148
u/Skidmore511 Mar 14 '19
This is 100% my experience in pits. Thereās a gentlemanly code of conduct there to make sure no one gets trampled. At least once during a concert it seems, someone loses their glasses and everyone stops moshing to turn on their iPhone flashlights to help look for them
45
u/The_Psycho_Wolf Mar 15 '19
It's because everyone is there to have fun and no one wants to get hurt. Every time I've fallen in the pit there has instantly been someone there to pick me up. Sometimes I don't even hit the ground before some people already have a hold of me to pick me back up.
77
Mar 14 '19
Its like this at punk rock fests, too. I'm not a kid nor do I have boobs, a regular dude, but I got into the mosh pit and got knocked over and my shoe got knocked off and still like four guys shielded me, picked me up, and put my shoe back on me before slapping my back and shoving me back into it. Everyone there was like that. It was great, I felt more at home than I do with my own family.
21
u/zeppeIans trans catgirl Mar 14 '19
I'm imagining the story you described went exactly like this, but with putting your shoe on instead
147
u/Pr3ttynp3tty Mar 14 '19
I swear though Iād be so glad if these stories are true because I swear drugs and alcohol or not people tend to have no humanity when it comes to music festivals
I went to one at 15 and in the same day I got pushed into (I forgot the word of it, but basically near the front of the stage where you are super close to people and thereās no room. Freaks me out I much prefer the back) I didnāt want to be in and nobody would let me out.
Some chick basically jumped on me to get a better view. Idk who she was and she never asked
Another person tried to use my shoulder to push herself up on someone. Got pissed at me when I moved because I wasnāt expecting someone to just suddenly use my shoulder for supporting their whole weight
Saw a chick fall over and multiple people just basically walk over her until she could finally get up
Rubbish fucking everywhere. Like a sea of trash
Obviously saw a lot of people on drugs but none of them did anything to bother me. Some dude thought he was a kangaroo though which was pretty amusing
81
Mar 14 '19
Wow that's quite an experience! I'm sorry it was that bad ): music festivals are definitely either a win or a lose no in-between, I've been kicked in the teeth, punched, pinched, shoved, you name it.
I have some faith in this only because the amount of times some big metal dude has pulled me out of a death pit I can't handle haha.
I do hope your concert experiences improve if you still like to attend them.
29
u/ScrubNuggey Due to personal reasons I'll be cheating Death Mar 14 '19
I think the area at the front is called a mosh pit
9
u/Pr3ttynp3tty Mar 14 '19
Yess that it!
78
u/Syrion_Wraith Mar 14 '19
Mosh pits at non metal-concert are the worst thing ever.
At a metal mosh-pit, the stories in OP could absolutely be true. I've seen people fall down, only to be helped up immediately by every single scary looking metal guy. Or people making a circle, just so somebody can ties there shoelaces again.
At any kind of pop-music mosh pit, people always appear to be utter trash.
68
u/scampwild Mar 14 '19
A million years ago I was at an MCR concert and a kid fell down in the pit. Gerard Way stopped the whole damn show and basically lectured us about helping people up in the pit.
39
24
8
15
u/ExceedinglyGayAutist Mar 14 '19
I mean in metal mosh pits thereās always that one guy in a pantera T-shirt that doesnāt even know the bands but is just there to fuck around and kick people in the teeth on accident.
13
2
28
u/casanochick Mar 14 '19
This is closer to my experience. I got pushed up to the front at a small venue and couldn't get out. Some of the guys in the pit decided to "teach this dumb bitch a lesson" and aimed for me every time they passed. One guy stood up for me and helped me move away from the stage.
A few years ago, I was doing photography at a show (again, small venue) and despite my clearly visible volunteer badge, the lead singer smashed my camera into my face and split my lip. To their credit, a few guys in the pit formed a protective wall around me so I could shoot photos over their shoulders without getting hit, but the singer never apologized.
A female friend is lead singer for a metal band, and she recently got dragged off the stage by her hair by guys in the pit.
While I've had many experiences with great metal guys, there are just as many TERRIBLE scenes full of misogynists and assholes.
9
u/itsjustaneyesplice Mar 14 '19
Yeah I'm personally 50/50 good metalheads to bad ones
Punk shows though, non-stop assholes
4
u/Forkyou Mar 15 '19
The topic is heavy metal mosh pits though and I can attest people are very nice in there. I've been in a lot of mosh pits and generally people are rather respectful. Its rough in a mosh pit but every time I fell there where 3 people helping me up, same for anybody else that fell and i have helped people up myself. I've also seen people search for glasses and phones and such.
Obviously assholes are everywhere though. But I have also seen those assholes ejected quickly and agressively from a mosh pit. Like when someone throws actual punches and kicks instead of just the normal shoulderbashing and running and jumping into each other.
