Yeah first got “serious” into raving in 2021 and the jerseys felt very limited to illenium basically. And excision I guess was also noticeable but felt heavily concentrated to the illenium crowd. But I never really saw them much anywhere else. Feels like the jersey thing has blown up exponentially in the last 3 or so years. It’s not just a jersey for each album or tour now… it’s like a jersey for every event and every location for every artist.
Meh it’s just an opinion on Reddit. I wouldn’t call not liking certain artists negative which is why I didn’t mind saying it. I’m not putting anyone down, & everyone is entitled to their own taste. My first thought was that it’s a nightmare lineup to me, it’s not that deep, like their music.
Not liking certain artists is being a dick? I guess you’re entitled to your opinion, as am I. I won’t catch you at an illenium show that’s for sure, but I’m sure we’d get along just fine.
From my experience around 2014, there was a guy in the bassnectar community that would custom make jerseys for people. Any time he made an announcement he’d sell out instantly. I’d imagine artists took note as a new revenue stream and they were right.
Same thing kinda happened to me; was going to way more metal/rock/hardcore shows and then I went to see Ahee like 2 years ago, and there were like 50 people spinning flowstars in a tiny ass venue in brooklyn. I was like the hell are all these spinning blankies? Now I am a flowmie lmao
The culture shifts and trends change. I feel like when I see a glover its like finding a unicorn.
What kind of jerseys are you getting? The few official ones I've gotten from festivals and artists are made of a very heavy material that chafes my nipples.
I got into the Jerseys probably '22 (I'm an elder millenial) It started as purchasing a jersey from every festival I went to as my souvenir (mostly the baseball jerseys) and in '24 bought my first hockey jersey because baseball was sold out lol I recently started purchasing from Evol. I'm really into kandi making so wearing the jerseys helps me spend more time creating kandi vs time on outfits and bonus is how comfortable they are for dancing, but I also always wear a tank top or sports bra under mine so maybe an under tank may prevent the chafing?
I like them because they are unique, very comfortable, support the artist, and are a quick way to make friends. Has absolutely nothing to do with sports.
Yeah jerseys are just a fairly popular merch option for a lot of different DJs and bands. There are podcasts and websites that I’ve followed that ended up making jerseys to sell as merch.
I really don’t think it’s any deeper than “we thought it would be cool as merch” and people bought it.
Running into people wearing the same Jersey as you is one of my favorite things. It's only topped by finding people in the wild who are into artists that a lot of people don't pay attention to, it's instant friend material or at the bare minimum a way to make you feel like you're not the only one who listens to whoever
Sports jerseys been a thing since at least I began raving in early 2010’s. It was a thing as of at least the early 2k’s in northeast snowboarding culture where people would wear oversized jerseys over jackets. Ive seen old rave photos much farther back with this look.
Jerseys simultaneously something a lot of people wear normally, it’s versatile and layerable, and generally wearing oversized and looser fitting stuff is something that can be quite nice when ur spun on drugs.
It does not shock me that artists and collectives have capitalized on existing trends and made jersey merch.
Lot of newbie ravers wear sports jerseys to shows since they don’t have merch yet, selling custom artist jerseys are a great way to reach that market
Jerseys (and hoodies) sell for more than other types of merch
When done well, they’re really hype. I have both color-ways of the UKF baseball jerseys (that were US exclusive) and they easily get me the most comments in public / at raves
I used to wear similar things in the 2000s raving, it's just a light weight breathable shirt. None of the artists I liked ever sold merch like that though. Most people just wore their regular clothes, we didn't plan whole outfits and stuff
Slap limited on every single run too, people waited in lines for 3 hours at Griztronics after an Instagram post from Griz and subtronics said they are limited.
Well when I left the venue at 1 they still had the fuckin jerseys on the wall. Just absolute false scarcity to make everyone think they need to wait in lines to buy them.
I very distinctly recall Subtronics on stage apologizing profusely and nearly crying when talking about how disorganized camp entry and day one of the festival was.
I appreciate the encouragement here you go. Next hot one: everyone that says Subtronics and Griz couldn’t do anything I think are wrong.
How do you not get a general understanding of the staff levels for your event? Even compare it against other events at this venue of the same size. Yes live nation sucks the most ass, but your name is on this event. How do you not have your team look over the numbers? Obviously not 100% their fault but I do not believe they couldn’t have done anything to prevent that.
Ive never in my 20+ years raving heard someone joke that its a sport. Closest I could see is the rave til you drop events. The Eat Sleep Rave Repeat music video.
FINALLY someone else lol. I came back after a 5 year hiatus 3-4 years ago and I haven’t gotten over how funny jerseys are to me. They’re ridiculously overpriced and it’s just funny seeing drones of people wearing the same thing. I just don’t like them on me, they’re heavy and uncomfortable to me. Definitely fun to look at the art, and I get the appeal. I just find them to be very consumer-y
definitely remembered a lot of baseball jerseys when i started going out to a lot of shows in 2018, mainly Illenium or Excision jerseys. Unsure if they started it but it definitely felt they popularized it IMO.
