Concerts And Jerseys - Part 1

It's that magical time of year where people take to the streets, end up in fields, camp in weird locations, and drive all day and night just to see a specific musician or band in concert! Summers are always going to be a season where music fills the landscapes across this nation, and there's likely a good chance that one or two of those musicians will return home with some new clothing thanks to hockey teams and arenas playing host to those musicians in their rinks. I haven't done one of these articles in a while, so I'll warn you that this is a two-part article today and tomorrow. In saying that, your Friday and Saturday stop on HBIC are all about musicians in hockey jerseys!

We're going to go in alphabetical order, but not all teams will have a new musical friend about whom they can boast. There are some teams who acquired many musical friends thanks to their seemingly consistent donation of jerseys to bands who land in their arenas, but that's just how this puck bounces. There are a lot of musicians on this list, though, so let's get going!

The Anaheim Ducks saw a bunch of artists make their ways through the Honda Centre in Anaheim. Those artists included Grammy Award-winning Latino artist Pepe Aguilar who got an incredible "Petos de Anaheim" jersey, Shania Twain in a retro Mighty Ducks jersey, Shinedown's Brent Smith in a retro Mighty Ducks jersey, Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman and Jonah Nimoy of The Offspring who "wanted a 13, but got a 31" in retro Mighty Ducks jerseys, and rapper Maxo Kream got himself a home Ducks jersey. That's not a bad lineup for an Anaheim concert!

The Boston Bruins welcomed a number of acts to TD Garden after the pandemic lifted, but not many came away with jerseys, it seems. Post Malone was sure to score one on his trip through Boston. The other group that got at least one jersey was Hillsong United who I had never heard of before, but apparently they're some sort of worship collective that's part of the Hillsong Church, and they write music and release albums. Again, not really my cup of tea musically or religiously, but here's lead singer and worship leader Taya Gaukrodger wearing a Bruins jersey.

The two images you'll see of Buffalo Sabres jerseys both go back to the black-and-red era, but that, to me, makes them more awesome to see. While the first photo is small, both Lisa Loeb and Sarah McLachan were a part of Lilith Fair which never stopped in Buffalo, yet both artists were snapped wearing Sabres jerseys. Another musician wearing the black-and-red of the Sabres in the 1990s was Kerry King of Slayer who was doing a radio interview in the city as Slayer stopped there. Kudos to John M. for finding the King photo!

Ready to feel old? You may remember Bryan Littrell from his time with the Backstreet Boys. Well, he got older and got married and had a child. Said child is now following dad's footsteps into music as Baylee Littrell is working to establish himself on the country music scene, and he received a Carolina Hurricanes jersey while touring through Raleigh. With the Backstreet Boys having their own Hurricanes jerseys, I believe this is the first father-son duo to have worn the same team's jersey!

The Chicago Blackhawks apparently were a popular team for musicians to wear in jersey from the 1970s right through to today. We'll start going back in time to catch Kate Bush wearing what looks like a Bobby Orr Blackhawks jersey. We'll add English guitarist Alvin Lee to the Blackhawks mix as well. Moving more into today's realm of music, rapper Roddy Ricch was on-stage in a Jonathan Toews Blackhawks jersey. Rapper J. Cole owns part of the NBA's Charlotte Hornets, but he may have been a Chicago Blackhawks fan at one point. Rapper Freddie Gibbs was also spotted wearing a Chicago Blackhawks jersey.

The Columbus Blue Jackets used to hand out Blue Jackets-branded robes to a lot of musicians, but they seem to be falling in line with every other team more recently. Case in point is Post Malone getting a Blue Jackets jersey for his concert in Columbus. What's weird, though, is that Taylor Swift - someone who has a closet full of hockey jerseys - played Columbus and I can find no visual evidence that she ever got a jersey. I'll have to keep looking, I guess.

