One Shirt – Michiel Walrave

If you ever lost a Descendents shirt on eBay I bet there was a good chance you either lost it to me or Michiel Walrave. You may have also heard his name through the various illustrations hes done over the years for HC shirts and records? Or maybe youve see the pic on various message boards of his giant wall of vintage skateboards? He’s a friend of TTD, an all around good dude, and with his fiendish Descendents/All shirt collection a natural choice for one shirt! Surprisingly his one shirt is not a Descendents shirt.

When youre done reading this post go check out his portfolio and get some work done by him! Michiel Walrave

“Even though the amount of t-shirts in my apartment is getting ridiculous, I had no trouble trying to pick a favorite when I was asked to write this little piece. Even though I haven’t worn it in over 15 years, my NoFX Soul Doubt 93 tour longsleeve is special to me in a lot of ways. I had been going to shows for about 2 years (not counting gigs in the local youth centre) when I made my way over to the legendary Willem II club in Den Bosch, the Netherlands for my first ever NoFX show. Accompanied by two friends and my sister, I purchased this shirt immediately after enetering the venue. This became common practice for me everytime I’d attend a show at Willem II. After getting in the merch table would be right there, and we’d all buy our shirts (or records) before the show started, put the stuff in our backpacks, check the bags, and enter the venue.

This particular show was insane..NoFX were super popular among the skateboard crowd in Holland, and ofcourse the show was sold out. I remember sweating profusely because it was so hot, and I distinctly remember sitting on the side of the stage, getting a few stagedives in (one causing me to land flat on my back) and eyeballing this girl who was standing right in front of me.

The Offspring opened for NoFX on this tour and my buddies picked up their merch, while me and my sister both got NoFX shirts (she has kept hers to this day as well).

About the shirt itself, it’s just a great design. Smaller chest print, tour print on the back, and a great sleeveprint depicting the cows (or bulls, rather) from the band’s Longest Line ep. Size XL ofcourse, but that’s how I wore my shirts back then, everyone did. Even though I was easily 40lbs. lighter back then, it’s still way too big for me these days, so it just sits in my closet with a lot of other XL souvenirs from all the great shows I saw at Willem II – to name a few: Pennywise, Strung Out, Black Train Jack, CIV, H20, WarZone, Hands Tied, Ten Yard Fight, SNFU, Down By Law, Kill Your Idols, Avail…and tons more.

In short: great shirt from a great show from one of the best times in my life. I’d sooner get rid of every other shirt in my house before giving up this one.”

Michiel Walrave