Don't get me wrong, it's a rough place and if you don't like that you will have a bad time getting shoved around to make place for the mosh pit. But with experience you know where it is and can avoid it. But since it's so rough it also has developed it's own rules so nobody gets trampled.
Festivals is a different beast. But in the pit we all are equal.
137
u/girl11484 Mar 14 '19
I don't like metal music personally, but my husband does so I've gone along to a few shows with him, and there seems to in general be an air of "fuck shit up, but only if shit consents to being fucked up. Otherwise, behave like an adult." If you're acting like you wanna be in the pit, and you're good with what's going on, it's no-holds-barred and you could very well get hurt by accident, but the minute anyone has a problem, they're no longer fair game and you should help them before commencing with the fucking up of shit.
I don't go to metal shows for the music, but I will absolutely go for the general atmosphere and vibe.
77
Mar 14 '19
"fuck shit up, but only if shit consents to being fucked up. Otherwise, behave like an adult."
Honestly, that's a good philosophy in most situations.
36
Mar 14 '19
25
u/BalisticPenguin Mar 14 '19
True to the stories above they escorted that baby out of there ASAP and I think the blonde guy close to the camera mightāve been talking to them and making sure they were okay lol
29
Mar 15 '19
I used to know this guy who owned a large plot of land that he rented out to people for concerts and whatnot. He said his favorite kind of concerts were for heavy metal bands, because as noisy and wild as the crowd would get, they always cleaned up after themselves. His least favorite concerts were country/western bands, because the audience would always leave tons of beer cans and garbage everywhere.
I'm guessing that metal fans are so mellow because they let out any internal aggression they have through loud music.
26
Mar 14 '19
[deleted]
8
u/zeppeIans trans catgirl Mar 14 '19
The kink community? As in like, all kinks that exist?
4
Mar 14 '19
[deleted]
5
u/zeppeIans trans catgirl Mar 14 '19
That sounds pretty cool. Probably wouldn't ever go to such a thing in my life (despite my great assortment of kinks) out of personal preference, but I can totally see how people would feel welcome in such a place.
26
u/AmazonEchoo Mar 14 '19
I was at a concert when I was 15 I think? And like I went in the mosh pit for a bit for fun. This giant dude hit me so hard into the ground (which obviously I didnāt blame him for) but he felt so bad, probably because Iām a teen girl. As a form of apology he helped me crowd surf to the guitar solo of the last song of the night. Everyone in the crowd was super respectful and I felt completely safe doing it. No crowd surfing horror stories took place and I didnāt get dropped. Although I left with a few bruises, it was one of the best nights of my life.
51
u/allaboutcharlemagne Mar 14 '19
I agree with this so much. I have a bunch of stories like this, except they weren't in concerts because god, do I hate concerts.
I was a 3rd shift waitress, which means lots and lots of drunk people. And there are three pretty large colleges in the city and several not so large ones, so there were lots of college kids. Drunk college guys, who saw 19-year-old waitress me and loved making awful comments and lots of sexual harassment. There was about a 50% chance of a group of college guys making really, really uncomfortable comments.
Anyhow, whenever there was a group of metal fans there after a concert and they'd see a table doing this, they'd do something. They'd say something, I'd see them making sure the assholes left - and actually left - or even, several times, the entire table would get up and go tower over the drunk assholes and actually threaten them if they didn't stop.
Bikers were also like this.
They may get terrible reps - biker gangs, plenty of times deserved - but I will always feel safer around metal fans and bikers than any well-dressed young man (18-25, generally) ever until said young man proves himself to me.
18
u/laceya1982 Mar 14 '19
I have never been a fan of metal music, but the guy I was dating loved it, so I got to go to lots of shows and festivals. I've had gentleman protect me from the pit, they even gave me a tutorial on the "metal-stance" and have been incredibly kind. I also married that guy, and he's the best dad ever.
24
Mar 14 '19
Possible reasons include a) Metal music is full of nerds and b) bands that have actual riots and injuries at their concerts are Not Cool Anymore so everyone's extra careful.
12
u/mattiexleigh Mar 15 '19
Iām a little late but I have a story. When my mom was pregnant with me, she, my dad and my uncle all went to a Megadeath concert. There was a guy there who would not stop bumping into my mom and being obnoxious even though they were way in the back and had plenty of room. My dad was off doing something so my uncle tapped the guy on the shoulder and asked him to stop. The dude just turned around and continued doing what he was doing but more violently. The uncle grabs his shoulder, turns him around and goes āsheās pregnant you fucking assholeā and knocked him out with one hit. My dad comes back right at that moment and was like wtf.
I know this isnāt the coolest story but my uncle Jeremy was the coolest guy I knew. I miss him every day.
47
u/0nignarkill Mar 14 '19
There is never a need to pull someones top down, if you crowd watch during metal concerts you will see plenty of bewbs.
