Music that makes you want to smash things
Watching old Rage Against the Machine videos on Youtube got me all nostalgic for my moshing days. Mosh-pit anarchy was a heady but dangerous intoxicant in my late teens — couple the adrenalin of the crowd-surf with a kick in the head by a stray Doc Marten. The surge of the pit could be terrifying at times — witness the tragedy at Roskilde — but there was simply no way I could go to a concert and not join the animals at the front, no matter how bad they stank.
I paid a price for it, though. I spent New Year’s of 1993 in a hospital with a torn ACL from a mosh where my knee got stuck while my body was pushed backwards. Absolute agony and the end of my career, alas.
Best music to mosh to? It’s Rage all the way for me.
Posted on May 13, 2008, in Music. Bookmark the permalink. 33 Comments.
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Primus, Anthrax, and Pantera here. The first two write their music specifically with the mosh pit in mind (cf. “All Caught in a Mosh” by Anthrax).
Rage is great for that too – I like “Know Your Enemy,” especially the end part where the bass guitar gets piped through the overdrive. I just got goosebumps thinking about it…
Amen, brother! Amen! I love how he screams the end without any accompaniment like five times.
Morello has something going on. In a good way.
I’m not entirely sure the lead singers he has worked with really do him justice.
As a rhythm guitarist, he’s definitely got it going on. As a lead guitarist, I think he leans too heavily on effects processors, but that’s just my opinion. Regardless, Rage rules.
Jump by House of Pain (later Everlast)
BTW – you’re luck you didn’t get trampled in the mosh pit.
Moshing has changed a bit since you were doing it. Now it’s seriously scary. At hardcore/metal shows, anyway. Read my review of the Converge show I saw recently here for an example. (Or you can see it here. Warning, lyrics may not be safe for work.)
When we were teenagers my husband used to love wreaking havoc in the mosh pit. He’d fall down and roll around on the floor, tripping people. Someone always yanked him back up, thinking he’d fallen accidentally, then he’d drop down again. He’s a jerk. But funny.
Susan, I can remember when it evolved from just jumping up and down to actually whirling around an inner circle. I got into one at a Primus show and people were picking me up too (I was 5’11″, 150 lbs more or less, so I got knocked around a lot). Metal heads – we’re violent, but we help a brother out.
Yeah. It’s a friendly violence.
I was standing at the edge of the mosh pit at a Dead Milkmen show once when my husband came by, grabbed me, and whirled me through it. Fun but not something I’d want to do on my own.
One of the best mosh pits I ever skirted the edges of was at a White Zombie show- before I had heard of them! It was the BEST!
Otherwise, I have to agree- Primus is a great band to see up front- but I also haven’t seen them since they were playing little tiny places back in the 90′s.
Plus, hot chicks in a mosh pit is not good (for the chick). There’s usually some wise-guy in there who takes certain “palpatation liberties.” Not a good idea for a hot chick to stay in the pit very long. Metal heads – we’re horny, but we still help a brother out.
Tracy, I grew up not far from El Cemonte, where Primus hails from, and remember them coming to the UC Davis Memorial Union for a show – that’s where I learned of them – late 80s. There was about 200 of us and it was a blast.
Oops, I meant El Sobrante. Too many Spanish names…
I recently had a bad experience with a mosh pit, where the area was confined by a fence/cement walls. Then throw in a few drunken fans and well, when there is no where to go, it hurts.
David- I saw them at the Oasis in San Jose- I think there were maybe 150 of us there- it was a blast! World Entertainment War opened that night, IIRC.
My husband says Danzig was his best pit- I was at that same show with him- but not together. White Zombie opened.
Oh, and it was at the Warfield.
I will never forget my first mosh pit. An Alice in Chains concert in the Tri-Cities Washington coliseum where they had a thick rope mesh ‘curtain’ covering the stage with crowd surfers clawing their way up to stage dive into the pit. It was all good fun from the sidelines until a huge monster of a meathead grabbed me and threw me into the sea of bodies. Needless to say that I watched the rest of the show up in the rafters in the haze of marijuana smoke.
A most unforgettable night.