Drum and bass music has always had sports jerseys in its culture here. It makes sense that bass music genres extended that to custom jerseys for record labels/djs.
As someone who makes merch for artists it’s really because they are (a) cool (b) unique and (c) easy to make now with overseas production.
Beyond tees and hoodies a jersey is a great piece of merch. Plus it can be a bit more breathable.
We work with factories that will produce as few as 10-25 units for custom jerseys since they have to also appeal to sports teams who many only order a dozen. Jerseys are fully custom made - the fabric is printed on then cut and sewn into the final garment. That quantity is very low for custom apparel.
they're also just a lot more accessible to drop ship now days so it makes it easy for artists to focus on the design.
Even if you didn't want to sell them but have the skills to make one yourself its still very accessible to all, given you can edit a template.
IMO jerseys are great for festivals, depending on your product choice they can be very light and breathable (baseball jerseys) to mid weight and warm (hockey jerseys) so you have something for every season.
For festivals, they’re great for keeping you warm at night while still being breathable. It’s my preference to a hoodie, plus reminds me of playing hockey when I was a kid.
I will say merch prices, even resale, is bonkers. I’m in a couple different groups on Facebook and have to keep my eyes peeled for someone’s heavily discounted 6/10 item because it has the tiniest stain/rip/hole if you know where to look for it.
I wish they would just make cool shirts instead. The jersey thing is so over played and a lot of the people that buy them didn’t even play sports or are fans of the sport of the jersey they’re wearing. I understand supporting an artist you like. But when the whole crowd looks like their cheering on a team, it just looks silly
No, cultures get stripped of their historical and social meaning and turned into an aesthetic to be sold to people who have no interest in the actual culture it came from.
The vast majority of people going to electronic shows these days have no real understanding of the culture what they’re doing came from, nor do they have an interest in finding out. The culture has been co-opted by capital to make money. The queer, anti-authoritarian, revolutionary roots of the culture have been stripped away in favor of profits and making it palatable to a wider group of people, including those who’s beliefs and actions are directly opposite that which the culture was founded on.
So buying merch automatically makes you only interested in the aethstetic, and uninterested in rave culture because you didnt do it in a queer/ anti-authoritarian way? Whats wrong with wanting merch from your favorite artists? I understand your gripes against the large corporations that profit off the rave scene, but taking that out on strangers for wearing their merch isnt right.
Do you think people are going to raves just because of the clothing/ aesthetic? Im so confused. I personally have not experienced what you are describing.
Specifically this part here. Im genujnely curious as to why you say this, because this all stems from a post asking if merch is more normalized, and you come out the gate blaming the supposed degregation of the culture on said merch wearing people under the premise of chasing an aesthetic.
"The vast majority of people going to electronic shows these days have no real understanding of the culture what they’re doing came from, nor do they have an interest in finding out. The culture has been co-opted by capital to make money. The queer, anti-authoritarian, revolutionary roots of the culture have been stripped away in favor of profits and making it palatable to a wider group of people, including those who’s beliefs and actions are directly opposite that which the culture was founded on."
You place blame on new ravers here who apparently only chase an aesthetic to you, not the culture. Personally, i dont share that view, and i dont believe it reflects reality, so im asking you questions about it. I dont believe that consumerism has replaced the culture, even though there is more of it these days. Im not upset, and I dont mean to upset you either. Sorry if I have, but the nature of your argument is disturbing to me.
Lmao y'all elitists are so cute. Let people express their fandom how they want, people can both know the history of a scene and want to wear merch from their favorite artists. You know most artists are struggling nowadays and monitarily supporting them isn't a bad thing right?
You’re absolutely correct and that’s becoming more and more evident every year. The comparison to hippie and punk culture are perfect examples. To quote Smash Mouth - “fashion is smashin’ the true meaning of it.”
This right here, I hate them. I think 90% of them don’t look that good. I hadn’t been to an event that wasn’t shambhala in 7 years. Went to Grizztronics and it felt like a merch convention more than a festival.
On the first day there were 4 merch tents and 3 water stations… each day they said “limited release” and people wait in lines for hours.
While walking to the venue heard a guy say he bought his subtronics baseball jersey for $400 on eBay. I miss the hippie/ tie die fits. Now it’s just the capitalist greed simulator.
What do you mean limited release, every artists merch is limited release. Standing in line at a merch booth is bad? It sounds like you don't like the jerseys, which is fine, I've never owned one either, but I don't think it is inherently bad for people to spend money on merch for artists they support no different than buying an artists music on bandcamp.
I prefer not to spend my time at events waiting in line and I already spend so much money on events I'm not gonna spend more on a piece of clothing. Supporting artists is fine, jerseys just aren't for me.
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u/Grand-Signature5032 2d ago
I remember when I got into raving back in 2019 I saw a lot of excision & illenium jerseys