tspikes51

Is it just me, or are people at rock concerts (talking about harder rock concerts that have pits and crowd surfing) getting dumber??? Like when I went to Meteora, there was this woman who got floor tickets for her and her 8 year old son, and stood towards the front. When people started moving, she got absolutely pissed!!! I went to see Blindside, POD, Hazen Street, and Lacuna Coil in Cincy, and not only was the crowd dropping surfers regularly, there was a guy who prolly weighed over 230 lbs that kept surfing. Last concert I went to featured retards punching people and intentionally knocking people down, and not to mention little kids getting in the pit and poser girls that pushed their way up front getting pissed whenever somebody in the pit ran into them. How in the hell have people gotten this dumb???

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scott_p_1

I haven't seen too many big pits (since I usually see bands in bars), but the ones I have seen haven't been that bad. I usually don't see too many people bodysurfing (great way to get kicked out of a bar), but whenever somebody get's knocked down, I'll be the first to pull them back up. Same goes gor just about everybody at every show I've seen. Maybe it's a Canadian thing.
On a related note, the most hardcore kid I've ever seen couldn't have been more than 12 years old at an all ages show I was at. Kid got right in the pit, whole show. Best part of the whole night was when the old guy (looked like he was an original punk) picked the kid up by his feet and spun around in a circle.

josh_s08

i havent been to a real show with national acts ina wile, but the last big show i went to was a 4 band show with Thursday headlining it. for the most part, the people seemed alright. i was between 5-20 rows of people from the stage at any given time. up front it was just pushing and shoving. in the way back, there was a huge circle pit and peole were going crazy in it. i ended up standing in the middle, half way back and enjoyed the most intense show ever.

brandon11983

What I can't stand is the fucking kids flailing their arms and kicking wildly in what was once called a "pit." A pit is not a pit anymore. What really pisses me off about is how the floor opens of for a few people that do that shit, its almost like a contest of one upsmanship. One dipshit will come across and do his retarded thing, and then some other douchebag will, and so on. A 20 foot circle opens up for these fucktards, and it makes the rest of us even more crowded.

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kiwiman

You guys need to see a Hatebreed pit.

tspikes51

Ha, I had to break up a couple of poser chicks doing this at a Christian music festival. They were punching people and stupid shit like that. You're just supposed to kind of run into each other, and maybe use your arms a little bit, not hurt people intentionally. I just get tired of having to stop my fun because of having to pull stupid little kids out or to hold stupid violent people back. Hatebreed is stupid anyways.

__________________
"I'm telling you, we need to get rid of a few people or a million."
-Maddox

JumpinJesus

I went to a show once - I wish I could remember which band - where the "pit" started getting hostile. One guy fell and people began crowding around him; no one helped him up. The band stopped playing and the singer said, "Hey assholes, someone help that guy. You either learn the etiquette or we quit fucking playing. Got it?"

One of the coolest things I've seen at a show. I wish to hell I could remember who it was.

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KWSN

pits are getting retarded at shows with bands like Linkin Park because people who know nothing about proper pit etiquette (which DOES exist) go to the shows and think they can handle a pit. it doesn't go well.

you go to a show for a band like Slayer and the people who have enough balls to actually GO in the pit are people who have been doing it for ages, hence they know what proper conduct is. you knock someone down, you help them up, etc. and you don't complain about getting knocked down.

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Glory's Sun

from the sound of it..no they don't. Hatebreed pits are <b>BRUTAL</b> At the shows mentioned above you have a generally younger crowd. Naturally that leads to not understanding pit etiquette (Sp?) Anyway, at the real hardcore shows you see a more "mature" crowd as far as pits are concerned. I don't see how you could start a pit at a Linkin Park show anyway.. do they just get in the middle of the circle and cry or something?

Redlemon

I've never understood the appeal of participating in a mosh pit. Could one of you explain it to me?

Glory's Sun

redlemon:

From my view point it's all part of the experience. It's adds a certain something to the song and the concert. It's also about the aggression of a song. You can get out your aggression in a healthy manner and be respected and respect those who feel the same way. It's also a kind of "rite of passage" at some concerts. Think about it this way: You go see Hatebreed and the song is kicking your ass. How can you express that beyond screaming and giving devil horns? You mosh your ass off that's how.

mercury-hg

i'm still bruised from the lamb of god, fear factory, children of bodom, and throwdown show i went to 5 days ago

Averett

Can somebody explain to me why people mosh at a Dashboard Confessional show? Grrr....