Next best mosh pit was at Lollapalooza 94 when the Beastie Boys did Sabotage. I came home with a construction boot mark imprinted in my back.
Susan M., that second video reminded me of another one that makes me laugh everytime, but nobody else I know appreciates it: drive-by hardcore dancing.
The first concert I ever went to was Unwritten Law. We worked our way to the front before the band came onstage for a better view. As soon as the music started the mosh pit formed around us, and before I realized what was happening, some kid with a cast on his arm ran up to me and glocked me in the face with it. I was not impressed.
I’ve very, very rarely moshed. The last time just freaked me out. It was a Blink 182, Jimmy Eats World plus a few other bands out at that canyon between Seattle and Portland.
Well I’m about 33 and was drug there by my friends and then into the mosh pit. Only the mosh pit was very coed and scarily young. And, contrary to David said in (11) the women weren’t exactly being the ones chased. (At least in my vicinity) Scared me to death and I’ve never been to a concert since.
There were some good mosh pits at the regular ska-punk shows in Provo in the early 90′s. Swim Herschel Swim shows always got one going. The Bosstones came through town once that that got pretty crazy too.
In the eighties we used to actually slam dance which was a lot more dangerous than the “sardine hop” style mosh pits (with bodies jammed in so tight you couldn’t actually slam into anyone) that got popular in the early 90′s.
BTW — a torn ACL from a mosh pit is pretty gnarly Ronan.
Andres – Was the AIC concert in 93 or 94? If so, I’m sure I was in the pit with you.
I asked my husband which was the best mosh pit he can remember and he said the U-Men. I asked if he meant the time we saw them with the Butthole Surfers and he said, “Oh man! The Butthole Surfers mosh pit was scary!” That’s the most intense show I’ve seen by a long shot.
Mephibosheth, that video rules! haha. I went to a show once with a few kids doing that in the middle of the crowd. It was a small place. There was one guy in the back who was running around making fun of them, doing the goofiest moves. It was hilarious.
Mephibosheth, that video is awesome! I wish I could see something like that in real life… My boys (6 and 4) thought it was hilarious.
Mapinguari,
Yep, I’m pretty sure it was in 93. An amazing show and experience, especially for my 15 year old eyes and ears.
Beastie Boys, early 90′s, once they rereleases “some stupid Sh*t”
I had pretty limited mosh pit experiences (unless you count the 3 of us that tried to mosh at every high school dance…). Ned’s Atomic Dustbin was pretty great, though.
I always stayed as far away from them as possible. I’m thinking maybe my first real nutty one was at the Dead Kennedy’s. As far as bigger bands, they’re not very metal or punk, but at the Warfield I was down in front to see The Jam, — unfortunately EVERYONE in the entire theater was down in front. The entire row of seats broke right out of the floor next to me!
The good thing about early days mosh pits was that my friend and I were both 5’2″ and we could bounce and squirm right up to the edge of almost every stage.
I don’t do this sort of thing too often anymore, but about a year and a half ago I was in a pretty good pit at a Sevendust show. I was holding my own pretty well, but out of nowhere I got hit under the chin, and I felt myself black out for about 1 second before I fell down. Really odd feeling. Good times.
I thought the official definition of moshing is that hunched-back, arm-swinging circular strut. A bunch of dudes hitting each other is slam-dancing. And an insanely-tight packed group of people jumping around is something else. Actual moshing I saw at an Anthrax concert and a few other small shows. Slam dancing was present at all of our high-school dances, courtesy of the football team, even if the song was the Smiths. Every metal show had the tight-packed jumping (with the devil horned salutes for the fast songs and a lighter for the slow songs).
White Zombie. DEFINITELY not the same show as Tracy M and her dh though
Also Social Distortion had a pretty surprising pit going to be honest. Bad Religion wasn’t too shabby.
I was once at a Cake concert where someone started thrashing around in an attempt to get it all riled up. John McRea stopped the show and had words with the young man, explaining that they are “easy listening for pete sake” and not at all fit for moshing to. Note for future reference, don’t tell John McRea to shut up and play or he will proceed to berate you in front of everyone until they laugh at you. Just in case you were thinking about it…