Courteeners at Utilita Arena, Cardiff: What to Wear

Courteeners play Utilita Arena on Saturday 7 November, and the venue's own listing tells you most of what you need to know: doors at 6.30pm, show over at 10.40pm, two support bands in between. Call it four hours indoors, with a Saturday night in the middle of town and November on either side.

This is the God Bless The Band tour, named after the best-of that came out in August to mark twenty years of the band. (St. Jude, the 2008 debut, finally reached number one fifteen years after it came out, which tells you how long this crowd holds on to things.) Cardiff is the second of six arena dates, the night after Leeds, with The Guest List and The Lathums on before Liam Fray.

So nobody in that room is turning up to be looked at. They have been singing Not Nineteen Forever back at the band for well over a decade, and they are there for a long, loud, happy night and a pint after. The clothes that suit that are mostly ones you already half own, plus one piece with a bit of nerve.

Doors, support acts and what time you get out

Doors are 6.30pm and the show ends at 10.40pm, and the arena flags both as approximate. It doesn't publish set times, so if you want to catch The Lathums (the Wigan band opening the whole run) you need to be in early, which means a lot of standing before the headliners plug in.

Check whether your ticket is floor or seats before you plan anything else. In a seat, wear the heeled boots and the coat you love. On the floor, think about what you can stand in for four hours and what you can hold without noticing it.

Mary Ann Street is right behind St David's, so at twenty to eleven you are a few minutes' walk from the rest of town on a Saturday night. Most people will see this outfit in a pub, and that's where the effort pays off.

The bag rule and the cloakroom

The arena allows one small bag each, no bigger than A4, which it spells out as 29 by 21 by 15 centimetres. Anything larger is turned away, cloakroom included. If you're coming straight off a train with a weekend bag, the venue's partner Stasher will hold it, as long as you book ahead.

The cloakroom takes coats, though the venue's FAQ can't settle on the price: one section says £3.50 an item, another says £4. Either way it's a card tap, because the whole arena is cashless, and there's no readmission, so whatever you bring in stays with you until the lights come up.

Navy, denim and oatmeal go with every brown on the rail, and there are a lot of browns on the rail this autumn. The colour I'd push is the green. A racing-green jumper or a khaki coat does the job black usually does, and it looks like a decision.

The outfit formula: jeans, a jumper and one good jacket

The template barely changes from one guitar gig to the next, and a Saturday in November suits it well. Blue jeans, a jumper heavy enough to skip the coat in the queue, a jacket with some character, and trainers or flat boots. Make it yours with the one piece that isn't plain: a green knit, a tan suede jacket, a scarf in a colour nobody else has on.

If jeans feel too much like the uniform, a cord or suede mini over thick black tights works just as hard and reads more like a night out. You lose your pockets, so the crossbody has to pick up the slack.

A jacket you can carry

An arena full of people warms up fast, and by ten o'clock half the floor is holding the coat they were glad of at six. So pick something you don't mind having over your arm. A short suede or suede-look jacket is warm enough for the walk and light enough to tie round your waist. If you run cold, a khaki parka is the obvious guitar-band answer, and the hood earns its keep if it's raining on the way to the pub.

A suede jacket that someone else has already worn in looks better than one straight off the rail, so it's worth a look second-hand before you buy new.

Shoes for four hours on your feet

Three bands and an early start add up to a long time standing, and the floor at a big indie gig moves when the singalongs start. Go flat, keep your toes covered, and wear a pair you've broken in. Retro suede trainers are the easy pick and go with everything above.

Black Chelsea boots are the alternative if you want to look a bit sharper in the pub afterwards. They're warmer too, and they stay on when someone stands on your foot during Not Nineteen Forever.

Bags and scarves that get through the door

A crossbody with a zip, worn across the body and well inside the A4 limit. A small camera-style bag is about the right size for a phone, a card and keys, and there's nothing to protect if the crowd closes in.

Then a scarf, which might be the most useful thing you wear all night and doesn't count towards your one bag. You'll want it in the queue at half six, and once you're inside it folds into a jacket pocket. It's also the easiest place to put colour into a navy-and-denim outfit.

The whole outfit in one line

Blue jeans or a mini with tights, a jumper with some colour in it, a suede jacket or a khaki parka, trainers or flat boots, and a crossbody well under A4. If one of those is green or second-hand, even better.

Stock and prices move week to week on all of this, so if something catches your eye, don't leave it until the Friday before.