"Hey man, nice shirt!"

At Fire in the Mountains, I heard or said this phase more times than I could count. I'm guessing that everyone who attended had a similar experience. They all probably had a particular shirt that got more attention than the others. For me, it was my Giant Squid shirt with the cover of Monster in the Creek. My friend Scott got a lot of attention for his Insect Ark shirt. 

Fire in the Mountains got me thinking about many things, one of which is how important the humble band shirt is. The tradition of metalheads wearing our favorite bands on our bodies is more than just supporting those bands. It's a calling card, a statement of who we are. For me, the band shirt has legitimately shaped the course of my life. 

Years ago, my wife and our took our infant son to the neighborhood park. We sat in the sand together, our son happily digging his fingers into the grains, throwing it around and making contented noises. There was another couple nearby with their daughter, clearly of a similar age as our kid. The husband in this couple was wearing a new-looking Mastodon shirt.

"You should go talk to him," my wife said, gently teasing.

I made a few excuses at first. Just because this other guy was wearing the shirt of a band I liked didn't mean we'd have anything in common. Even if we did, what then? Was I supposed to get his number and start hanging out with him. That seemed awkward and unlikely. 

But eventually, she convinced me. So I approached him with the opening line of our people.

"Hey man, nice shirt!"

We got to talking. His shirt was from the recent Crack the Skye anniversary tour, one of the few Mastodon shows I'd missed in Minneapolis since I first saw them, which happened to be on the original Crack the Skye tour. Ultimately, I did end up getting that guy's number. Fast forward a few years, and I now count him as one of my close friends. Our kids go to the same school. We hang out regularly, and on Wednesday we'll be going to the Tomahawk/Melvins show together.

Talking to a guy because of his band shirt was the start of a friendship. I'm sure this isn't an uncommon occurrence. Thinking back on it, all of my current friend circle exists because of our shared love of heavy music. We didn't all meet because of shirts - one friend I struck up a conversation with because of a band logo tattoo - but in every case, identifying music as a common interest was the starting point that got us talking. 

I came back from Fire in the Mountains with contact info from several people that I expect will stay in my personal orbit for many years, even if distance separates us. Many of these conversations started because one of us commented on the other one's shirt. I wish I could remember who said this, but on one of the FITM panels, a Native woman panelist said "If I see you wearing a band shirt, I know you're a safe person."

I'm sure that doesn't always hold true, but I completely understand what she's saying. If nothing else, if you're wearing a shirt from a band I appreciate, I know we can connect on at least one thing. And this one thing isn't superficial - wearing a band shirt is a statement of love. You're telling the world "Here's something that speaks to me, something that touches my soul in a way I may or may not be able to articulate." In this way, wearing a band shirt is vulnerable. You're showing the world a band logo. You're also showing the world your heart.

I know this is a lofty thing to say. And I have to admit that when I was a kid who hadn't yet discovered my love of heavy music, I found the metal kids at school with their Metallica shirts with the Pushead art to be absolutely terrifying. But I think it's truer now than ever before.

Yesterday, I was at a waterpark with my son, his friend, and his friend's dad. This other father and I were talking about all the tattoos we'd seen that day. This other dad said something to the effect of "I think people today need to show more of who they are on the outside because it's harder than ever to get people to know who you are on the inside."

He was specifically talking about tattoos, but those words are every bit as true about the humble band shirt. My shirts are an extension of who I am on the inside. If you're reading this, I'm guessing you probably feel the same way.

All hail the band shirt.