Last spring I was at their show in Niagara Falls. Right up front, left of stage. Perfect spot. First band comes on, everyone is moving around a bit but no big deal. 2nd band, gets a little more active. Then comes Thrice (Why they were opening for Dashboard I'll never know) and people went apeshit. I got a foot to the head, and decided that I liked my bones unbroken more than I'd like to see Dashboard upclose again. So I retired to the back of the venue and the bar

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scott_p_1

Seems even more appropriate as Dashboard rather than Linkin Park

KinkyKiwi

:/ i have a phobia of general admission concerts...this just confirms my fear

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Averett

No, we mostly stand around and gawk at Chris Carrabba and think about how hot he is

And I figure since I'm only a few years younger than him, and not 10-15 like most fans I'm justified in that

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Absence is to love what wind is to fire. It extinguishes the small, it enkindles the great.

brandon11983

I've seen Hatebreed many times now. Their pits are no different. Bunch of idiots waving their arms wildly like the dumbasses they are.

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Well behaved women rarely make history.

Chingal0

It's all that awesome hardcore dancing. Stupidest shit I've ever seen, but whatever. Usually it's just them doing their thing, and most people respecting that and not trying to fuck with them. Regardless, it's stupid, but life goes on.

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MSD

Some shows produce good pits, some don't. For example, Killswitch Engage and In Flames with at least 3k people packed into Roseland Ballroom in NYC had great pits, not many idiots flailing around, and the crowd was dense enough that I (300lbs, 6'8") could crowd surf.

On the other hand, Shadows Fall at a small, local place (www.empressballrom.com) was full of wankers (although the show kicked ass.) One kid crossed his arms, stomped back and forth across the empty circle about 5 times, slapped me in the arm, went back to stomping, then started flailing. My brother (4 years younger than me, but could pass for my identical twin) and I were standing toward the side protecting a tour photographer while he got a few good shots, along with a few small girls who didn't really want to get hurt, and an idiot jumped right between us, fists out, and tried to take them all down. My brother and I each grabbed a shoulder, and threw him across the room. He was airborne for about 15 feet, and when he hit the crowd, a real pit broke out.

Some people just have no idea what pit etiquette is anymore. One kid punched me in the face because I pushed him (funny side note: the stupid fuck is in jail for credit card fraud right now.)

Of course, you haven't seen a real pit until you've been part of the wall of death.

Bunch of idiots flailing. I took two punches to the chest with brass knuckles and three to the jaw with sap gloves. When another guy who happened to be an army MP got hit, he and I talked to security and got permission to take them down and drag their asses out onto the street. They were that bad. Any show with hardcore bands is going to end up with more fighting than real moshing



edit: almost forgot, cartwheels in the pit should be punishable by death

Glory's Sun

you are right to a point..but damn every linkin park song is about a breakup or some stupid shit like that.


MSD: I've felt the pain of the hatebreed shows also. Like I said they are Brutal. The whole flailing of arms and such originated with punk bands. Just seems like people take it to the next level these days and don't realize they look stupid. KsE always puts on a good show and always has good pits. The cool part about their shows is if they see someone being stupid, they stop playing and make fun of the guy or tell security to stop him. It's refreshing almost..

Redlemon

Interesing perspective, guccilvr, but I still don't really see it. I like agressive music, but I guess I'm just a old fogey when it comes to running into other people. As Reel Big Fish sang...

Carno

If someone punched me in the face at a concert I'd be pissed as fuck..

Good thing I don't like that kind of music I guess

tspikes51

There wasn't a pit during the Linkin Park part of it. That was fire up a joint time. However, POD and Story of the Year both had a pit. I was up in the seated section for part of it, and saw the floor: two circles had opened up for flailing retards. At the POD show I went to see, POD and Blindside both told people to stop dropping surfers.

These people are fucking it up because "pits" are fairly new to mainstream music. Most kids have seen the "100 Greatest Pit Mishaps" or some other kind of VH1 misconceptual documentaries of punk music and think that that's how all pits are supposed to be. They think it is just natural that people get badly injured in pits, when in reality, there are unwritten rules to follow in the pit. It should seem odd to oneself a bit when you first see it in person, but as you observe it, you will definately see that a majority of people are acting a certain way, and when you know how to do it correctly, then you can jump in. Brass knuckles and sap gloves are unneccessary and stupid. Pits are aggressive, but shouldn't be harmful, but I guess nobody sees that line anymore.

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"I'm telling you, we need to get rid of a few people or a million."
-Maddox

optik_nerve

At an Opeth concert there was this big-ass Hawaiian guy taking everybody on, it was the coolest thing.

thinktank

since the whole "hardcore" thing came around, metal shows really have not been worth going to. I was never much into pits, but a bunch of douchebags spinning around in circles with their arms out really isnt my idea of "conditions i'd like to watch a concert in." not to mention, sweaty hessian dudes are not the kind of people i like to rub up against all night.. no?