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An audience member up front gets video taped during the DJ Dyro at the F Shed at the Regional Market in 2014.

(Michael Greenlar | mgreenlar@syracuse.com)

A few years back, I went to see a Phish concert with a friend of mine, who is a lawyer. Let's call him Brian, even though his name is Kevin.

During the set break, we got talking to a dreadlocked gentleman nearby. After a few minutes, our new friend took notice of Brian's footwear: White, New Balance sneakers.

"You must be a cop, man," he observed.

Try as we might, we could not convince this young man that Brian was not undercover police. He got spooked and refused to talk to us the rest of the show. That's a Phish fan for you.

I've been to a bunch of concerts with Brian since then. He's never again worn white sneakers.

You see, Brian violated an unwritten concert rule: Know the dress code. You don't wear a tie to a rock show. You don't wear flip flops and salmon shorts to a metal show (like I did at my first K-Rockathon). You never wear the shirt of the band you're going to see (don't be that guy). And you don't wear white sneakers when you see Phish.

The incident got me thinking: Every concert has a vibe, a demographic and a sort of musical uniform. Of course freedom of expression and blah, blah, so wear whatever you want. But I decided to offer concertgoers (at least the male ones) some advice on how to dress for a concert, based on my experiences.

You're welcome.

Allman Brothers Band: Any Allman Brothers tour shirt from the last 40 years. Must be able to recite which show you saw on that tour and why it was the best one.

Eric Clapton: Blue Levi's with a tucked in T-shirt. Flip phone clipped to your belt.

Buddy Guy: Blue Levi's with a tucked in T-shirt. Beeper clipped to your belt.

Ted Nugent: Blue Levi's with a tucked in T-shirt. Gun clipped to your belt.

Jimmy Buffett: A T-shirt from a bar you visited on vacation in Florida 10 years ago. It should say something like "Wild Willy's Whistle Whetter" and have a cartoon fish on the back. If that fails, anything Hawaiian or a wearable alcohol container.

Paul McCartney: A suit. Because the dude's a Beatle. And you should wear a suit to anything that costs $250 per ticket.

Willie Nelson: Just, like, whatever, man.

Snoop Dogg: Just, like, whatever, dogg.

O.A.R.: Your lacrosse jersey from high school.

Dave Matthews: Your lacrosse jersey from college.

Ed Sheeran: An entire can of Axe body spray.

Bush: Your "Bush rocks!" shirt.

The Dixie Chicks: Your "Bush sucks!" shirt.

Pearl Jam: An untucked, unbuttoned flannel that you're a little too old and too fat for now.

Phish: Whatever you found on the floor of your room that morning.

Grateful Dead: Whatever you found on the floor of your van that morning.

Disco Biscuits: Whatever you found at the bottom of your trash can that morning.

Miley Cyrus: Something someone threw up on once.

Ke$ha: Something a bunch of people threw up on once.

Kanye West: Something from the Kardashian Kollection.

Luke Bryan: A cowboy hat you bought at Wal-Mart and have never used while wrangling cattle.

Kid Rock: One of those "I'm with stupid" T-shirts with the arrow pointing up.

Lynyrd Skynyrd: Your best cutoff jean shorts.

Charlie Daniels Band: Your worst cutoff jean shorts.

Skrillex: Anything you've seen in a Mad Max movie.

Black Keys: An Arcade Fire shirt (worn ironically)

Kings of Leon: An Arcade Fire shirt (worn non-ironically)

Arcade Fire: Anything but an Arcade Fire shirt.

Chris Baker is the music writer for the Post-Standard and Syracuse.com. He wore a tie to a Macklemore concert once. Contact him: Email | Twitter | Google+