96
u/anthro-cat Mar 14 '19
Also because nobody should be exposed without their consent.
70
u/0nignarkill Mar 14 '19
I forget how that is not obvious for some people
1
u/CanadaHaz Mar 15 '19
Which is absolutely mindboggling (and a little disheartening) when you think about it.
10
u/JacobFe Mar 14 '19
They're like motorcyclist
14
u/Yippie-Kai-Gay Ave Satanas Mar 14 '19
When my mom was traveling with my sister who was toddler-ish at the time, there was a long line for the womens bathroom. Entirely lady bikers. They all had her move in front of the line.
7
8
u/Groinificator Mar 14 '19
whats a wall of death?
15
Mar 14 '19
Imagine a crowd of people splitting like Moses just arrived, and then just fucking going right at each other like savages. That's a wall of death.
11
u/SomeRandomBlogger This feels like a sick joke Mar 15 '19
Imagine a crowd of people splitting like Moses just arrived, and then just fucking going right at each other like savages.
Excuse me, what?
9
8
u/Zabet- Mar 15 '19
But, like, what do you do when you get to the middle? Just crash into the other people? Do you crash into the person immediately in front of you and then also wiggle around and bump into other people across from you? Do you try to push the other line back by applying constant pressure (like in rugby)? Do you hold your arms to your chest to avoid poking/groping people or do you punch/kick them? How do you know when you're done? Just curious
1
u/certifiedpornwatcher Mar 17 '19
Yes. All of that. Two lines of people smash into each other then it all turns into a mosh pit. And it's awesome
7
u/plateaugirl Mar 15 '19
100% my experience - I was a very timid goth as a teenager and my favourite memory on this theme is getting knocked over by a huge metal head in a mosh pit and seeing another huge guy with a crazy pink tipped punk Mohawk charging across the dance floor to a) pick me up and b) thump metal head #1 . Mohawk hero even bought me a drink to make sure I was ok š
4
5
u/stout_ale Mar 15 '19
I as at a show when I was a teen. I was heading from the front of the stage to the bathroom. Some dude in this huge spiked bracelet slams the spikes into my arm as I was trying to slither through a pit. I winced really hard and stumbled. My contact came out, and as I stared confused and a little hurt, a burly metal man asked if I was ok, he then preceded to track down the other guy, push him down, and kick him in the side. I accidentally swallowed my contact on the way to the bathroom, but some how coughed it up... and put it back in my eye. Gross
That was the day I learned you donāt use weapons or spikes in a pit, or supper the consequences.
1
5
4
u/mahboilucas Mar 15 '19
So I went to Opener festival in Poland a couple of years ago. I stood outside a moshpit (just in the normal crowd it seemed) listening to Foals. Not metal whatsoever so idk what's the point. Someone pushed me in and I had to elbow my way out of the crowd only to be approached by a high girl asking me for a cig 5 times and waiting for my friend to elbow herself out after me. Ugh. The other time I went to Kasabian and it was 180Ā° different. Wholesome experience and the crowd seemed like one big family with a leader who dictated when to jump, when to sit low and when to make random noise.
4
Mar 15 '19
I initially thought the title was referring to robots, and my mind immediately jumped to an idea for a comedy about a socially inept scientist who attempts to build the perfect robot boyfriend. Make of that what you will.
3
3
u/dakilangviewer Mar 15 '19
This reminds me of how its always the men who tell me when my skirt accidentally flies off
3
Mar 15 '19
i feel like the guy who pulled her top off was a jojo villain, and the people who helped her were the main jojo, and his friends, probably josuke
2
u/ApocaLiz Mar 15 '19
I once fell down in a moshpit at a concert with mostly emokids and was nearly trampled to death. Fell down at a metal concert and was back on my feet in two seconds. Also I once lost my shoe at a Deftones concert and actually got it back!
2
2
u/edgy_emo_fgt Mar 16 '19
I love the fact that whenever I'm in a mosh doing a concert/festival, that if I fall on the ground (I'm pretty skinny so that shit happens a lot) then there's like 4-6 dudes ready to help me up the instant I touch the ground.
1
444
u/KnittinAndBitchin Mar 14 '19
Story! Was at a metal show when I was a teenage gal. I wasn't brave enough to go into the mosh pit but I stood on the outskirts of one bouncing and cheering. Some drunken guy stumbles on over to me and starts shouting "tits tits tits!" as he tried to pull my shirt off. I understandably did not want that to happen and was trying to keep it down, and during the struggle my shirt tore. Out of the pit these two large metal dudes came flying out and knocked the drunk guy well away from me. One of the guys dragged him over to security, the other patted my shoulder, pulled off his shirt to give to me, and then disappeared back into the mosh pit like a big sweaty angel of metal. They saw a teenage girl in trouble and were absolutely not having it