spoonford

Moshing

The following post is adapted from part of my dissertation "How does the materiality of Nu-Metal music relate to the social practices of its fans?"

It wasn't a great piece of work but I am still interested in some of the underlying principals. As much as a refresher for myself, here is the modified section on moshpits:


Moshing is a ritualised and furious form of dancing combining very real violence with remarkable displays of emotion, life-and-death situations, and the raw sex beat of rock ‘n’ roll.

Joe Ambrose (2001)

Moshpits: A Structure to the Madness
To the first time observer it may seem that the moshpit is complete un-controlled mindless violence. There is however a definite structure and even a set of unspoken rules for moshing and moshpits. There is order and structure to the way things work and even a hierarchy amongst the people involved within it.
I will deconstruct the moshpit by firstly discussing it as a physical area of the nightclub dance floor. Next I will discuss the unwritten laws of the moshpit and moshpit etiquette. I will then move on to discuss the people within the moshpit and there relationship to the moshpit as a whole. I will conclude with an explanation of the various stages of the moshpit.

Moshpit Zones
The moshpit is not the unstructured mess of people that it appears to be upon first observation. From my participation in moshpits I have found that the moshpit as a whole is made up of a number of areas or zones. Nearly all moshpits I have been in have followed this pattern. There are obviously going to be some exceptions to the rule. If the venue is big enough different moshpits can form on the same dance floor. This is unusual, as most participants seem to be drawn mostly to one area of the dance floor. This usual occurs in the middle of the dance floor. At a live gig the moshpit forms nearest the front of the crowd looking towards the stage. At a nightclub there is no focus of attention (the DJ’s being hidden in a booth somewhere rather than being at the front of the dance floor like some dance music DJ’s) the moshpit takes on an approximately circular shape. The zones within the moshpit all differ in the intensity and types of moshing/dancing within them.

Fig.1. Below identifies the different zones that I have identified a moshpit to be made up of. The circles represent the moshpit it’s self, the box is the dance floor as a whole and the arrows indicate movement through the zones.


Fig.1. Moshpit Zones

Zone 1
The most violent area of the moshpit. Participants slam into each other jump kick and push. This area often travels violently around the dance floor as people jump in, push each other and fall over.

Zone 2
The fringe area of the moshpit. People move between here and the centre. This area is less aggressive with more room to dance. People are often thrown or dragged into the centre from this zone. People often wait in this area before plunging back into the centre.


Zone 3
The outer circle of the moshpit. A wall of observers often forms that pushes people back in who are hurled out of the moshpit. This area is also used to dance and take breaks from the main moshpit.

Zone 4
The rest of the dance floor. Dancing not involved directly with the moshpit itself although it can overflow into this area.

The Rules of the Moshpit
Although violent and aggressive, there are unwritten laws in the moshpit. If someone falls down people pick them up straight away. If someone oversteps the level of violence or picks on an individual too much other people in the moshpit will often hurl them out or block them.
There is a definite camaraderie in the moshpit which is difficult to see or understand if you have never been involved with one. Despite the fact that you are being violent towards your fellow moshers there is no bad feeling towards them as a rule. It is not uncommon to shake hands or even hug someone who knocked you flat during the moshpit. Words are generally few and do not extend beyond ‘That was fun!’ or ‘Nice one!’ When moshing with friends you will often throw one of your closest friends into what looks like the most violent area of the moshpit before diving headlong in after them. People often start their involvement in a moshpit by moshing just with friends at first before moving on to mosh with strangers.


Moshpit Stages
I have found that moshpits evolve through a number of stages during a song. I have outlined these below so that I can use them in the case study in my final chapter.

Stage One: Recognition
People realise what song is playing and position themselves in the appropriate area of the dance floor. Some people may leave the dance floor others may come running over from the bar depending on the song. This stage is most obvious when the previous song was a song not suitable for moshing to. People wanting to mosh to the new song take over the floor and those who do not wish to participate move to the outer areas or off the floor all together.

