I like going out after concerts (who doesn’t?), but over the years I’ve grown weary of the stares and chuckles that I always get when I show up to a bar or restaurant in my tails and frilly shirt. I get enough wise comments from people just carrying my dang instrument around, so I try to minimize this kind of stuff in my off hours.

As a result, I often bring a different shirt or something that I can quickly swap out for m evening wear. I usually leave my tux pants on, though, which makes me look like a guy with a taste for striped polyester pants but at least gets me out of the jacket and tux shirt.

After leaving a concert recently, I mentioned to one of the other musicians that I’d be meeting them at a local joint, but I was going to ditch the jacket and shirt first.

“Good idea,” she said. “You don’t want to be mistaken for who you really are.”

There are a lot of levels to that statement!

The ultimate dorky outfit

I have learned over the years that when I’m headed to a concert, I’d better be sure to have my tux pants on, no matter what. I used to just take a chance and head out of the house with my all my formal wear in a garment bag, but several uncomfortable experiences changing in a nasty or crowded bathroom has taught me that unless I am going to a place where I know there are dressing rooms, I’d better get those tux pants on before leaving my front door.

Following this rule can lead to some very comical situations! For example, my wife and I were headed to a performance I was giving, but we had a bunch of time to go hiking before the concert. This wasn’t bushwhacking or extreme climbing, just a nice trail in the forest, so I felt OK wearing my tux pants.

Perhaps the fact that I would even consider hiking it tux pants says something about the unusual outlook of musicians.. or maybe it just indicates that I’m a loon.

I knew that the trail would be a little muddy, so I decided to put on my tennis shoes. I glanced at my wife as I was doing this, who was laughing hysterically at my idiotic “hiking gear.”

To make matters worse, I’d only brought ankle socks, so it looked like I was wearing tux pants and white shoes with no socks.

Classy!

I got a few quizzical looks from fellow hikers while on that trail, and my wife undoubtedly thought that I was a dorkus maximus, but what can I say? Maybe this should be my new day-to-day look!