Mosh Pits

**Igifuno** · 08-20-2007, 05:32 PM

Not what they used to be. I frequent metal concerts and have for years. Moshing used to be relatively safe and, although it could get rough, there was typically no one really trying to hurt someone else. Now that i'm a little to old for mosh pits (30yo), i always get tickets to the floor but usually only hit the pit for spurts of no more than a minute or so and then go back with watching the band.

okay so last night during the proj rev tour, these mf's were actually running from 12-15 feet toward someone and would intentionally knock them to the ground. alright fine, if that's what they want to do to eachother then fine. so i get in there and i'm doing what i do and i see this dude sprint from 15 feet away from me and does his damnest to knock my ass to the ground.... and almost did. after the song i went up to him and was like, bro - i don't know what you think moshing is.. but that's not it - you do that sh*t to me again and you'll regret it.. dude laughs.

i'm standing on the rim of the pit during the next set and dude rams into me... i push him off.. he circles and i see this mf start running toward me and turns his back to me at the last second before he hits me.... and i f'n elbowed this effer right in the back and i know it hurt him bad.

just one of my many stories from last night.... but really, get in there and thrash and mosh but don't try to hurt people on purpose...

peace,

IG

**KidGalahad** · 08-20-2007, 07:46 PM

I know what you mean, dude. I bring my chick to alot of shows and it gets to the point where I can't even enjoy the bands because I have to protect her from the idiots. Still, I'll never sell out and sit in the back

**Igifuno** · 08-20-2007, 08:07 PM

f'n right man. i took my wife to a show earlier in the year and it was the same thing.. i look over and she's crying... i had to get her to the front and get her over the rail.... so embarrassing... lol.

**PEWN** · 08-20-2007, 08:09 PM

I went to one of the first slip knot concerts.... now there was a mosh...

**Igifuno** · 08-20-2007, 08:10 PM

bet it was sick

**KidGalahad** · 08-20-2007, 08:14 PM

Nice, yeah I've seen some crazy stuff at metal shows, but nothing compares to real old school punk shows. That's f'ing pure violence, man. I saw a Dwarves show at a little club out west where the band actually seemed shocked by the nature of the pit. I'm a pretty big guy, and I've worked as a bouncer, seen it all, and I'll admit I was a little worried that someone might actually die that night.

**anaBROLIC** · 08-20-2007, 08:33 PM

how was the show? im going to it this weekend.

**lightwaytbaby** · 08-20-2007, 08:37 PM

i hate those bro...no point...i just get pissed off when all those people bump into me...plus im usually too drunk at concerts...

**Amorphic** · 08-20-2007, 09:59 PM

Originally Posted by pewntang

I went to one of the first slip knot concerts.... now there was a mosh...

I saw them too, few years back, crazy crazy show, you have to fight for your life in the circle pit.

**Coop77** · 08-20-2007, 11:25 PM

Rough scene. At a show I went to years ago some skinheads thought it would be fun to walk around and randomly punch strangers in the face.

**Igifuno** · 08-21-2007, 07:26 AM

Originally Posted by anaBROLIC

how was the show? im going to it this weekend.

unbelievable - 2nd stage was awesome. Mindless Self Indulgence was sick.... 1st time i saw them. Him kicked ass, TBS and MCR were... whatever... LP was better than ever. Have fun

**sonnygll** · 08-21-2007, 01:39 PM

I'm in the St. Louis area. They have always been that rough here. 1990 is about as far back as I go. Maybe the early days of mosh in the mid to late 80's were more tame. I was just thinking about this at Ozzfest a couple weeks ago. Things haven't changed, people still do the mosh pits and everything just like when I was teenager. I didn't want to leave my stuff unattended or risk breaking my sun glasses or phone, but I was very temped to jump in. I would have knocked those little guys around pretty good too. But I just settled for standing on the front line and pushing people back in.

I agree about old school punk getting crazy. Things always get pretty wild when I go see the Misfits. It is so high energy, we all just go nuts there. I've met Jerry and talked with him a bit. He seems like a real straight laced guy. But he is pretty big. I kind of wonder if he ever ran any cycles. I haven't gone to a show since I got into bodybuilding though, so I never talked about that.

Now Glen Danzig got huge at one point. I'm sure he did a cycle or 2.

**Flagg** · 08-21-2007, 01:43 PM

There are always wannabe tough guys that use Mosh Pits now as an excuse to either bully people or start a fight.

