On Friday night I went with a friend of mine to take our 14 year olds to Rocket Town. Rocket Town is a local teen club that plays heavy metal music. I must admit I did not want to go but did not want to deny my son the chance to go hear these bands so I went along with him. Well, let me tell you it was quite an experience. I wish I had taken my camera but I didn't so you are just going to have to listen to me describe it to you.
THE MOSH PITS
Okay, I am not in the dark ages. I have heard of "mosh pits" but obviously had no clear understanding of what it was. At Rocket Town there were three types of Mosh Pits. There were the whirling dervishes, the runners and the aggressive pushers. The Whirling Dervishes reminded me of Native American or African dancers. They would dance around and whirl their arms around until it was just a blur. They would do these wild karate kicks in the air, whipping their legs around everywhere. This would go on for a couple of minutes and then they would disappear into the edge of the pit only to bust out again in a bit. The Whirlers did not dance to the music. Indeed they seemed quite separate from the music. If there was anything resembling a melody (which was rare) they would just stand there calmly. Instead they thrived to the beats and the vibrations. As soon as you could feel the vibrations coming up your legs the dervishes would all start whirling madly about. I have no idea how they kept from breaking each other's noses but they seemed to have an innate sense on how to avoid each other. Another interesting fact about the dervishes is that the boys (almost 99% of the moshers were boys) would posture like an ape back and forth working themselves up before breaking madly into their dancing.
The second group were the runners and they are the least interesting group. They just simply run around in circles like a group of four year olds. The people who line the pit will push them if they stray out but other than that it is mainly just running.
The third group was very aggressive. It was sort of like fighting but no one was angry. These teens would just run amock among the pit and push each other around. The pit was lined with other teens who would push the runners into each other. It was almost like a cross between boxing and dancing. Here again, I have no idea how they avoid injuries but they do or at least they did this night. (Amazingly enough with all of this testosterone running amuck I only saw one fight break out and the bouncers removed these people immediately).
The make up of the pits themselves is fascinating. They are made of concentric rings. At the center you have the teens bouncing off of each other like atoms in a nuclei. Around them is a loose circle of teens that form the mosh pit wall. They are all facing into the middle. Around them is everyone else. These people ignore the pit. The ones in the front have their backs to the pit and they do not bother turning around to watch. Occasionally someone would get pushed 3-5 feet into this crowd and they would simply move up and then move back without ever turning around to see who was pushing them. At one point toward the end of the night the pits were getting so huge they were almost converging upon each other. I thought the whole place was fixing to fall over the edge into mass hysteria but luckily the vibrations calmed and so did the people.
Another interesting fact was that instead of seeing lots of lighters held up and lit (as in my concert says), you would see the light of dozens of cell phones. The teens were holding them up to photography, videotape and text.
What does this have to do with photography? Well, nothing....maybe everything....just was a very interesting night. Next time I go back I will take my camera. I must get proof of this alien world!
amy
PS...thought I would add a photo..this is from a shoot I did of two brothers. I love this photo! I love his polka dot boxers.
