Whoa, Whoa, Whoa… No More Mosh Pits?

Authorities, venues cracking down on mosh pits during concerts

If you have ever been to a live show you have most likely come across the infamous mosh pit. If you haven’t, I suppose I can explain. Picture this. You’re at a live show. Who’s on stage? It’s one of your favorite bands. They are about to begin, the lights are dim and everyone is chanting the band’s name. Then all of a sudden, the stage lights come on, and in one second it goes from chanting and cheering, to a moment of silence, to the roar of their first song. The crowd loves it! Take a look front and centre. What do you see? The crowd is going wild; people are jumping, running back and forth, and pushing each other around. This, my friends, is the mosh pit.

There are unwritten rules in the pit. Although it looks violent, the intent isn’t to hurt anyone. People are there to sweat out their aggression while listening to music they can connect with. If anyone falls in the pit, you make sure they get back to their feet and continue on. You could call it controlled chaos.

Not all people are seeing it as a way to express yourself though. There are people that are calling it dangerous behavior and a public safety hazard. The people I am talking about aren’t a group of parents banding together to put a stop to this, although I’m sure there are plenty out there that have had the thought! The group trying to put a stop to this is the Boston police force. About a month ago at a Flogging Molly show in the House of Blues, the police cited the venue for a license violation. The reasoning? A 60 person mosh pit broke out during the show and their security did not intervene. Due to this, the House of Blues had to attend a hearing at Boston City Hall and will now have to post an illuminated sign letting their patrons know that moshing is not permitted, according to the Boston Herald.

I have noticed that quite a few shows I have attended lately have had signs that say moshing and crowd surfing is not permitted. One in particular, was Gigantour at Saskatoon’s Prairieland Park. During the show it ended up happening anyway, and no one did anything about it. So someone, somewhere doesn’t like the idea of this happening, but it seems they haven’t actually cracked down on it quite as hard as Boston… yet.

Personally, I think it is ridiculous. Moshing has been around as long as I’ve been going to concerts. When I was younger, I was a part of the pit and the worst thing that ever happened to me was bruised ribs. Once. But when I walked in there, I knew what I was getting into. I wasn’t expecting a good old fashioned cuddle. Don’t get me wrong here, if people start purposely throwing elbows or inciting violence, get them out of there. We are all at these shows for the same reason and no one wants to leave on a stretcher. Now a days when I go to any show, I always end up standing off to the side and have no problem enjoying the show, even with the mosh pit no less than 5 to 10 feet away.

So, what say you? Mosh pits. Should they crack down and ban them? Or are they trying to tell the seasons to stop changing?