No Mosh Pit etiquette anymore.

**Igifuno** · 08-21-2007, 03:25 PM

i regulated that dude in the back though - didn't see him anymore after that....

that's not what i'm about but gave him fair warning.

**anaBROLIC** · 08-21-2007, 04:36 PM

thanks for the feedback. cant wait to go . i love when they do these type of tours.

**-DedicateD-** · 08-21-2007, 06:14 PM

ive worked concert security for 4-5 years in different venues.
very few of the pits ive seen have ppl intentionally looking to hurt eachother.

granted you have your different types of pits

-the tbs/a7x/mcr/senses fail/linkin park type
-the catch 22, less then jake ska type stuff
-but im referring to the metal/hardcore pits that you see at the slayer/pantera/hatebreed/lamb of god/anthrax/killswitch engage shows.

when you go into the pit at these shows you expect to get hit and knocked around...if you dont like that then you stay out of the pit...9 times out of 10 if someone gets hurt in the pit, everyone stops and they flag in security to help them out

your always going to have your bands that bring certain assholes out or groups of assholes...some of the skinhead bands bring a crowd that cause problems, other bands like e-town concrete and terror brought certain groups that used to start fights..

in fact most of the fights happen when someone breaks the pit 'etiquette'
whether it happens when a big guy crushes a small guy, or hits a girl or child dancing, or just goes after ppl on the side not paying attention,,,the pit sees this happen and tends to go after that individual harder then the rest..then that person hits back and they start swinging

in all tho, seeing a good pit break out when the drum line and guitar hit in a song gives off a shit ton of energy...i get chills everytime

**reaktorblue** · 08-21-2007, 11:41 PM

I myself frequent many metal shows in and around NJ, actually the last one I went to was Sounds of the Underground in Sayreville. I love moshing but the problem with all the moshing today is it seems theres two distinct styles of metal moshing. You have the banging around which is cool but you just have to be responsible and not bang into ladies, etc and then you have these kids who act like they are jackie chan going into seizures.

It seriously looks like they are being attacked by bees or something. The good ole moshing is the fun stuff, unless like at the previously mentioned concert where there is so much moshing (during Gwar) that even when you get knocked down there are so many people its like getting trampled.

PS - Anyone hitting up the show in NY (Machinehead, Arch Enemy, Sanctity, some one else I cant remember lol)

**thetank** · 08-22-2007, 01:01 AM

mosh pits are ridiculous..that whole style of dance-moshing where skinny idiots do 360 degree turns flailing thier fists and feet in the air...that shit drives me INSANE. i knocked out a guy at the taste of chaos tour in 05 in montreal, front row and center..the kid was going nuts on me from behind, so i just turned around and swung and hit him right in the throat..its a long story, but it was the only thing i could do at the time...anyway he was knocked completely out and the crowd was so tight around us that he had no were to fall, so he just kind of slid down onto his knees, and was gradually falling more towards the ground/underneath everyone, so i grabbed him and threw his body over the railing, then a 6'5 bouncer grabbed me and threw me over the railing, and dragged us both into the back and when we got there(back stage) he threw me into an extra piece of the stage gates that was just sitting thier by itself, i knocked it over then landed on top of it, looked up and saw killswitch engage drinking beer like 3 feet away, with a puzzled expression on thier faces..anyway the huge black dude(and im talking ****ing huge..like im a big, strong guy..and was like a child beside this guy, biggest dude ive ever seen in my life.) and some other big white guy dragged me out by my feet, to the exit door, then tried to pull me out and leave me in the snow, and i grabbed onto the sides of the door way and was literaly being pulled horizontally in the air while my hands griped onto that doorway for dear life, like a cartoon character, it was ridiculous. i was trying to tell them what happened but they were all french and didnt know what i was saying, so anyway they get me out the door and im sitting soaking wet in the snow, pounding on the door, and and they finally get an english guy to come out, i tell him the story,and they let me back in. anyway, i gaurentee if i hadnt pulled that dude up out of hte crowd he would have died...but goddamn did he deserve to get ****ed up.
but anyway, mosh pits now are stupid and dangerous. alot of metal shows ive been too lately the bands actually aknowledge it and tell everyone to simmer down or they'll end their set, which usually changes everyones tune.

