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Having been to enough concerts where moshing occurs, I can say with relative certainty that I could do without it. It annoys me. I want to enjoy the music (which is still mostly metal or punk these days, at least for me), not get pummeled to death by those teenagers at the front of the stage kicking everything that moves with their eyes closed. I'd rather be in a barfight, as that's what moshing is akin to anyway. There are many forms of moshing, another thing that I am having trouble discerning. It all looks the same. It all involves personal harm or injury afflicted by a bunch of dudes hopped up all that Monster they consumed before the concert.

In fact, the whole culture just plain grind my gears. I was always satisfied with sporting a t-shirt of a band that I liked, some jeans, and comfortable shoes. My friend had a band (still does), and his band is pretty big right now around the area I live. I always enjoyed the shows, but the moshing was something that was more, shall I say, tolerated by some of us. There's always the emo or "scene" kids there, what with the greasy hair covering up the top half of the face who stand at the back and silently mouth the words to whatever song, some cry, whatever. They're not the issue.

Who goes to concerts to get trampled on? Do kids realize that people have died in this act before?

Now, before people get all up-in-arms about all this; I'm all for expressing oneself. Do what ya gotta do, but I might make fun of you for it. It's nothing personal. But I guess it's too much to ask, at any concert, that they hve this special, plexiglass area set aside for all the moshers to just go crazy in until they pass out from exhaustion or the repeated blows to the head I am sure they're going to suffer. I am sure that many of them might walk, limp, or crawl out of there after the concert knowing or feeling that they may no longer be physically capable of producing offspring. Which is just as well, because the last thing the world needs is moshers sexually producing more people that somehow are genetically wired now, to mosh.

I'll be standing there, enjoying the tunes, and then get kneed in the face. And it makes me somewhat irate. And I always want to tell the person responsible to go run into a knife or play in traffic, if only I could pick him out of the crowd of epileptics. Did you know, back in the middle ages, there was some kind of documented, but unexplained, phenomenon that pretty much consisted of people randomly breaking into dance for no reason and with no instigation? I think it was happening in Germany. Look it up, because I'm not making it up, I swear. How does this relate to moshing? Use you imagination, you tell me.

-R

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