I don't really enjoy wearing band shirts as much as I used to. One reason is that I got tired of explaining myself in every day, random public settings:
Random Asshat: "What's Dream Theater?"
Me: "They're one of my favorite bands."
RA: "Oh...what kind of music is it?"
Me: "Metal." (I never bother trying to explain "prog." It isn't worth the effort).
RA: "Oh...you like that stuff?" Or, "Oh wow you actually listen to that headbanging shit?"
Me: "Yup." And trying (rather unsuccessfully) to not roll my eyes at them.
Plus, most of the band shirts in my collection are size extra huge, which was fine when I was going through my grunge phase in the 90s and pairing them with JNCO jeans and flannel shirts, but I don't dress that way now. And most "girl" style band shirts are pretty lame- not to mention the fact that they usually don't fit me properly anyway.
Plus in recent years I've discovered that I'm a really a fan of "V-Neck" style shirts. When I wear a normal style t-shirt I feel like I'm being suffocated most of the time.
Plus, I'm now in my 30s, and I feel like whenever I wear jeans and a band shirt I still get treated like I'm a teenager. At my job, we're not required to dress nicely, but I've found that just wearing jeans and a nice shirt garners much more respect than walking around in some Iron Maiden shirt or something with a lot of skulls on it (and again...cue Random Asshat conversation).
The unfortunate thing is that I hate clothes shopping and I can never seem to find shirts that I actually LIKE, so I'm still stuck wearing stupid t-shirts most of the time. Oh the perils of finally accepting that you're becoming an adult and actually wanting to dress like one.
(Please nobody let my mom know this. This is a battle 20 years in the making and I refuse to admit defeat.
)