**-DedicateD-** · 08-22-2007, 07:52 PM

Originally Posted by reaktorblue

I myself frequent many metal shows in and around NJ, actually the last one I went to was Sounds of the Underground in Sayreville. I love moshing but the problem with all the moshing today is it seems theres two distinct styles of metal moshing. You have the banging around which is cool but you just have to be responsible and not bang into ladies, etc and then you have these kids who act like they are jackie chan going into seizures.

It seriously looks like they are being attacked by bees or something. The good ole moshing is the fun stuff, unless like at the previously mentioned concert where there is so much moshing (during Gwar) that even when you get knocked down there are so many people its like getting trampled.

PS - Anyone hitting up the show in NY (Machinehead, Arch Enemy, Sanctity, some one else I cant remember lol)

I was working that sounds of the underground tour in sayerville, little hard for my taste

all that remains had a good set that day

**-DedicateD-** · 08-22-2007, 07:54 PM

Originally Posted by thetank

mosh pits are ridiculous..that whole style of dance-moshing where skinny idiots do 360 degree turns flailing thier fists and feet in the air...that shit drives me INSANE. i knocked out a guy at the taste of chaos tour in 05 in montreal, front row and center..the kid was going nuts on me from behind, so i just turned around and swung and hit him right in the throat..its a long story, but it was the only thing i could do at the time...anyway he was knocked completely out and the crowd was so tight around us that he had no were to fall, so he just kind of slid down onto his knees, and was gradually falling more towards the ground/underneath everyone, so i grabbed him and threw his body over the railing, then a 6'5 bouncer grabbed me and threw me over the railing, and dragged us both into the back and when we got there(back stage) he threw me into an extra piece of the stage gates that was just sitting thier by itself, i knocked it over then landed on top of it, looked up and saw killswitch engage drinking beer like 3 feet away, with a puzzled expression on thier faces..anyway the huge black dude(and im talking ****ing huge..like im a big, strong guy..and was like a child beside this guy, biggest dude ive ever seen in my life.) and some other big white guy dragged me out by my feet, to the exit door, then tried to pull me out and leave me in the snow, and i grabbed onto the sides of the door way and was literaly being pulled horizontally in the air while my hands griped onto that doorway for dear life, like a cartoon character, it was ridiculous. i was trying to tell them what happened but they were all french and didnt know what i was saying, so anyway they get me out the door and im sitting soaking wet in the snow, pounding on the door, and and they finally get an english guy to come out, i tell him the story,and they let me back in. anyway, i gaurentee if i hadnt pulled that dude up out of hte crowd he would have died...but goddamn did he deserve to get ****ed up.
but anyway, mosh pits now are stupid and dangerous. alot of metal shows ive been too lately the bands actually aknowledge it and tell everyone to simmer down or they'll end their set, which usually changes everyones tune.

the problem arises when its not just skinny kids swinging their arms around and kicking the air, its when its big dudes, some of them all juiced up running into each other...

usually when someone passes out in the crowd like you described, their body gets crowd surfed up to the front of the arena or off to the side like you described

**305GUY** · 08-22-2007, 08:06 PM

wow and then some of you guys talk shit about hip hop fans being violent!?!

Im usually in the front of general admission passing a fat blunt back and forth enjoying the performance with no worries of getting hit. but i do miss the SKA days like Sublime, if there was a pit it was all good and fun. apparently not anymore.

**Igifuno** · 08-22-2007, 08:53 PM

def getting a bit out of hand...

**-DedicateD-** · 08-22-2007, 09:19 PM

Originally Posted by 305GUY

wow and then some of you guys talk shit about hip hop fans being violent!?!

Im usually in the front of general admission passing a fat blunt back and forth enjoying the performance with no worries of getting hit. but i do miss the SKA days like Sublime, if there was a pit it was all good and fun. apparently not anymore.

the ska pits arnt bad at all ..sublime, less then jake, catch 22, reel big fish, even 311 to some extent

most of them are minimal contact and circle pits where ppl have a good time

**305GUY** · 08-22-2007, 10:05 PM

Originally Posted by -DedicateD-

the ska pits arnt bad at all ..sublime, less then jake, catch 22, reel big fish, even 311 to some extent

most of them are minimal contact and circle pits where ppl have a good time

yeah you're right. those are the type of shows i mainly used to go to. i guess you guys are talking about the hardcore rock bands that just scream into the microphone to the point i cant understand them. not really my style but i dont hate on it, but i dont remember limp bizkit being like that though.. i guess times have changed.