A Critical Look at Mosh Pits at Rock Concerts
A Critical Look at Mosh Pits at Rock Concerts
The people were everywhere. Too many were in such a small space. The crowd surged forward and back in one relentless wave. No one could help but to push and shove the others around. Someone was lifted into the air and tossed back by the mob. The noise was almost too much, too loud. Security guards and policemen formed a boundary around this group, but did nothing to stop the madness. They stood and watched, ready in case some serious accident should occur. For some strange reason, however, out of all this chaos there was no fear. The people were enjoying this! Then the song was over, and the people in the mosh pit stopped to applaud and cheer for the band on the stage.
It is not hard to understand why people actually enjoy participating in moshing activities. Why does a person go skydiving, rock climbing, or bungee jumping? There’s one common answer: the rush. It’s a complete rush to engage in an activity that could be potentially dangerous to one’s health. The danger sparks an interest and intrigue that draws one nearer, almost like the desire to eat cookies fresh from the oven, even though they are too hot to taste and will burn the tongue.
This past Saturday, I attended an all day concert event called ReSURGEnce: Bands, Bikes, and Boards. There were sixteen bands on two stages, skateboards on a ramp and bar course, and sport bikes on a dirt track complete with jumps. There were extreme sports all around…including some wild and crazy moshing. Perhaps the best mosh pit of the day was while my favorite band, Stroke 9, was playing.
Stroke 9’s newest hit, “Kick Some Ass,” was dedicated to Usama Bin Laden, and this drove the crowd wild. Everyone was letting out all of the aggressions that they had built up over the past few weeks and went nuts in the mosh pit. People were pushing, shoving, jumping, dancing, shouting, cheering, and the very bravest were crowd surfing. The security guards were trying to control the situation, but the people were going far beyond the guards’ power. The boundary for this mosh pit had been broken, and the action was no longer contained in a small area.
The crowd surfers were being tossed high and far, some were tossed so hard that they...