seeing the former concert t-shirts in the crowd. It’s like checking out a favorite book and comparing which edition’s cover you like best.
It does seem like there are more Rock Rules about fashion than there are music. Old rules about admitting to using voice software, auto tune, etc. seem to have gone by the wayside and used flagrantly and proudly.
Was there ever a “rule” about interacting with the audience? That seemed to have been trashed in the ’90’s with the Shoe Gaze bands and/or Cat Power.
The only time I think a consistent tempo should be maintained is during a dance performance to live music. If the dancers aren’t aware that a tempo change is going to occur, it can be pretty anxiety-producing. Changing movements to adapt to a slower or faster tempo than was choreographed or practiced can change the piece pretty significantly.
Hey, did Mod change your spacing of your response, then? Or has the RTH powers that be autocorrected our answers for the Good God of Style?
I can explain young people wearing old shirts today: new bands blow. If given the choice to wear a faux-vintage Stones shirt or a stinking Mumford & Sons shirt, it’s understandable that a kid would choose the Stones.
I did not change the spacing in his comment. The day I start editing comments, beyond an occasional correct of a typo on the poster’s behalf, is the day I really need to get a life.
By the way, ladymiss, you loaded this post with probably the greatest tag item ever!
🙂 Just funning with ya. But I’ve been playing with this in the comments section and there does seem to be an autocorrect feature. Watch: that was two spaces. This is one. Any difference?
I think a confounding factor may be that older bands’ t-shirts have iconographic logos. I don’t know any current bands that I would buy their shirts because the design/font/logo was way cool.
That said, at new band shows, I tend to buy the posters rather than the t-shirts as they seem to be more visually interesting.
Anyone out there buying a new band t-shirt??? Did you buy it for the sentiment or the visual style?
? The .? If so, that was probably unintentional.
I’m guilty of this. I have a Springsteen shirt (from a concert I went to), a shirt each from Roger Daltrey’s Tommy tour a couple years ago and his and Pete Townshend’s Quadrophenia tour. But I also have a bunch of shirts for bands I’ve never seen live, including some that broke up before I was born: The Smiths, the Decemberists, Arcade Fire, Blur, XTC, Spoon, the Weakerthans, Superchunk, the Replacements, Future of the Left, and maybe one or two that I’m forgetting.
Ah, I see. I sort of remember that now.