When I arrived at the Con-Nooga fan convention last weekend, I felt a bit like Alice after she chased the rabbit’s tail down that hole. Even having experienced Chattacon last month, the pervasive costuming at cons takes getting used to.
After a few hours, I didn’t think twice about hobnobbing with Federation ensigns, seeing angels sitting in the laps of pirate lords or, in one case, a dinosaur sharing a bench with Freddy Krueger. To begin with, though, there was a serious tinge of the surreal to the proceedings.
People who’ve never attended a con may poke fun at people wearing costumes outside the rigid confines of Halloween, but I think they’re missing the point.
Donning the face or garb of a pop-culture icon or character is an act of devotion, which of course is at the root of fandom, regardless of the subject of that adoration.
When that occurred to me, I started thinking about “image” in modern, mainstream music and was struck by how few artists I could point to as having a defined, memorable look.
If someone told you to conjure up a mental picture of classic artists like Elvis, David Bowie, Prince, Michael Jackson, James Brown, Axl Rose or Angus Young, you’d probably be able to describe them with little difficulty. As a result, they make fertile ground for costuming choices, and in fact, an Axl Rose look-alike was hosting the con’s Heavy Metal room party.
Try to do the same exercise with modern artists, however, and the task becomes much harder.
There are exceptions to that, of course. Lady Gaga and regional bands like Daikaiju, Protomen and Here Come the Mummies make their appearance a defining feature of their act. But most mainstream artists on the level formerly occupied by Kiss’ demonic outfits are pretty devoid of style.
Musical ability is clearly the most important quality an artist can possess, but the rock-star persona is not unimportant. Part of classic stadium/glam rock’s appeal to me is that the bands seem larger than life. If I could pull it off, I’d totally wear a Steven Tyler or Slash costume.
Modern artists still have the swagger, sure — just look at Kanye West or Adam Lambert. But it couldn’t hurt to have a memorable style as well.
When stars look just like the rest of us, it’s as if either Joe Schmoe is onstage, or we all look like rock stars.
I’ll take Doctor Who or Darth Vader over that any day.