Mosh pits: It's not all fun, music

The Seattle Times ^ | 6/4/02 | Sara Jean Green

[cascademountaineer]

Yeah I tend to agree. People who dont want to go in the pit just dont go in. The article makes it sound like he was forced into something against his will. Im pretty sure that guy was trying to get on top of the crowd out of his own free will.

The problem is that there used to be kind of unwritten rules in the pit. If someone fell down, you picked them up an so on. People need to remember that, but everyone in the pit is there because they want to be there.

[Oschisms]

If this kid thinks Rage Against My Allowance is tough, he should've been to see Slayer at L'amour's in the late 80's...

Now that's a dangerous pit.

[Chemist_Geek]

In der Future, all zum Concertgoers will securely be locked using five-point Zeat Belten into dem Concerthallchairs by der Concerthallstaff.

This safety-obsession and liability nonsense is getting waay out of hand. Do these parents realize the effects of their whining? It's not going to reduce injuries; it's only going to drive moshin underground into less regulated venues...

And, of course, they run the risk of getting smacked for their insipidness. Life sucks; get a helmet!

[MetalHeadConservative35]

hehe i love slayer and mosh pits ....basically though in most pits if you get knocked down theyll help you back up again but it also depends on what band is playing...some of the more heavier bands have the more violent pits but at any rate..if your in a pit the minute its too much get out.

[August West]

Since you are the long-time mosher, perhaps you could explain to me exactly what moshing is. Thanks.

[GodBlessRonaldReagan]

If this kid thinks Rage Against My Allowance is tough, he should've been to see Slayer at L'amour's in the late 80's...

NOTHING compared to the Circle Jerks in '81!

Rage Against My Allowance! ROTFLMAO!

[Oschisms]

I was 8 years old in '81. LOL!

[realpatriot71]

The injuries have prompted a handful of U.S. cities and some bands to ban crowd surfing and stage diving, but there are no national standards for concert safety, and no one has exact numbers on how many people are injured in mosh pits every year. One survey cites at least 10 deaths and more than 1,000 injuries resulting from just 15 U.S. concerts last year.

We need a Constitutional Convention to stop this scourge of "people having fun at concerts" because as we all know there are occasional isolated incidents and we just cannot have these. Nope. No way. We should probably stop music altogether too. You know people get stoned and listen to music. While we're at "the Convention" perhaps another amendment banning music . . . yes . . .

[realpatriot71]

If this kid thinks Rage Against My Allowance is tough, he should've been to see Slayer at L'amour's in the late 80's...

Having been in both a Rage pit and a Slayer pit, I have to say that the Slayer pit is much crazier. Of course the music is different. However, the craziest pit I ever ventured into was a Slipknot pit at the Royal Grove in Lincoln, Nebraska about 3 years ago. At one point, early on, (first forray into the pit) I got hit on the jaw so hard I stopped in the middle of the pit and watched the "stars" of course this allowed me to be crushed in the ribs from the side by a rather large tatooed man. At which point I fell down, and everyone helped me back up, but OUT of the pit. I had a swollen jaw and bruised ribs, but I went back in after a few beers and finished the show on my feet. I was really beat up.

The nicest and funnest pit I've ever been in? Soulfly. Great show, great people, great pit.

[GodBlessRonaldReagan]

Ah geez, make me feel old why don't ya!

Now where did I leave my walker????

[KSCITYBOY]

""""We don't want this to happen to any other kid," said Scott's mother, Cathy Stone.


"But it will — it's a business," his father, Randy Stone, said."""" But WE got paid!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[1Old Pro]

Related:

CARLOS SANTANA concert review from last night. What was with the dove video--

[TruthShallSetYouFree]

Since you are the long-time mosher, perhaps you could explain to me exactly what moshing is.

Moshing involves eating between meals, such as having a bagel with a smear of cream cheese (and maybe a piece lox) or coffee with maybe a little cheesecake.

[Fundamentally Fair]

The anti-fun brigade strikes again.

No kidding. I was at the Warped Tour Recently. Crowd surfing isn't for me, but it looked like folks were having fun.

Maybe we could allow it, but only with helmets, elbow and kneepads, and United Nations safety observers. </sarcasm>

[Fundamentally Fair]

This looks idiotic to me, and it's not just my age--it would have looked equally idiotic to me when I was his age.

Just for clarification: You don't support a ban on crowd surfing just because you wouldn't do it, right?

[weegee]

But but but... to hear this article tell it, grunge and crowd surfing go hand in hand and originated in Seattle in the early 1990s...

Yeah I know the history of pits. Used to be called slam dancing. Goes back to the 1970s. Hardcore, thrash, and speed metal of the mid-1980s amped up the ferocity of the pit. I remember crowd surfing once or twice in the late 1980s myself (I doubt the crowd could/would hold me now..).

[weegee]

You probably can recall the "punk" episodes of Quincy and CHiPs as well (although Repo Man and Suburbia were more accurate at capturing at least a part of it).

[stuartcr]

I've read about some of the horrible disfiguring accidents that resulted from careless curling.

[WindMinstrel]

ahh, yet another activity we need to ban. What's next? Surely there's still something left to ban.