The Dallas Stars added a few famous musicians or former musicians on this article. We'll start with a man whose music is still popular after his passing as Prince appears to have adopted the Dallas Stars as his team following the move from Minnesota. We can add former musician Mark "Marky Mark" Wahlberg to Dallas' list thanks to his friendship with Max Domi. Rapper Maxo Kream makes another appearance as he was wearing a Dallas Stars alternate jersey at some point. And Lisa Umbarger of the Toadies is a huge Dallas sports fan and likes to wear jerseys during concerts as evidenced by her old-school Dallas Stars jersey from back in the day along with a new Stars "victory green" jersey more recently!

As we know, Canadian crooner Michael Bublé has all sorts of jerseys at his disposal so it was a little surprising that it took him this long to get a Detroit Red Wings jersey, but he can check that team off the list now.

We might as well keep going with the Michael Bublé fun because he now has himself one of those terrible navy blue Oilers alternates as well. Canadian Bryan Adams took the stage in Edmonton wearing a Wayne Gretzky Oilers jersey. Country musicians Old Dominion sported the road Oilers jerseys in their Edmonton concert. Shania Twain got herself a blue Edmonton Oilers jersey during her stop in the city. Country singer Thomas Rhett picked up a personalized jersey when visiting Edmonton. And Freddie Gibbs wore an older Oilers jersey at some point during his musical career.

The Stanley Cup finalists can add five new fans to their list of musical fans as the Backstreet Boys stopped in Sunrise and got themselves Florida Panthers jerseys for their efforts!

We already know guitarist Daron Malakian from System of a Down was a Los Angeles Kings fan, and he certainly can claim the title after appearing in a Kings alternate jersey on-stage. Mexican rapper Erick Raúl Alemán Ramírez, better known as Alemán, was seen in a Wayne Gretzky Los Angeles Kings jersey. Rapper Jeezy was sporting a Vintage-branded Gretzky Kings jersey during a visit to whatever Staples Center is called now. The Cure's Robert Smith has a 1990s-era Los Angeles Kings jersey in his collection. Rapper Warren G was working the board and doing a little deejaying at an LA Kings game in proper attire. And the legendary Phil Collins of Genesis wore the gold jersey during Los Angeles' purple-and-gold era in their history!

The Minnesota Wild have new musical fans as well. In our second faith-related musical group to join the musicians wearing jerseys, the guitarist from Maverick City Music, Elijah Kaiween, took the stage in a Minnesota Wild jersey. Dude Perfect is better known for their zany and crazy videos, but they played a Minnesota gig in Wild jerseys after releasing their only song to date. Sir Brian Harold May CBE, better known as Brian May from Queen, played concert in Minnesota while wearing the former red home jersey. I had never heard of American singer-songwriter Ber before, but the Minnesota-born Berit Dybing played a gig in St. Paul at the Xcel Energy Center where she wore the home team's colours!

Out final act tonight lands us in Montreal where the Canadiens rule the sports and entertainment business. However, a few musical acts blended the "sports" and "entertainment" parts together. Bill Wallace of The Guess Who was apparently a Ken Dryden fan back in the day. Deep Purple's Don Airey was singing "Vive Les Canadiens" at one point on a recent tour. British rocker Greg Lake played a show wearing the bleu-blanc-et-rouge. Michael Bublé was gifted a Guy Lafleur jersey during a recent tour stop in Montreal. French-Canadian and Juno-winning Roch Voisine got himself a personalized Habs jersey. And last, but certainly not least out of all these accomplished artists, is Frank "Pedro" Sampedro wearing a Canadiens jersey on-stage during a concert featuring Neil Young & Crazy Horse!

There's the first dump of photos of musicians in jerseys, and there will be more tomorrow as Part 2 of this concert series comes to an end. If you have an image of a musician wearing or holding a hockey jersey, feel free to fire it through to me here. You'll get credit on the database of images I've built, and we can both take pride in making that database of images more complete! Part Two is tomorrow, so make sure you drop by for that!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!