Before my first venture into a
punk rock concert, I had always considered mosh pits to be
pointless. Who knows why people feel the need to bash into others, or be crammed into such a tight space that you
can't breathe? The general
stereotype of a mosh-pit-goer is a young
white male who needs to release
sexual tension and
anger. Generally, that's true. However, I learned of other reasons why people like the pit.
Yesterday, at a Rancid concert, I had my first encounter with a mosh pit. Stuck in the second row - center, I had my work cut out for me. About two minutes into the concert I got kicked in the head by a body surfer going over me. Then there was the guy with the foot long mohawk who kept poking people with it. Needless to say, I had to learn fast.
Just when i was starting to get the hang of when to duck, when to stick my hands above my head and when to brace myself for impact, a whole new situation emerged behind me. This was a circle pit. In a nutshell, it's a circle created in a pit where people (usually guys) run around and bash themselves into the people around the sides, who are also skanking, causing the whole pit to spin.
At certain points I had to hold on to complete strangers for dear life when the surging crowd started getting really pushy, but generally I had a great time listening to the music, screaming my head off and jumping around like a rabbit on crack.
I think that once I got past the cynicism I had for the whole experience and started to enjoy myself by moving with the crowd rather than resisting, I felt like all my problems would fizzle as long as I kept jumping. It was a great feeling, and I must admit, I'm hooked.