When Band Merch Gets Weird

Whenever I go to a concert, the first thing I seek out is the merch table. I look closely at all the different shirts, hoodies, posters, and other things for sale, trying to decide what I want to spend my money on.  Some musicians and bands have gone beyond selling the usual band tees and posters and offer some more…strange pieces of merchandise.

Daniel Cribb at The Music created a list of five bizarre pieces of merchandise. The list is by no means complete, but gives a good idea of some of the oddities for sale by musicians.

First of all, Eminem is selling bricks and salvaged pieces of wood from his childhood home. With only 700 for sale, each coming with their own Certificate of Authenticity signed by Eminem, they sold out instantly. They’re certain to have a high resale value, so if you really want one, keep your eyes on eBay, Craigslist, and Kijiji.

Rancid’s Tim Armstrong landed a guest spot in an episode of the recent X-Files reboot. His character, Trashman, was a homeless artist and now the art that his character made is up for sale on VIP Auctions, in the TV Memorabilia auction house section.

If you enjoy tour props, Alice Cooper and drummer Neal Smith began to auction off their tour memorabilia. One such item was the iconic guillotine that was used to “behead” Cooper during the 1973 Billion Dollar Babies tour. Other things included costumes, a drum kit, and a mirror ball, plus many others. If you head over to the auction site now, there’s still a few things left!

Some bands sell coffee, like Green Day, others offer hot sauce, like the Offspring’s Dexter Holland. Modern Baseball pairs the two together in one package and have brilliant names. Their coffee is called Holy Roast and the ghost pepper hot sauce is called Holy Ghost.

Tom Delonge, like many musicians, has an incredible collection of gear. He’s started to sell some of it, including the amp he used during recording sessions with Blink-182 and Angels & Airwaves. The amp comes with a signed Certificate of Authenticity. If you’re feeling rich and want to check out what he has for sale, you can find it here.

These aren’t the only instances of musicians selling unusual merch, of course. Drake is selling VIP packages that include things like candles, incense holders, foam hands, and car air fresheners. In 2006, KISS sold cologne. GWAR sold barbeque sauce, called GWAR-B-Q. Weezer jumped on the Snuggie craze in 2009. Deadmau5 sold headphones for cats. Plenty of other examples exist as well, from the slightly odd but harmless to the totally creepy, proving that bands will do some pretty strange and unique things for their fans.