So what is moshing exactly? Moshing is a dangerous dancing style that is closely associated with heavy/rock music. When concert goers mosh they usually knock into other people and flail their limbs wildly to the music. This practice is mostly common at hardcore and punk shows and when a whole group of people start moshing in one area, it forms something called a "mosh pit." Everyone who has been to a "heavier" concert knows of this style of dancing and knows of its risks, so why is it so popular?
Moshing, a violent style of dance, originated with the rise of punk subculture in the 1970s-1980s. It is the leftovers of a past generation's rebellion, and this might be my slim, lanky self talking, but it needs to go away. Countless stories have been told of people going to concerts and spraining a limb or even getting directly hit in the face during a show. People have even DIED by participating in this violent form of dance during shows. Seriously, just go on YouTube and search up "Mosh Pit Death" and you'll easily find hundreds of videos of people losing their lives in a mosh pit.
I've had personal experience with moshing at shows. I've even participated in them a few times. Almost every show that I've been to, there was a crowd of people moshing. Even at the most recent concert I went to, Modern Baseball, a popular pop-punk band, the moshing and stage-diving (will get into this in the following paragraphs) was outrageous. So if moshing is known to be so dangerous, why do people still do it? Well many "moshers" say that being in the pit (short term for a mosh pit) exhilarates them and makes them enjoy the show even more. They feel like they belong with the rest of the people moshing with them. It is the feeling of belonging that is commonly associated with the hardcore genres of music and is what makes the crowd especially unique. This is all fine, however, to those who aren't as extreme, it prevents concertgoers from fully enjoying the show since they spend most of the time defending themselves and trying to dodge an uppercut to the jaw.
Another common practice at hardcore/punk/pop-punk/rock shows is stage-diving, and it is exactly what is sounds like. Stage-diving is when a member of the crowd climbs up on stage and them jumps onto the crowd, hopefully anticipating being caught while enjoying the thrill of the jump. However, this is even more irksome at shows since it mostly affects people at the front of the stage, since they are the ones being trampled on. In fact, popular pop-punk band, Joyce Manor, has even ignited an anti-stage-diving stance. During a show, the lead singer of Joyce Manor stopped a stage-diver to inspire a few words into him and the rest of the crowd.
"It’s completely unacceptable for him [the stage-diver] to impose himself on top of you [the crowd]. Completely unacceptable, right? Under no circumstances is that acceptable? OK.” Even at the Modern Baseball show, I couldn't fully enjoy the show because I had to constantly watch my head and put up my arms for some jerk falling from the stage. It became such a problem that the band themselves even spoke for a few seconds to cut out the stage-diving. After that comment, no one else had stage-dived for the whole show and I found myself having a much better concert experience, shocking!
As hypocritical as it may sound, I am not 100% anti mosh and anti stage-diving. I actually kinda enjoy and even encourage lighter forms of "extreme" dance at shows. Personally, I find just standing around at shows to be boring. I like to move to the music, and so do moshers. So I understand why they want to keep moshing. However, I stay respectful to those around me, at least most of the times. I jump, I bob my head, I even go into a few push pits and circle pits. (Push pits and circle/skank pits are less extreme forms of mosh pits. Push pits involve simply pushing into one another and mildly bumping into each other. However, no punches are thrown and no one gets hit. Circle pits are when people run around in a large circle following each other like a train, and sometimes some form of dance such as skanking will take place in a circle pit. Again, this is mostly harmless and is a lot less of a threat than mosh pits.) Push pits and circle pits are insanely fun, and I will almost always jump into one when I see them happen. However, the more extreme form, moshing, needs to just go away.
Moshing, in its barebones, is a form of expression towards music. There's a reason why it is so common at hardcore/punk shows. It's a way to "release anger" and inspires closeness between the crowd. It certainly shows how music transfers from the musicians to the listeners and how it might inspire certain emotions. While it should always be encouraged to express one's self with movement to music, it's also important to take caution for one's self and their surroundings when participating in more extreme forms of dance.
I remember that time you killed that poor kid in the pit Emilio don't try and pretend you're innocent.
ReplyDeleteSeriously though, good point. As someone who is in favor of diving or moshing, I can wholeheartedly agree it gets to be too much sometime, I've had my deal of bruises and hits because of careless audience members and even got my glasses broken at a show once. I feel like it's important that bands speak out on this, the fact that they're looking out for their audience is very cool and makes me want to support them even more. In all reality stagediving is very selfish, sure it's fun, but you're really not taking into consideration the poor person you're going to land on, so maybe it's justifiable those times I straight up dived into a gap in the pit and landed on the floor.
Although dangerous, moshing and stage-diving is part of the pop-punk culture, and in many times is what attracts the band's fans to that music genre. Many concert-goers expect these activities, so what has to happen is not a radical abolition but a change in their mindsets that allows for mutual respect of each other while part taking in these "extreme" bodily movements (especially in many venue's tight spaces).
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