The theory and practice of moshing
On the long drive home back from Bristol after the Stiff Little Fingers gig, my mate Gary and I wondered when the term "mosh" came in. As far as we know, there is no Latin verb "to mosh" and reckon we've both been doing moshing before it was called that. I checked this morning and it seems that it is a US term derived from the word mash. The learned Wikipedia entry suggests it derived from the pogo in the hard core punk sub-culture during the early eighties. People have died from it but it's usually okay in small or well run venues like the Bristol Acadmey.
Slamdancing is the most violent variant where the whole point is to hit people. I may have done this but only by accident - I didn't mean to slam dance! I hit someone in the face once at a Flaming Lips gig - quite by accident. About a dozen gas-filled beach balls had been released onto the audience and I was trying to punch one of these up to the ceiling. I succeeded but hit the bloke next to me as well. Not hard. He was alright about it though, because it must have been obvious it was a mistake.
At the Stiff Little Fingers gig, somebody came crashing down on my foot and looked at me with a regretful face but I just grinned and we both understood it was part of the melee. After that, whenever we got the chance, we thumped each other heartily in a blokey sort of way, as the seething, heaving tide of humanity ebbed and flowed and carried us back and forth.
A little student in front of me had to retire from the flailing arms in the mosh pit holding his nose but generally things were good natured.
The origin of the term mosh is credited to Bad Brains. I will admit to not being familiar with their work. They played to Washington DC audiences around 1980 and said mash in heavy Jamaican accents, which the Washington DC crowds heard as mosh.
Slamdancing is the most violent variant where the whole point is to hit people. I may have done this but only by accident - I didn't mean to slam dance! I hit someone in the face once at a Flaming Lips gig - quite by accident. About a dozen gas-filled beach balls had been released onto the audience and I was trying to punch one of these up to the ceiling. I succeeded but hit the bloke next to me as well. Not hard. He was alright about it though, because it must have been obvious it was a mistake.
At the Stiff Little Fingers gig, somebody came crashing down on my foot and looked at me with a regretful face but I just grinned and we both understood it was part of the melee. After that, whenever we got the chance, we thumped each other heartily in a blokey sort of way, as the seething, heaving tide of humanity ebbed and flowed and carried us back and forth.
A little student in front of me had to retire from the flailing arms in the mosh pit holding his nose but generally things were good natured.
The origin of the term mosh is credited to Bad Brains. I will admit to not being familiar with their work. They played to Washington DC audiences around 1980 and said mash in heavy Jamaican accents, which the Washington DC crowds heard as mosh.
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