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Creating an Image
Musicians have long used choreography, stage costumes, set pieces, and novelties to enrich live performances and assert their self-image. Some rock and roll musicians have radically embraced these visual tactics, especially since the advent of stadium concerts and televised spectacles.
The invention of the electric guitar offered early rock performers a new freedom of movement, bringing them out from behind microphones. Chuck Berry capitalized on this with his famed duck walk, setting a bar for subsequent artists.
Specially decorated or designed instruments often become hallmarks of style. Solid-body guitars and basses and electric keyboards can be custom built in nearly any conceivable shape, size, or color. Striking examples on view here include Rick Nielsen's five-neck instrument, Prince's "Love Symbol" guitar, and Lady Gaga's Artpop piano. Other musicians have become so closely identified with a specific instrument over time -- be it highly adorned or notably plain -- that it has become a symbol of their artistic identity.
Representing an array of styles, the selection of ultra-individualistic stage items and instruments in this gallery includes psychedelic and fantastically painted guitars, fabulous costumes, and even the remnants of smashed instruments. |