ever played live indoors with sunglasses on?

axisus · May 2019

It occurred to me how weird it was that Joe Satriani has played live for a great many years always with sunglasses on. I would have thought that it would make it more difficult to play?

His reason:
"The sunglasses thing happened as a joke. I surprised my band one tour by showing up with my head shaved. And they were so horrified that they said I had to wear a hat and glasses or they wouldn’t stop laughing on stage. Then I realized that having that curtain to hide behind allowed me to be more creative and feel less self-conscious. My buddy Sammy Hagar feels the same way. He says he can't go on stage without sunglasses because he's so embarrassed to be a singer. He's the last person you’d expect to think that way."

Slash is another wearer:
"I rarely look out at the crowd. It makes me very uncomfortable to look directly into the face of the crowd. I'm in my own little world, playing my guitar. I play from the heart - but it's very insular. I think it was just a hangover thing that turns into an everyday thing. Now, wherever you go, everybody's got camera phones, taking your picture, and you just end up never taking the shades off."

I don't play live myself, but I hate situations in life when I'm the centre of attention and people look at me (eg my wedding!), so I think if I ever played live I would have to get some sunglasses and get practicing with them!

Philtre · May 2019

I always play gigs with a pair of Joo Janta 200 Super-Chromatic Peril Sensitive Sunglasses

EricTheWeary · May 2019

Joe Bonamassa wears sunglasses live and I've read dozens of comments slagging him off for this but he says he's sensitive to bright lights and can't really play live without them.

I think I've done it once but now I'd need varifocal prescription sunglasses otherwise it would effectively root me to the spot.

steven70 · May 2019

Yeah I used to do it all the time, and yes honestly, tried to practice with them on, dimly lit room etc. I found cheap ones often worked better. The reasons were same as above, eye contact etc Only downside it can create some psychological distance between you and other band members. Rare occasions I gig these days, have a pair on my head - I know they are there and can slip them on if a meltdown is imminent. Crazy really...

thecolourbox · May 2019

Yes I do it sometimes, mostly because I'm that cool but also allows you to zone out

stickyfiddle · May 2019

EricTheWeary said:

Joe Bonamassa wears sunglasses live and I've read dozens of comments slagging him off for this but he says he's sensitive to bright lights and can't really play live without them.

I think I've done it once but now I'd need varifocal prescription sunglasses otherwise it would effectively root me to the spot.

I have no issue with JoBl wearing sunglasses. I just wish he wore sunglasses that looked good.

I wear glasses all the time which is more my “thing”, I guess. That said, I rarely step outside in daylight without sunglasses, so I would be fairly happy to indoors as well if it felt appropriate to a specific band

ICBM · May 2019

Yes.

Stage lights can be really bright.

thecolourbox · May 2019

That's a lovely waist coat as well @ICBM ;

fastonebaz · May 2019

I wore sunglasses on stage when I was the guitarist in Rock if Ages. I felt like the coolest dude in the world.

I've never worn them for a gig though. Think I'd sweat too much and wouldn't be able to see

p90fool · May 2019

Sunglasses in a pub gig are in the grey ponytail bracket for me, sorry.

pintspiller · May 2019

My specs have reactive lenses, so I possibly do for a short while

Gassage · May 2019

So, on the last Gilmour tour, the band wore sunnies for Run Like Hell (see clip) as the lighting was giving them headaches (I know the clip below is outdoors, but it made no odds in or out)

First night of the tour, Guy Pratt told me that I shouldn't watch Run Like Hell on two shows consecutively without wearing sunnies due to the intensity of the coloured strobes. The glasses also allowed the players to see their instruments better. I laughed.

I saw the first 3 shows (yes, I saw 16 shows in all) and by day 3, I had a migraine of epic proportions. It was ridiculous. So it's not always to look cool.

drwiddly · May 2019

I wore sunglasses for an indoor gig once years ago. I thought I looked very cool but with hindsight, I probably looked a bit of a nob.

PolarityMan · May 2019

Once also with accompanying cowboy hat...was for a specific gig though, the singer wore a wizard hat, the bassist had a robe and the drummer had a jesters hat.

hassleham · May 2019

I would do it if i didn't feel like a bell end wearing sunglasses to an indoor wedding haha. I wore them for a metal gig once and it helped me feel less self-conscious.

Gregory Porter is another person who does this!

Image: https://assets.jazziz.com/uploads/2017/09/GregoryPorter2.jpg

Ossyrocks · May 2019

Once.

