Wardrobe: What to Wear to See Tomahawk at the 9:30 Club

Gman and I have been pining to see a concert at the 9:30 Club since we moved to DC but due to laziness in checking the schedule, we hadn’t. So when we found out that one of Gman’s absolute favorite bands, Tomahawk, was playing there, we jumped at the chance to finally check it out. I really liked the venue. Pretty much any place you stood seemed like a good spot and it was rather intimate. I’m not sure that I have to say this, but obviously they didn’t have a wine list. I was very glad to see one of my favorite beers from our Dogfish Head exploration, Raison D’Etre, on tap - a little too timely, no?

Gman has a thing for Mike Patton. He’s the talented front man of Tomahawk and also lead other groups you might be familiar with: Faith No More and Mr. Bungle. I became well acquainted with his work through Gman. What I like about Mr. Patton is that he isn’t afraid to explore new sounds or ways of composing a song. Over the years he has developed as an artist without losing himself. For instance, his album Mundo Cane sounds lounge-y and is mostly in Italian. He sings Deep Deep Down with a live orchestra, too. I think Mr. Patton would get a kick out of John Cage’s 4’33” (hooray for art history!).

I wasn’t sure what exactly to wear, as choosing something for a rock concert was completely out of my usual ensemble selection purview. However, I do have two pairs of Vans and thought this the perfect occasion to put one of them to good use. I ended up wearing skinny jeans and one of Gman’s button-up shirts to try and channel his enthusiasm. I had a lot of fun at the show and it reminded me that I really like going to live shows and need to go more often.

Here are a few observations from the evening, for your enjoyment:

My favorite Tomahawk song was played second.

As every song started Gman would say with a twinkle in his eye, “This is my favorite song!” with one exception later in the set when he shouted to me, “this one’s called Rape This Day.” I think this one might actually be his favorite.

The guy next to me was in the zone rockin’ out as if no one else was around. I assumed he was on something and I had fun trying to follow his rhythm vs the band’s.

Most people there were in their mid-thirties and the crowd was really relaxed, just listening to the music. The two men standing in front of us put earplugs in as the music started. They were about the dorkiest twosome I’ve seen and yet I could hear them making fun of everyone else there.

There were a lot of interesting tattoos and variations on the mullet hidden beneath ball caps.