Moshpits

As fans of metal, I'm sure we've all seen and/or participated in our fair share of moshpits. What's your thoughts on moshpits? Love 'em, hate 'em? Was the most violent ones you've seen? Where are some of the oddest shows you've seen a pit start up? Did the punks start this? Was it thrashers? Share your thoughts on this phenom.

I personally haven't been near one. I don't think paying money for a ticket to get beat up was ever my idea of a good time. But then, I'm a pretty laidback private kind of guy so they aren't designed for me.

If I were in a band, I would dig seeing one. It shows crowd interest, for sure.

I personally hate mosh pits. Of course, I grew up in the 80s metal scene - before this was such a phenominon.

I go to a show to see the band, bang my head and just basically have a good time. Getting beat up is not part of my idea of 'fun'. I guess I'm actually a pretty non-violent person overall.

I do have to say though that the coolest pit I've been in was at Testament's "Practice What You Preach" show in Phoenix, AZ back in 1990. That was a 'non' violent pit. If you fell down, people would actually help you up - rather than beat you while you were down.

The lamest pit I've seen was at a Lacuna Coil show this year. Some idiots pretty much started it for attention.

spectrefate wrote:

I personally haven't been near one. I don't think paying money for a ticket to get beat up was ever my idea of a good time. But then, I'm a pretty laidback private kind of guy so they aren't designed for me.

If I were in a band, I would dig seeing one. It shows crowd interest, for sure.

That's me too.

i no longer go to shows but i used to enjoy the pit pretty good back in my youth. i'm a pretty big dude, so i can rumble with the best of them. best pit i ever seen was at a Slayer show many years ago.

i do enjoy a show more if i'm in a mosh pit rather than standing back and watching

Not a fan. When I go to a show, I am there to see the band perform. Not interested in beating the crap out of everyone around me while completely ignoring the performance.

I don't know that seeing a mosh pit from the stage shows crowd interest. When I played in Switzerland with Once Dead a couple years ago the crowd was singing along, fists in the air, banging their heads, shouting, etc., all the while never taking their eyes off the band. That crowd was incredible and I don't recall any moshing.

One the other side of he coin, I went to see Motorhead not long ago and there were a bunch of guys who were there for nothing more than to beat the crap out of each other in a mosh pit. I doubt they even know who Motorhead is, nor do they care. It's not about the music for them, it's just about drinking some beers and getting out aggression. Can't say that those people were showing much "crowd interest".

ult

I'm a small guy, so getting in the pit will more than likely end badly for me. However, I'm not against them even though they're not the kind of thing I participate in.

The most wild pit I've ever seen was at this year's Bloodstock, when Sabbat played. Far more intense a pit than I've ever seen before.

ultmetal wrote:

Not a fan. When I go to a show, I am there to see the band perform. Not interested in beating the crap out of everyone around me while completely ignoring the performance.

One the other side of he coin, I went to see Motorhead not long ago and there were a bunch of guys who were there for nothing more than to beat the crap out of each other in a mosh pit. I doubt they even know who Motorhead is, nor do they care. It's not about the music for them, it's just about drinking some beers and getting out aggression. Can't say that those people were showing much "crowd interest".

ult

That's my feelings exactly Ult. Beating the crap out of people just keeps you from even paying attention to the band you are there to see. That's 100% how I feel when I'm at a show and a mosh pit breaks out. I just roll my eyes every time.

How you described that Motorhead show is EXACTLY how it was when I seen Lacuna Coil a few months ago. There were actually like 3 or 4 guys who started a pit - they could have cared less about seeing Lacuna Coil. I doubt that they even had any of their albums. They were there ENTIRELY to get aggression out and cause a scene. I was so pissed that I just about joined the pit - just to show them a lesson in violence.



I'm a nonviolent person though - so I refrained.

I lived in the pit in the 80's. It was unifying. And the clubs weren't so fascist, or afraid of lawsuits, back then. I have been to shows in the last few years (IE: Agnostic Front, etc) where the "punks", or should I say "kiddies", where doing this karate kick, punch the air thing. Completely... man there are so many adjectives I want to use here...lame. Todays youth have absolutely no clue what a "scene" should be all about. Pisses-me-off, to be honest. Makes me much more happy that the real thrash underground is gaining speed. I get my fat, arthritic, old man body in the pit nowdays just to be an example.

Here ya go youngsters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELhdmuiZHm8
(still cool seeing Charlie on guitar!)

It seems like the pits got more and more violent over the years. As Blackieboy mentioned, there used to be more consideration for the safety of the fellow moshers. I used to love to get in there when I was young, but somewhere along the line it became about inflicting damage on others. At that point I was off to the side getting nowhere near it.

Best I ever saw was an Overkill show at the old HammerJack's in Baltimore.

I've been in a few over the years.The oddest one I saw break out was at an Altar Boys concert

Best, or the one that comes to mind the quickest, was Kreator '87/'88? The German bands were just getting over here and they brought alot of angry energy with them!

SAXON1500 wrote:

Best, or the one that comes to mind the quickest, was Kreator '87/'88? The German bands were just getting over here and they brought alot of angry energy with them!

...wow I wish I were old enough to have been able to go to a Kreator show in '88.....that's about the time I first heard Toxic Trace.

Not a big fan of them and see no point. Tried one once and just didn't get anything out of it. I'm there to see the band, like others have said. I'm a stand there and watch guy. Don't get too excited just enjoy the miracle of Metal unfolding right in front of me....

