excuse my ignorence, but what is a mosh pit anyway? I’m not into today’s music and I’ve only been to two rock concerts, so I need someone to clue me in.
A mosh pit is a section of the audience area where audience members can go to beat the shit out of each other (“moshing”) during the concert. They’re usually at death-metal genre concerts and things of that nature. I don’t know if there’s more to it than that or not, but I believe that’s the jist of it.
Only some mosh pits actually have people “beating the shit out of each other”… often it depends upon the size of the crowd and the number of frat boys/jocks/assholes involved.
From my experieces… most slam/mosh pits, although very physical and sometimes somewhat damaging (the occasional bloody nose or bruise), were governed by certain “rules”. If people fell down, you picked them up. You didn’t go flailing around with your elbows in people’s faces or swinging your fists at all and sundry (if you did, things could actually get violent… for you). If women were in the slam crowd, you didn’t totally cream them… or feel them up.
It was just a boisterous good time.
Mosh pit story #1:
Primus. Some jerk behind me gropes a well endowed female immediately in front of me. She turns around, sees me, and slaps me with an unjustifiable amount of force. I tried to find the guy to return the favour (it was a mosh pit, after all… how far could he have moved?) but to no avail.
Mosh pit story #2:
Lollapalooza 1993, crowd surfing on the mosh pit, when quite unexpectedly, the mob manages to co-ordinate their efforts (I don’t weigh all that much) and heaves me a fair distance, over the line of security guards in front of the stage, onto the stage itself. I was in the process of collecting myself and climbing down, when I get “assisted” by security, and ejected from the venue…
-FK
Hey, sorry if I sounded up disapproving there, vl_mungo,
or like I thought all moshers were assholes. Certainly not the intent. I just wanted to get across the whole, things can get rough, anything can happen point across. Should have worded that better.
If you plan on doing any moshing (which I DON"T recommend), wear tightly tied boots or heavy shoes; it’s easy to lose your shoes in those types of gatherings.
This sounds exactly like the slam dancing I did in the late 80s. Is there any definite difference between mosh and slam other than name?
Great fun, btw!
No sweat.
**Not exactly. Mosh pits are a common occurence at a wide range of live music performances, not just death-metal and its ilk. They are particularly common at touring summer festivals, where the music may range from mainstream/commerical stuff to heavier, alternative music.
For example, I’ve seen most pits at concerts as decidedly mainsteam as Blink 182 and Greenday. The audience at other concerts, such as performances by artists such as PJ Harvey, Foo Fighters and Coldplay will also form a “pit” of sorts. These are definitely not “death metal” acts.
Your description of the audience beating the shit out of each other is also something of an overstatement. Most most pits are fairly supportive and friendly environments. In my experience, girls participate as willingly as boys, which encourages a good-natured and non-violent atmosphere. People may cop an accidental elbow or stepped-upon toes, but there’s seldom ill-will in the crowd. Concert-goers are much more interested in enjoying the music and being part of the crowd that beating on each other.
That is not to say, however, that mosh pits are havens of security. At Denmark’s 2000 “Roskilde”, nine people were crushed to death after the crowd surged forward during Pearl Jam’s performance. At Sydney’s 2001 “Big Day Out”, a girl died in hospital after her heart stopped in the mosh pit.
In response, concert venues have taken action to help ensure crowd safety. It is now common practice at the big summer festivals to clear the mosh pit between acts to prevent people dangerously rushing towards the stage. In addition, “D barriers” are commonly deployed to control the entry and egress of people into the mosh pit area. Here in Australia’s summer heat, the crowd is regularly hosed down to help prevent people over-heating. Drinking water and First Aid are readily available.
There are also periodic announcements to inform the crowd about the dangers of the mosh pit, and to encourage everyone to look after their fellow concert-goers. The latter is, IMO, the most important safety precaution: the positive attitude and behaviour of concert-goers is the single biggest guarantee of mosh pit safety.