Given all the serious stuff going on in the world, I thought I'd lighten it up a bit with something that whilst important to me, can be deemed mostly trivial... my collection of heavy metal t-shirts. I was sorting through my wardrobe and found my box of t-shirts, packed nice and neatly about 18 months ago prior to the house knockdown / rebuild. Here's the pic of the t-shirts from that box, and a few tales to accompany;


So, we have from right to left, top to bottom the following t-shirts;

• Alice In Chains, "Angry Chair". First time I met Skogg he was wearing this shirt, as was I from memory :)
• Skid Row, "Youth Gone Wild". Bought on a high school trip down to Melbourne. One of the first t-shirts I bought.
• Guns N' Roses, "Bad Apples". Mint condition from their '93 Aussie tour.
• Rage Against The Machine, "Nuns with Guns". Bought on their Evil Empire tour.
• Skid Row, "Slave To The Grind". Bought on the '93 Aussie tour with GNR
• Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Blood Sugar Sex Magik". A favourite through Year 12, as the fading can testify to.
• Cypress Hill, "Insane in the Brain Tour". This shirt is HUGE.
• Soundgarden, "Superunknown". Purchased with the album on the day it came out.
• Cypress Hill, "Black Sunday". Another Year 12 favourite.
• Alice In Chains, "Dirt". My favourite AIC t-shirt (and I have a few)
• Metallica, "Birth School Metallica Death". Never really liked this t-shirt, but it was a tour shirt from memory.
• Nine Inch Nails, "Wish". Home made t-shirt :)
• Led Zeppelin, "Swansong". My second Zep t-shirt.
• Metallica, "...And Justice For All (White)". This is, without a doubt, a kickass t-shirt. Has the first four albums on the back. Classic.
• Dr. Dre, "The Chronic". The only Dre t-shirt I could find, didn't get a lot of wear in Year 12, as you could imagine.
• Alice In Chains, "Dirt Tour".
• Pantera, "Far Beyond Driven Tour". This was, disappointingly, a bit small. Great show though.
• Alice In Chains, "Sickman".
• Body Count, "Police chief". Long sleeve, great imagery, wore a fair bit in Year 12.
• Devin Townsend, "Infinity Tour". Signed by Devin.
• Ozzy Osbourne, "Tour". Pretty boring t-shirt actually, but a nice reminder of the show
• Korn, "Tour"
• Guns N' Roses, "Uzi Suicide". Pretty rare t-shirt (long sleeved)
• Led Zeppelin, "Swansong Tie-Dye". My first Zep t-shirt, got a LOT of wear.
• Metallica, "Sad But True". Always loved the colours on this shirt.
• Faith No More, "King for a Day Tour"
• Guns N' Roses, "Illusion Tour"
• Metallica, "...And Justice For All (Black)". Another classic 'tallica shirt. Simple but effective.
• You Am I, "Uptight Express Tour". I think on the back of the Hourly Daily tour.
• Metallica, "The Unforgiven". Another tour shirt from memory.
• Def Leppard, "Pyromania". Great band back then... got pretty freakin' soft later on unfortunately.
• Pink Floyd, "Dark Side of The Moon".
• Dream Theater, "Systematic Chaos Tour". A new t-shirt, from last year. Should see how many dates are on the back!
• Guns N' Roses, "Get In The Ring Tour". My favourite GNR top.
• Coheed and Cambria, "2006 Tour"
• Megadeth, "Rust In Peace allover print". This is my "metal street cred" shirt that I wear to gigs. Love it.
• Big Day Out, "2003"
• Megadeth, "Countdown to Extinction". Freebie with a CD purchase, rarely worn
• Nine Inch Nails, "The Downward Spiral". Another classic t-shirt, wore this a lot over the years.

I did however, on reflection realise I had a few t-shirts missing... where were my Bungle t-shirts? After some more hunting, I found some more :)

• Mr. Bungle, "None of them knew". A favourite t-shirt of mine
• RRR.
• Guns N' Roses, "Illustion Tour USA".
• Alternative Nation, "1995". This t-shirt has been officially retired (starting to fall apart)
• Beastie Boys "Sardine Can Tour".
• Coachella, "2003". Such a world of memories tied up with this t-shirt.
• Nine Inch Nails, "The Fragile Tour"
• Rollins, "Spoken Word Tour"
• The Cure, "Dream Tour"
• Pearl Jam, "Riot Act Tour"
• Guns N' Roses, "I Used To Love Her". This is one of the earliest GNR shirts (and probably my most faded shirt as well)
• Opeth, "Blackwater Park Tour"
• Mr. Bungle, "Disco Volante Tour". Love a good scary clown t-shirt.
• Rollins, "He's 40! Tour"

And then in the end I also realised that I missed a couple more t-shirts; G3, Big Day Out 2000 and the "one" I lost - Faith No More's "The Real Thing" white t-shirt, which didn't survive Alternative Nation unfortunately...