Stage Two: Build Up
Excitement builds. Dancing rather than moshing is taking place, people begin to prepare psychically to mosh. The more hesitant moshers fill the outer zones of the moshpit. Others position themselves in the middle ready for the moshing proper. People may be singing along to the lyrics.

Stage Three: Explosion
The moshpit erupts. The middle zone becomes a fast moving mess of people leaping kicking and slamming into each other. There is a great deal of movement between zones at this stage as people are thrown out of zone 1 or leave voluntarily because it is too violent or they have become tired. Some of the more hesitant moshers who started in the outer zones move into the middle for a more extreme mosh. This stage burns out and moves back into stage two. The process is repeated throughout the song.

Moshpits: The who’s who guide
In my experience of moshpits I have noticed a number of different types of moshers. These different types of people I have outlined some below categorising them by there general behaviour during the mosh. The roles and types of moshers I have described are by no means a definitive guide to all moshpits but rather a generalisation of the kinds of people I have observed and encountered in moshpits. These roles and behaviours are often interchangeable.

Meatheads
This type of mosher is usually slightly older than the rest of the moshpit. They are heavily built shaven headed men. Often shirtless and covered in tattoos with body piercings. They tend to act on there own occupying zone 1 of the moshpit. There sole intention seems to be to stay as close to the centre of the mosh as they can pushing all others out of the way. Generally there will only be 2 or 3 of these people in a mosh. They are heavily aggressive and do not tend to pick up anyone they knock over. They are often challenged by other moshers for the centre position of the moshpit.
These people are generally fans of 1980’s ‘old school’ metal. Bands such as Iron Maiden and Metallica. They join in with Nu-Metal moshers for the sake of moshing.

Group Moshers
These are groups of 2-6 people who seem to be moshing mostly amongst themselves. There is a lot of movement around the floor from these types of groups. These groups normally consist of people who appear to know each other. However it is not uncommon for strangers to join in the group through invitation. For example at the new years eve rock party at Birmingham XL’s night club 1999 the Limp Bizkit song Break Stuff started to play. This song is known to inspire particularly violent and energetic moshpits. I was dancing on my own in the outer zone of the floor wearing a hooded top with the Limp Bizkit band logo on. I was approached by two other people wearing the band’s logo and we entered the moshpit centre together and moshed together for the duration of the song almost as a team, picking each other up when we fell down and attempting to hold the centre of the moshpit for ourselves.
These groups often hurl each other into the centre of the moshpit and sometimes link arms and form circles leaping around together crashing into others. These groups can be made up of a combination of Nu-Metal fans and, depending on the club, fans of less heavy forms of music. A good example of this is a work colleague of mine that never listens to Nu-Metal or any kind or heavy music (preferring a mixture of Dire Straits, Eric Clapton and some indie) who often comes to rock clubs with me. Although he does not consider himself a fan of the music he participates in the moshpits as strongly as the fans of the music. I have known this to be true of a number of people. When asked why he does it he has often replied that it is just something to do with the music that makes him want to join in and release energy. This supports my argument that moshing as a social practice is closely linked to the materiality of the Nu-Metal.

Individual Mosher
The individual mosher moshes, dances and fights for space separate from the group moshers. Rather than leaping into people and diving into groups these people are more likely to fight for personal space to mosh in. Pushing people that come near them away in all directions almost defending their part of the moshpit. These are usually the more experienced moshers who are confident in their own abilities. These people are necessarily physically large or imposing. Confidence and experience are more important than brute strength to the individual mosher.

Newbies
These are the people completely new to moshpits. They lack confidence and generally occupy the outer areas of the moshpit. When they gain confidence to enter the centre zones they are generally the first to be knocked to the floor. These people are often fans of less aggressive forms of music who are experiencing the moshpit for the first time.


These groupings are by no means definitive but do help us to understand that moshpits are not just uncontrolled violence. By looking at the physical area and stages of the moshpit we can see how it works. By examining the kinds of people found in the moshpit it becomes clear that there is a hierarchy within it. The fact that these elements of the moshpit are observable and it is not just random violence but a complicated social practice supports my argument that the behaviour of the fans is closely related to the music they are listening too whilst moshing.

posted by spoons @ 12:01 AM