On Sunday, I braved the winter weather here in Kearney and all across Nebraska and traveled to my hometown of Omaha, where a concert of monumental proportions was about to take place. I was heading home to see Trivium and Slipknot, two of my favorite metal bands. While I am fairly new to the world of live metal concerts, I had always had an idea of what mosh pits were like...at least I thought I did. For the concert, we waited outside for an hour before the show in -10 degree weather in t-shirts and shorts, knowing how hot it was going to be when we got inside. Needless to say, we found a place on the floor and in the middle of all the action. This is where I got my first taste and view of a mosh pit up close and personal.
After viewing the first mosh pit, it came to me that all this was, was a legal to beat the hell out of another person...accompanied by some heavy music in the background. When I turned to watch the mosh pit (completely deterring me from the music) I noticed guys just going at each other throwing clenched fists, basically a bunch of fists attached to some bodies. It became a human Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots competition in the middle of the floor, first one to get their head knocked up loses. Now my question is why? Why would any man subject themselves to these mosh pits? Why would you pay good money to see these bands, only to just run around with your main goal to knock the other person out across from you? I was on the edge of three of these mosh pits throughout the night and even though I was never in a mosh pit, I left with my fair share of injuries, including a bum ankle, a bruised right arm and a sore left shoulder.
That's the only question I have, is why spend 34 bucks so you can go run around with your shirt off and attempt to take out other humans. Can't you do that for less than 34 bucks somewhere else? Just seems like a waste of money during these economic times. I don't get why mosh pits are so popular with some of the carnage I saw last night...I even saw 120 pound girls going at it with full grown men, it was insane. All I'm saying is find something more constructive with your money.
On another note, my heart goes out to the Nickels family. Corey Nickels, 29, died of a heart attack during the last song of the perfomance. He suffered the heart attack during the show, there was an attempt to revive him in the ambulance and he was pronounced dead at the hospital. I know he didn't think that going to that concert would be the last thing he would ever do...it just makes you think.
I've had some interesting experiences with moshpits at concerts. At the very first rock concert I ever went to (I was 16), my friend and I were pushing our way through the crowd to find a better spot so she could see (she's extremely short), and we found this open area. We seriously thought we had hit the jackpot, as people were just standing around it and no one was doing anything. Then the music started, and all of a sudden there were fists flying in all directions, and a really big girl came running in and saved us. It was a close call.
ReplyDeleteOn another occasion, a mosh pit broke out right between my sister and I and separated us. It was only a few guys, and at one point, they all went flying to one side of the circle, so my sister tried to run across the open area before they came back. It wasn't quick enouch, though, because one guy got punched so hard, he flew across and bashed into my sister. She was knocked down, and then all of the guys fell over her. It took three of us to pull her out before she was seriously injured!
And then, the last concert I went to, the crowd was so wild that the moshpits kept pushing everyone to the front, and people were being squeezed so hard, they were losing oxygen and passing out. We had to keep throwing them on top of the crowd so they could unconciously surf their way to the front and security could take them to medical. Right in front of me, a girl had her arm broken when her elbow was pushed the wrong direction. It was truly horrifying.
I guess the only point of this is to say yeah, moshpits are dangerous. I'm sorry for the kid who died, and I'm glad I've been lucky enough to come out of concerts alive and unharmed.