Different styles of mosh pits can be determined by geographical location, the band or their fans, style of music, decade the band was formed etc. For the person new to the scene, a 40+ year old dancing around the pit like you're 20 or interested in human behavior, “It is class time, please take your seat, lace up your boots, throw up your horns and turn your focus to different aspects of the mosh pit.”
Old School Pits Mosh pits have evolved over the years, starting with the Old School Pit, also known as the Circle Pit. This is the pit in its most basic form, running around in a circle, pushing, shoving, and sometimes just standing in the middle of the action. Moshers keep a close eye on each other and almost immediately rescue those who kiss the concrete, protect each other from frenzied moshers and help clear a path for someone who wants out of the pit. Back in the day, some of the styles of dancing and movement were called by different names. One name I can still remember, skanking was a method of staying low in a pit. Legendary Pits The behavior of fans in some pits relates to the band. A definite uptick in brutality within the pit could be expected at some concerts. Moshers would drive hundreds of miles just to experience these pits and might even catch more than one show on a tour to enjoy the pit with a different set of moshers. The bands did not necessarily have excessively violent shows, the music intensified the energy for both band and crowd and moshers might need a week to recuperate. These legendary pits are mainly old school bands that were part of the nucleus of the formation of pit music and the scene that accompanied it until the advent of Grunge music and its scene. Slayer: A friend of mine would argue with me between my 1st and 2nd choice, but I choose
Slayer because they arrived on the scene first. The original, old school Slayer pits were some of the most violent and brutal to jump into, from the opening chords of “South of Heaven,” through the intensity of “Raining Blood,” to the howls of “Chemical Warfare” and ultimately every song on the setlist of every tour. For me, this band never let up through their entire career that continued right through the Final World Tour ending in 2019.
Pantera: I enjoyed the brutalness of these pits to satisfy my alpha side. The crush hit hard and heavy, this wasn’t dirty or fighting, just consenting individuals enjoying the pleasure of speed and roughness to match the music in intensity and violence. This is the band that carried the heavy metal banner through the grunge era. They not only carried the flag, they pierced bodies through the heaviness and primal rage that is Pantera. They expected intense pits and they did their part to amp up the crowd until all hell broke loose. My favorite songs, “Fucking Hostile,” “Walk,” “5 Minutes Alone,” and “Becoming” resulted in bruises all over my body that lasted for more than a week after attending a Pantera show.
While I’ve enjoyed too many pits to even put a number on, my list of legendary pits stays rather small. My list starts with a top two and then turns into a swirling mashup. I will throw some names out there of bands I’ve seen in concert and for whatever reason have stuck in my mind over the years: Overkill, Motorhead, and Cannibal Corpse. Each mosher will have a personal list of favorites that fits into the legendary category, feel free to sound off with your list and reasons in the comments.
WTF Pits
The weird and unusual are some of my favorite pits. Naming just a couple of bands that categorize this type of pit for me are Municipal Waste and GWAR. Slightly more than a decade ago, I saw Municipal Waste open for GWAR. This was the first time I saw Municipal Waste. “[Un]holy [fun.]” This was a very ‘80s style pit, with two major variations, only on a rare occasion will you see Luchadores and surfboards in the pit. The sound of 80s thrash metal in a goofy weird mix created a pit with a beach party massacre vibe.
If a King of WTF pits were to be crowned, it would be a GWAR pit. As a veteran of 39 GWAR shows, there is a lot to take in and it takes even more to leave unscathed. The music will whip the pit into a fury in a nanosecond. Then the performers begin pumping stage blood into the pit and the crowd surges forward to get soaked in the drenching flow. Moshing on a floor now slick with a layer of blood, littered in concert rubbish requires entirely different skills in a continual tidal wave of humanity pushing towards the stage to be slain by their overlords, Crowd surfers are full on all night and to top it off, you try to keep an eye on the stage watching the spectacle that is GWAR. Hail Oderus!, Hail Flattus!
Hardcore Pits
I will not lie, this is not my thing, I have nothing against it or the music. Seeing shows in the Boston area, I have seen my share of HardCore pits, usually violent, people getting hurt, flinging fists and kicks. If you are into it, enjoy it! For non HardCore moshers, be forewarned it’s a different and sometimes dangerous beast.
Fun Pits
Fun spans the generations, there are bands that just bring a fun atmosphere and the moshers will play to it. This crowd is not usually violent, different styles of slamming going on, old and young sing alongs horns raised. Some of the bands I think of when it comes to fun pits are foremost Anthrax, seeing Anthrax has always just been fun from seeing them in 1988 to seeing them in 2018, an Anthrax pit seems to find that balance of intensity and fun. Miss May I brings new school in an old school way, whipping the young crowd by demanding a Circle Pit. Many years ago I went to a show (can't remember who) and before the show started they were playing music over the PA system and Frank Sinatra came on, crowd surfing, pits and a sing along ensued. I miss those days.
This overview of styles of pits focus on the mood for the moshing experience. During any concert or pit experience, various types of activities occur that showcase the variations that can be regional to the area or true to the country or region from which the band hails. I might caution you to stay on your feet, but then you might remind me of going to a Swedish metal band and people in the pit sat on the floor and rowed a Viking ship or held your index finger in the air for the pit to hoist you into the air to surf the crowd.
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