Biggest pit I ever witnessed was SLAYER at Ozzfest.

I've only been in 1 or 2 that I can remember, back along time ago. Can't say that I enjoyed it much, I think it was more of a reaction to massive quantities of alcohol.

I do enjoy watching them, espcecially when they get the big circle going round & round. However, just watching the skinheads or frat boys flailing about is stupid. Like Saxon said, back when it was just metal-heads thrashing around it was kinda cool. When the dumb jocks/frat boys got involved, it just turned it into drunken bullying.

One memorable pit that comes to mind was at a Social Distortion show. I was ground level, off to the side, so couldn't see in very well, but apparently one skinhead dude was just pummeling people. Mike Ness stopped the show to call the dude out on it, and then leapt into the crowd and stated whaling on him. After security got in and broke it up, Ness got back on stage and ripped through the rest of the set like nothing happened.

Posted this elsewhere:

DallasBlack wrote:

Being 5' 7" 195 lbs (25% body fat), I am not built for that kind of punishment so I stay as far away as possible. My first concert was seeing Fear Factory open for Maiden and I started in the middle of the stage and by the time the mosh pit started, I escaped to the left of the stage...right in front of a giant speaker (loved the concert, but could barely hear the day after). The next concert I went to was Rage Againsts the Machine (don't like them but my best friend did so I went with him) where I avoided the mosh pit like the plague, my best friend went in but although he was shorter than me he was 225lbs and tough as nails so it was no problem with him. No other concerts I went to had mosh pits so I was safe. However, when I went to see Leaves' Eyes and Kamelot, I firgured there would be no mosh pit there so I was front stage in the middle (actually there were a few ahead of me, I didn't go up to the stage in time), apart for some big jackass with a camera pushing me out of the way to get a better shot of Kamelot and wanting to start a fight as I tried to take my spot back everything else was alright. Then towards the end of the Kamelot set some idiots decided to start a mosh pit and bumped me right up to the front of the stage, squashed like a bug. I mean what kind of person starts a mosh pit at a concert like this? If it was a thrash, death, hardcore, black, or nu concert I'd understand, but symphonic power metal????? Anyway I wish I was bigger but I am not so I will leave the mosh pits to more genetically gifted guys.

I used to go in them all the time when I was younger. Back then is was strictly circle pits and stage dives, not a bunch of idiots practicing kung fu moves like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qACnquW0y_Y

The most fun I ever had in a pit was at a DRI show at a REALLY tiny club. The entire club floor was a giant pit, and there were equal parts punks and metalheads at this show, everyone got along, helped each other up, etc. Good times. Also, the pit at the Crucified show at cornerstone 95 was great as well.

Love 'em and participate in 'em as often as possible
I don't know why's everybody talking about "being beated up" ?? It's all just fun and there's no hatred or violence in the air, if you go down, at least 3 people are pulling you back on the feet in no time! How about crowd-surfing or stage diving (don't do that anymore ) ?


Of course I already came home from the concert / festival with a broken lip / pains in the back / etc., but I don't regret it

Hey Metalguy - I can totally relate to your Social D story. A couple of tours ago, I took Auntie Saxon to see them (one of her all time favs!). The first note and the entire building became a wave!!! I had to get the 115 lb spouse outta there for her safety. There were alot of skins there too (I don't know why. Ness has always made his stance clear), and through experience, the Minneapolis scene has become very intolerant to thier tactics. So they become neutralized fairly quickly. Man, almost 30 years into it, that is one band that can still stir up a frenzy!!

I went in one once and it was fun but i dont care for them as i dont wont to lose my glasses in one

SAXON1500 wrote:

Hey Metalguy - I can totally relate to your Social D story. A couple of tours ago, I took Auntie Saxon to see them (one of her all time favs!). The first note and the entire building became a wave!!! I had to get the 115 lb spouse outta there for her safety. There were alot of skins there too (I don't know why. Ness has always made his stance clear), and through experience, the Minneapolis scene has become very intolerant to thier tactics. So they become neutralized fairly quickly. Man, almost 30 years into it, that is one band that can still stir up a frenzy!!

Cool story, great band.

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When the dumb jocks/frat boys got involved, it just turned it into drunken bullying.

Exactly! And I don't want their sweat on me!!

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as i dont wont to lose my glasses in one

Another reason I avoid them!

As I believe i mentioned in another thread when the subject came up, I was quite the mosh pitter back in the day... I was never one to spend an entire gig in the pit (I never understood how guys can do that ... how do they build up such endurance?), but when a favorite song started playing, I'd jump in and hop around for awhile. Now, of course, I'm too old for such nonsense.

The sickest pits I ever saw were at a Suicidal Tendencies show in 1990 (complete and total warfare between skins and longhairs for the entire night) and when I saw Fight in a tiny little club on the Jersey Shore during their WAR OF WORDS tour. That place was packed shoehorn-tight and when the crowd started moshing there was literally nowhere to go to escape from it. It was like being sucked into a whirlpool. Talk about Thrash Or Die!!

I also was dumb enough to stage dive once (anybody else here ever try to pull that trick?), at a Scatterbrain show during the early 90s. I waited till they played my favorite song ("Don't Call Me Dude"), climbed up, and launched myself off the stage towards three of my friends, while the rest of the crowd parted like the Red Sea. Naturally we all ended up in a crumpled heap on the floor (and I think I hurt my thumb somehow, if memory serves). I will never forget the look on my one friend's face as I came sailing down towards them, his expression was totally "Holy sh*t"