Goatrider said

[orig][quote]

Kevord hit the nail on the head with this one.

Certain articles of clothing - patched denim vests, leather jackets, tour shirts, etc... are, while not mandatory, an important part of the culture surrounding Metal. Like it or not, part of being an "elitist" (so, caring about at least some level of quality control) can involve visual queues. As previously mentioned, an Opeth backpatch probably means "avoid," while someone with a simple Celtic Frost backpatch and maybe a few other suitable logos probably wouldn't trigger an eyeroll upon contact. It's a basic instinct for better or worse. I'm not saying everyone should dress a certain way to 'be metal,' but some uniformity is appropriate in this genre. Simple enough.

Obviously shit like wearing corpsepaint to shows takes this far out of hand. It's really not that hard to set a bar.

...and most of all, if there's a decent band playing, you shut the fuck up and pay attention to them instead of what people are wearing.