Years ago my band played a gig in a marquee in a farmers field for some kind of family occasion. It had been a warm sunny day, so I wore my sunglasses (prescription) to get there and setup. Come the evening I couldn't find my actual glasses in the car so I had no choice but to wear my sunglasses all evening.

Driving home at 1am in the dark was......interesting!

I found my specs the following day under a seat in the car.

Duh!

EricTheWeary · May 2019

hassleham said:

I would do it if i didn't feel like a bell end wearing sunglasses to an indoor wedding haha. I wore them for a metal gig once and it helped me feel less self-conscious.

Gregory Porter is another person who does this!

IIRC Gregory has scarring which he chooses to cover up. I saw him live a couple of years ago, tremendous stuff but it was an outdoor gig on a hot day so I kept thinking about how sweaty his head was.

Philtre · May 2019

drwiddly said:

I wore sunglasses for an indoor gig once years ago. I thought I looked very cool but with hindsight, I probably looked a bit of a nob.

Yes, that's what I heard. ;-)

Gassage · May 2019

I always make a point of assuming that anyone wearing sunglasses indoors is a professional TIG Welder.

Dave_Vader · May 2019

Sometimes the lights are so bright I have to

FatPete · May 2019

I did, back in the late eighties when I played in one of those goth/country and western bands - and a hat - and, sometimes, a scarf thing over my nose and mouth. It didn't make operating a non-backlit lcd drum machine any easier.

I'm second from the right, just in case any of you were wondering what I look like.

thecolourbox · May 2019

What on earth is a Goth country and Western band? Any listening suggestions??

Blueingreen · May 2019

Have worn sunglasses onstage/indoors but playing bass in a disco/funk band where part of the act was silly outfits. So glitter, wigs, fake moustaches, fezs, African robes etc etc, and shades extending from the orthodox to Bootsy-ish star-shaped or heart-shaped ones in pink green or yellow. Nobody's idea of cool, but good times.

ICBM · May 2019

thecolourbox said:

That's a lovely waist coat as well @ICBM ;

Genuine Chinese silk from Hong Kong

.

I'm surprised you noticed anything about what I was wearing in that pic though

.

thecolourbox · May 2019

ICBM said:

thecolourbox said:

That's a lovely waist coat as well @ICBM ;

Genuine Chinese silk from Hong Kong .

I'm surprised you noticed anything about what I was wearing in that pic though .

I noticed the Dano as well

soma1975 · May 2019

Aside from medical exemption people - Sunglasses inside people are worse than Hitler. Looks like a 5 year old playing dress up at being cool. To one-up that I filmed an interview with someone the other day who wore shades inside AND a mackintosh. And then we went outside AND HE CHANGED HIS JACKET!

Like that was his special indoor mackintosh.

AGH!

ICBM · May 2019

Ossyrocks said:

Years ago my band played a gig in a marquee in a farmers field for some kind of family occasion. It had been a warm sunny day, so I wore my sunglasses (prescription) to get there and setup. Come the evening I couldn't find my actual glasses in the car so I had no choice but to wear my sunglasses all evening.

That's pretty much how Roy Orbison started the whole 'rock stars wear sunglasses all the time' thing. He was very shortsighted, and left his normal glasses on the plane when he'd flown somewhere, meaning that he had to wear his prescription sunglasses for the rest of the day.

Wearing them indoors normally does make you look a complete prat, but if you think you'd never wear them on stage, you've probably never played in a venue with a low ceiling and a 1KW par can just above eye level right in front of you... like that pic above.

Flanging_Fred · May 2019

I might start wearing sunglasses while gigging.

On Saturday there was an actual real life pretty blonde lady that kept looking at me, smiling and appearing to enjoy our performance.

it was utterly terrifying and I can’t be doing with that sort of nonsense. I’m going to hide next time and maybe put on a big floppy hat and fake moustache.

ESBlonde · May 2019

Did a few gigs as part of a blue bros band many years ago. Someone thought it would look cool if we all wore cheap matching sunglasses. I suppose Image was important, but they came off after about 3 songs along with the sweat inducing jacket. Couldn't see sweet FA and we had to work to a score for a lot of it.

StageStruck · May 2019

I've done it once at an early evening summertime gig as I'd left the house my prescription sunglasses on. I'd forgotten my contact lenses and would have been gubbed for seeing much without the sun glasses on!

TJT1979 · May 2019

Our band occasionally go for a certain look, depending on the event (Blues Brothers suits & shades for example). I've tried the sunglasses but I prefer to be able to see the side dots more clearly. Also I actually enjoy the eye contact with the crowd.

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ever played live indoors with sunglasses on?

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