I remember playing a basement show in 96 during the winter and it was remarkably warm that day and extremely hot in the basement so I stripped between songs. By the end of the set I was in boxers and socks.
I also did a show at some point in 2000 at The Ottobar wearing a jumpsuit with only boxers on underneath and once again, it was too hot. It was down around my ankles by the time we were done.

The first time I saw the band Silkworm play I had no idea what to expect, I'd been a fan of their records for years but didn't know what they looked like in person or whether they'd put on a good live show. When they came out to set up I remember thinking that in particular the drummer, Michael Dahlquist was older than I imagined him being. That night, with his tight beard and big shirt tucked in to high-wasted pants he looked more like a high school teacher than the person responsible for the massive, passionate drumming on Silkworm's records. He also had this playful goofiness about him that set him in stark contrast to his band mates who looked very serious and business like setting up their gear that night. He finished putting his drums together rather quickly and sat waiting for the others, smiling and cracking jokes with the audience, I actually felt a bit nervous for him at that point wondering how he was going to pull it off!

Just then the three of them looked at each other and acknowledged their readiness to begin... at this point Dahlquist's face changed altogether, his eyes flashed, he WHIPPED OFF his shirt, picked up his drum sticks and proceeding hitting the drums as hard as any drummer I've ever seen! It was incredible to watch! I'm sure it would have been equally so had he left the shirt on but the fact that he elected to remove it added an element of daring and humour that brought the performance to a whole other level.

I think it says a lot about a person when they decide to remove their clothing during a musical performance and sadly, it's rare to see someone's topless-ness enhance the quality of the show. Michael Dahlquist was one of the few people I've seen do it with grace and intelligence.

I saw a band open the show at the Empty Bottle recently and before the band even began, the drummer took off his shirt and put on some batting gloves and then even before they started their first song someone was already shouting for him to put the shirt back on. Very funny.

Are you very hot? Then take your shirt off. Better that than passing out. Looking at you is secondary to hearing you.

Not crap.