![]() The more bruised and worn out I felt after a concert the more I thought I had ‘made the most of it’ and that I got my money’s worth out of the experience. But throwing punches, elbows to the ribs and general battering was perfectly acceptable. There was an unusual etiquette in the mosh pit, in that if you fell down, there would be at least 5 hands ready to pick you up again as soon as you hit the floor. The point of collision is timed perfectly with the start of the breakdown. Then, as the music reaches a point called the ‘breakdown’ – a place in the song when the music slows to half-time, and the guitars crunch a torturously low tone – the two seas of people run into each other. If you don’t, you will be singled out and abused or forced to conform. The musicians on the stage may even get everyone in the audience to crouch. The music tends to get heavier, sometimes slower, and sludgier. Each side is now twice as compressed as before. It requires the unfaltering commitment of a few aggressive individuals in the middle to force their peers away from each other. The Wall of Death is when the crowd, usually instigated by the musicians on stage, parts like two oceans. ![]() But first, to another mosh pit extravaganza: The Wall of Death. Either way there is a revelation that comes with this anecdote, and it is soon to follow. Or perhaps to you, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the behaviour that I am describing. If you thought the circle pit was enough insanity for one evening, then that’s not the worst of it. There were concerts that I went to where the musicians would engage the crowd to participate in this behaviour. People would swing their arms and legs and run at full speed into each other. The space would then be used as somewhat of a boxing arena. ![]() The idea is that people run around pushing others out the way until a large circle of empty space is created in the crowd. This is commonly referred to in the ‘metal’ music scene as a ‘circle pit’. The space would then be filled with people running and crashing into each other. People would start pushing each other and the crowd would involuntarily sway until a divide opened. I would go to gigs where the mosh pit became violent. The music seems to be felt in the mosh pit far more than anywhere else in the crowd. It’s hot, sweaty, and you get close to complete strangers who are mostly in there for the same reasons: to amplify the experience. For those that aren’t familiar with the term, it is the place at the front of a concert stage where people are tightly packed standing next to each other. There was a period in my life after I left Uni where I believed that a ‘mosh pit’ was the best place to be.
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