Moshing

Moshing

Moshing, in a strict sense, is a style of dance whose participants push or slam into each other. It is most associated with "aggressive" music genres, such as hardcore punk, rock and heavy metal. It has also been emerging in the heavier club genres like dubstep and drum and bass. It is primarily done to live music, although it can be done to recorded music.

Many variations of moshing exist, and can be done alone as well as in groups. Common events in moshing would be a "circle pit" or the more extreme wall of death, and are typically done in an area in the center of the crowd, generally closer to the stage, mosh pit or simply pit. A mosh pit can open up anywhere in the crowd by means of "crack-back" (where a group pushes back against everyone around them with their arms outstretched), people shoving each other into others until space is made, or simply swinging their arms and legs violently until space clears around them.

While moshing is seen as a form of positive feedback or expression of enjoyment, it has also drawn criticism over its dangerous nature. Injuries and a few deaths have been reported. However, it is generally agreed that moshers are not trying to harm one another, and that they follow an unwritten "moshing etiquette".

Type of Moshing:

Headbanging

Headbanging is violently shaking the head in time with the music, most commonly in the rock, punk and heavy metal music genres.

There are various styles of headbanging. Various styles are often mixed according to taste and to the tempo and heaviness of the music. They can also be performed with eyes closed and/or in combination with hand gestures such as the sign of the horns, singing, yelling, and lip syncing. Headbangers' bodies usually bang with the head, reducing the strain on the neck and making the body move in a serpentine, up-and-down fashion to the music. There are a number of different stances a headbanger can adopt, from a wide stance with one foot farther in front of the other to feet wide apart to either side. The stance chosen is usually determined to gain the best base for the headbanger to keep their balance and avoid falling over. Another popular style of headbanging is windmill headbanging.

Circle Pit

The circle pit is an event that is usually started when people begin to run around an opening in the crowd, usually tapping people that are on the ring of the pit on the shoulder to "invite" them into the pit. Bands will signal for a circle pit to start by waving their hands in a circular motion in the air.

In the circle pit, people begin running in around in an opening in the crowd, or "pit". Shoving and pushing is not mandatory, but it often happens anyway. Trampling is not usually an issue, as when someone falls they are usually lifted by another person out of respect and the unspoken code of etiquette that is usually followed. There is an empty space in the middle of the pit where tired people, or those trapped inside, can stand. This can be referred to as "the center" or "the eye" of the pit.

Wall Of Death

In wall of death, participants are directed away from the center of the standing area by a member of the band until a large, rectangular area is cleared, and, upon the band giving the go ahead, the two sides of the space sprint at each other and collide in the middle. A wall of death can also be organized by the moshers themselves between songs without direction from the band. A wall of death, upon collision, creates a large crowd of pushing-moshing, shoving, and sometimes hardcore dancing.

This form of moshing is the most lethal and dangerous. Trampling is much more common, as the dense crowd makes it much harder to lift a fallen person. Elbows are commonly regarded as the most dangerous of all things in any form of moshing, but they are even more of a risk in the wall of death as they can collide with heads much more easily if the person tries to raise their arms in defense.

Crowd Surfing

Crowd surfing, also known as body surfing, is the process in which a person is passed overhead from person to person (often during a concert), transferring the person from one part of the venue to another. The "crowd surfer" is passed above everyone's heads, with everyone's hands supporting the person's weight. At most concerts and festivals the crowd surfer will be passed towards a barrier in front of the stage by the crowd, where they will be pulled off and put onto their feet by the security stewards. Then, they will be sent back to the side or rear of the crowd at the end of the barrier or they may be ejected from the venue (depending on the policy enforced).

Crowd surfing generally occurs only towards the front of an audience where the crowd is dense enough to support a person's body. It is most popular at metal, punk, rock, rave and indie concerts.

In order to get above everyone's heads, a person can be given a boost, in which one person picks up another to launch them over the people's heads, or they can stage dive.

This has been known to happen to unwilling participants who have been boosted up by others by surprise, in which case, those participants may also be ejected, albeit unfairly.

Stage Diving

Stage diving is the act of leaping from a concert stage onto the crowd below. It is often the precursor to crowd surfing.

Initially seen as confrontational and extreme, stage diving has become common at hardcore punk and thrash metal performances. Many musicians have made stage diving a part of their stage act. Iggy Pop is often credited with popularising stage diving in popular rock music.

Stage diving can cause serious injuries. One example is when Peter Gabriel of Genesis stage dived during the end of their song "The Knife", landing on his foot, thus breaking his ankle. On 20 August 2010, Charles Haddon, the lead singer of English synthpop band Ou Est Le Swimming Pool, died after a performance at Pukkelpop, Belgium. He committed suicide by jumping from a telecommunications mast in the backstage artists' parking area. Haddon was reported to have been distressed after he feared he had seriously injured a young girl earlier after a stagedive.

(Source : Wikipedia)