“Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting”: Modern Day Moshers’ Coming-of-Age

 A twenty-six year old man stands on stage with a microphone in his hand. He pauses, closes his eyes, and waits for inspiration. He is literally beside himself and seems to go into a prophetic trance. His audience waits for the cue, the call to react. But this is no Sunday morning worship service; this is midnight at a Saturday night Black Death Metal concert. This tattooed, pierced, and multicolored hair congregation is here to proverbially “let it all hang out,” and their expression of choice is a ritual called moshing. This behavior which originated in the late ‘70s as the antisocial a la carte to Punk music has evolved into a hard rock concert given. The mosh pit is an area which is normally directly in front of the stage is a large circular invisible boundary designated for free-for-all personal and group contact, which on occasion can turn violent.  There are several subheadings that are included under the general heading of moshing, and they include slamming, the circle pit, hard core, the wall of death, two step, scanking, and stage diving; all are characterized by highly physical, adrenaline producing, blood pumping, and thrill seeking behavior. Moshing involves mostly males, but occasionally females, from puberty to thirty and has come to signify a modern day, coming-of-age rite of passage. 

      Slamming is the most recognizable of the different moshing techniques and is the visual image most people associate with the term moshing. This form involves two individuals, usually distanced within two to five feet from each other, who slam their respective bodies against one another. Though contact is not typically the head, they usually do hit head-on. If one can picture adolescent rams rising and falling into a painful head butt clash, then one can picture two individuals slamming. And just as the motive for the ram clash is to see who is dominant, who is the strongest, and who gets the female; the slam also has its winner and its loser, though it is not usually an organized contest, and is usually a hit or miss affair. To the casual observer, it may seem more like life-sized bump and flail pinball machine action than a contest of wills. But dominance is the prize (not a female). However, if someone is knocked to the ground, the knocker will typically give a hand to the one he or she has just assaulted to boost him or her into the fray for another round or simply go on to the next willing participant.

      An experienced and so inclined lead singer can seduce a crowd into the next technique, the circle pit. This can be achieved by daring or demanding that the crowd form a circle: “Get into a fuckin’ circle!” or “I wanna see a circle and I wanna see it now, you mother fuckers!” can be a typical chant. The regular crowd will then make way for the circle pit, widening the mosh pit area. Several individuals will then begin to run at full speed around this imaginary geometrical space. The music will then go into a loud, methodical, and monotonous rift that seems to induce the circle runners into going faster and faster. The hypnotic motion along with the music has the effect of mesmerizing not only the runners but the other individuals who are either simultaneously performing their own mosh of choice or are those in  the crowd outside of the mosh area. The effect is similar to a trance, and usually those nearest the stage (in front of the monolithic speakers) who stand still and motionless except for the incessant sway of their heads up and down, are the victims of an overzealous, out of control runner who has lost his or her way. Frequently those running will slip or slam into this front line and also any others brave enough to enter the designated area.

      For the most angst driven moshers, the next activity seems a likely choice because it is the most physically demanding and also the most dangerous. Hard core dancing (which seems an oxymoron) is the “Fight Club” of moshing. The hard core dancer positions him or herself in an area with room for movement, and then begins a violent simulation of punching and kicking the air continuously for an unspecified amount of time. This is the most dramatic and dangerous of the techniques and requires the most courage and least regard for personal safety. Hard core is simply battle, and any individual participating becomes the warrior. This behavior is the most extreme because as elbows, fists, tennis shoes or boots, and hard heads flail willy-nilly—someone somewhere is predictably going to get hit—contact is inevitable. Split lips, busted noses, skinned shins, cracked ribs, and even broken bones are not anomalies at these events. This test of manhood or womanhood is not without a significant risk, and it is generally only those in need of a cathartic experience who will engage in this type of behavior.

      The wall of death is a variation of the slam and is also incited by the lead vocalist of the band. The wall consists of two groups of people, on opposite ends of the pit and facing one another, who run at full speed and collide. This is Red Rover, Red Rover on steroids. It could also be seen as war simulation, where two opposing forces run to meet each other in battle. In contrast, the wall could be seen as a group bonding experience where extreme physical contact is an acceptable and desirable. This could be considered a literal meeting of the minds.

      The two step is the kinder, gentler mosh. However, the name is misleading and has no remote connection to country music, leather vests, or reruns of Urban Cowboy. The Two Step is simply running in place. It could be a novice mosher’s initiation move or just a good work out with really loud music. Likewise, Scanking, which is a tamer version of the Two Step, is a soft core version of moshing. The name is a mystery but the action could bear relation to skulking, sleazing, or perhaps, skeezing. Scanking because of its not-as-tough nature could be derogatory term for those more faint of heart than the bruised mosh regulars. However, it should noted that anyone in the gladiator’s arena is at risk for personal injury, whether two stepping or scanking.

      Stage diving, which commonly flows into crowd surfing is the only activity where the members of the band and the members of the audience may have physical interaction. The names of these techniques are self explanatory. One dives from the stage and is carried off into the crowd by the crowd, and hopefully stays afloat, until one lands safely like a cat, feet first. Although it is not common for band members to engage in this activity, it does happen. This is also a form of bonding and an attempt at collective cooperation. There must be at the very least a minimum level of trust between the diver and the catchers (unless the diver is suicidal). Most floors in clubs are hard and unforgiving. Stage diving and other categories of moshing quite possibly are the first attempt at social interaction and connection on a group scale (usually with all strangers) for many of these participating adolescents.

      The socialized climaxes listed above represent a contemporary coming-of-age for a portion of the population born after the ‘80s (usually), who go for black and blue badges of courage when participating in the ritualistic manifestations of proving their selves. Moshing seems to be an outlet with the combination of personal bravado and the need for a cathartic social experience.

      A young man leaves a smoke filled club via the back entrance at two a.m. He is sore and brandishes a bloody elbow and scraped knee. His hair is drenched with sweat and drips onto his black T-shirt which seems melded to his body. He acts as an impromptu roadie and instinctively helps the band roll huge black amps down the ramp to their van. He turns to the lead singer, his temporary Saturday night hero, hugs him like an older brother, and says, “Man, thanks--that was a totally kick-ass show.” As in any dispensation of time, adolescences will always pick rituals in which they can find acceptance and in which they can figure out the man or the woman they wish to be.