Diving to an empty mosh pit - not good!

Subject: RE: Diving to an empty mosh pit - not good!
From: Charley Noble
Date: 11 Apr 11 - 11:04 AM

Is it a bird?

Is it a plane?

No, it's Super Fly!

Swat!

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Diving to an empty mosh pit - not good!
From: Rob Naylor
Date: 11 Apr 11 - 05:15 AM

Ouch, Will, but a great "show must go on" attitude!

I've only got experiece of *full* mosh pits, most recently last year at a British Sea Power gig (should know better at my age!) but as Amergin says, even though it looks really violent, people usually look out for those around them and try to stop themgetting hurt....'course, there actually have to *be* people there for that to apply :-)

Subject: RE: Diving to an empty mosh pit - not good!
From: Amergin
Date: 10 Apr 11 - 01:12 AM

I watched my sister who was about 13, tripped and got accidentally stepped on....

From my own experience in the pits, if you fall usually some one will be there to help you up.

Subject: RE: Diving to an empty mosh pit - not good!
From: Joe Offer
Date: 09 Apr 11 - 11:22 PM

I always thought that "mosh" must be a Yiddish word, but I never did find its roots. I thought a "mosh pit" was a food court in a shopping mall in a Jewish neighborhood, or something like that. I found out otherwise on my one and only experience with a mosh pit, and it's an experience I'll never forget.

It was sometime in the late 1980s, as I was approaching divorce from my wife of 20 years. My daughter was 15 or so, and she really, really, really wanted to go to a teenage dance club. My then-wife agreed she could go, but only if I would chaperone (true evidence of how much she hated me at the time - now we're friends). So, I drove my daughter and three or four other moppets to the dance club, which was a seedy-looking place. It was right behind the sheriff's station, so I thought it must be reasonably safe. My daughter was mortally embarrassed to have her father there; but the other kids all liked me, so it was cool.

My daughter tended toward "Goth" and there were lots of kids there who were more severely "Goth" (as in "vampiresque"). The music was recorded, louder than any music I had ever heard in my life. So, the kids went into the "mosh pit" and danced, if that's what you call it. It was kind of like a pack of wild horses charging. Now, when you see horses do it, it's quite exhilerating. But when you see your accident-prone little girl in the midst of the stampede, it's scary.

The girls who came with my daughter were very nice. I sat at a table, watching and drinking Coke, and they would stop by to check on me every once in a while. Even my mortified daughter stopped to check on me a couple of times. I thought that was sweet.

It was a relief when the whole thing was over, but I have to say that I enjoyed the experience. Not that  I  would ever go into a nosh pit myself....

And I'm very glad that my little girl didn't get trampled. She's 35 now, and I still worry about her.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Diving to an empty mosh pit - not good!
From: Will Fly
Date: 09 Apr 11 - 07:35 AM

Kendall - from Wikipedia (below). "Moshing is rough, physical dancing and the area in front of that kind of stage is the "mosh pit". Not exactly ceilidh stuff though!

The term mosh came into use in the early 1980s American hardcore punk scene in Washington, D.C. Early on, the dance was frequently spelled mash in fanzines and record liner notes, but pronounced mosh, as in the 1982 song "Total Mash" by the D.C.-based hardcore band Scream. H.R. of the band Bad Brains, regarded as a band that "put moshing on the map," used the term mash in lyrics and in concert stage banter to both incite and to describe the aggressive and often violent dancing of the scene. To "mash it up" was to go wild with the frenzy of the music. Due to his Jamaican-accented pronunciation of the word, fans heard this as mosh instead.

By the 1980s, the term was appearing in print with its current spelling. By the time thrash metal band Anthrax used the term in their song "Caught in a Mosh", the word was already a mainstay of hardcore and thrash scenes. Through the mainstream success of bands like Anthrax, Nirvana and The Melvins, the term came into the popular vernacular.

Subject: RE: Diving to an empty mosh pit - not good!
From: GUEST,kendall
Date: 09 Apr 11 - 06:52 AM

Mosh pit? That's a new one to me!

Subject: RE: Diving to an empty mosh pit - not good!
From: GUEST,Jonny Sunshine
Date: 09 Apr 11 - 06:34 AM

Ouch! Even when there is a crowd you can't be too sure. I'm reminded of a live video of a friend's band at a gig in Germany where at the climax of the last number the drummer climbed over his kit and dived into the crowd, who parted like the Red Sea, leaving the drummer to limp back on stage and play an one-handed encore...

Subject: RE: Diving to an empty mosh pit - not good!
From: Will Fly
Date: 09 Apr 11 - 04:42 AM

I did - but only downwards! LOL!

Subject: RE: Diving to an empty mosh pit - not good!
From: GUEST,John MacKenzie
Date: 09 Apr 11 - 04:40 AM

Live up to your name lad!

Subject: Diving to an empty mosh pit - not good!
From: Will Fly
Date: 09 Apr 11 - 04:35 AM

I did something at a (ceilidh) gig last night that I've never done before. I was carrying gear up on to the stage up some steps, stepped back on to the steps - so I thought - and fell 6 feet from the stage on to the dance floor, landing on my back. Was I winded! Luckily, no breaks - just a few sore knee and hip and a very sore ribcage. Anyway, I did the gig - which was a great one - but made a vow only to dive into the mosh pit in future when it's populated... :-)