Back in 77 I took a friend to see Bo Diddley for his 21st birthday in a club in Kent, Oh. We got there early and were right down front. As the placed filled up, well past what the fire code allowed, we were pushed right up against the stage. The stage was only a couple feet high so it was quite intimate. When Bo Diddley took the stage and everyone started to dance we were further jostled into the fron of the stage and had to push back to keep from being on the stage. My friend screamed in my ear "boogie for your life man!" I believe this is exactly how the mosh pit was probably born.
    At one point between songs my buddy, now deep in his cups yelled "It's my birthday" and Bo Diddley looked down and said "Who gives a fuck?" He might have been a bit surly because moments earlier someone (not us) had knocked an unattended beer over on one of his stage monitors. But when he saw the crestfallen look on my buddy's face Bo said "Nah man, I'm just kidding. You enjoy every one of them because you never know how many your gonna get." What a great show! I got to see a true legend as close as you can get rocking up a storm. He even played one song using the but end of a drumstick on the fretboard of his guitar. I'll never forget that show or that amazing musician.
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                                              Neil