Mosh pit
The one or more mosh pit , is also called "Moshing Pit" or "Pogopit" a frequently Metal - Hardcore - or Punk -Konzerten front of the stage emerging circle in which the audience dance. Occasionally, however, moshpits are formed at hardcore techno events. In contrast to the circle pit , mosh pit denotes not only the circle line, but also everything that lies within the circle; On the outside, a mosh pit looks like a large crowd.
etymology
"Moshpit" originated from the English made-up word "mosh", which was mainly coined by the New York thrash metal bands SOD and Anthrax since the mid-1980s and means something like "strong emotions " or " chaos " and the English word "pit", which means pit , cauldron , but also means abyss or hell . In 1985 the verb “to mosh” appeared in the Stormtroopers of Death (SOD) on the classic LP Speak English or Die : “You think that you're really hard / You think that you can mosh / […] / But can you do the Milano mosh ?! ”(from the piece“ The Milano Mosh ”). Anthrax use the word 1987 as a noun on their LP Among the Living in the track "Caught in a Mosh", which freely translated means something like "Caught in chaos".
Under the entry, the Merriam-Webster-Online dictionary also refers to the verbs “to mash” or “to mush”, of which “to mosh” is a modification (“alteration”). The dictionary thus puts “to mosh” into a context of meaning of “to pulp” or “to crush”.
There is - also in view of the Jewish origin of Scott Ian Rosenfeld (guitarist with Anthrax and SOD) - speculation as to whether the term "mosh" might not refer ironically to the type of ritual prayer that is widespread in Judaism and Islam (quick, repetitive nodding of the head Upper body, see headbanging ). In addition, "Moshe" is a common Jewish given name.
Apparently in reference to the thrash and death metal scenes of thrash and death metal on the one hand and hardcore on the other, which tended to merge ( crossover movement) in the second half of the 1980s - but have since become increasingly isolated again - the then important British grindcore label Earache Records has been releasing since 1986 numbered with the codes "MOSH 1", "MOSH 2" etc. This includes both hardcore / speedcore bands and those that were later assigned to the metal genre; which the practicing moshers usually didn't care at all.
In order to distinguish themselves from the increasingly commercial metal scene in the 1990s (especially from US death metal, whose musicians at that time often stepped on stage in jeans, sweatpants and sneakers, which reflects the aesthetics of the then newly emerging black metal Movement was completely repugnant), Øystein Aarseth (“Euronymous”) put the slogan “Anti-Mosh” on the record sleeves for the releases of his record company Deathlike Silence Productions (DSP), which specializes in Black Metal , and numbered the catalog of only nine releases according to the model by Earache Records . The words "no fun, no core, no mosh, no trends" could be read around a crossed-out photo of the then popular heavy metal producer Scott Burns .
Later the term "mosh", similar to jibble , was used for everything for which no suitable word could be found. The derived verb moshen is used synonymously with headbanging , pogo dancing and similar expressions of "mosh". The word cannot really be translated.
In the LARP scene and partly in other role-playing circles, the word "moschen" is used synonymously for "slaughter" or "fight hard".
dynamics
Moshpits usually arise spontaneously and can just as spontaneously resolve again. This process is subject to the mood of the dancers, which is massively heated up by the music; however, the band playing at the moment often actively encourages the fans to form a mosh pit. Once a small group has been found to start dancing, the mosh pit usually grows quickly and drives out the guests who are "unwilling to dance". This creates a circle of wild moshers right in front of the stage, where the music is loudest.
Moshpits are available in many different designs and degrees of hardness, depending on the exact music style. It is occasionally reported that, in contrast to the mosh pit, which is usually designed for fun, there are also participants who are only after fights. Uninvolved or "mosh unwilling" people are drawn into the pit and attacked with hard hits without further ado and often injured in the process.
But these are rarely reported, unproven cases. Otherwise it is customary to help up those who have fallen down. It is also part of a kind of unwritten code not to have glowing cigarettes, items of clothing with long or pointed rivets or bottles in the mosh pit directly with you.
Circle pit
A circle pit is a special form of a mosh circle. While in a circle- like mosh pit all dancers move in different directions, in a circle pit all participants pore in a circle (only along the circle line, not within the circle) in the same direction, the center of the circle pit mostly remains empty. For a circle pit to come about, more basic requirements are necessary than for a normal mosh pit, such as coordinating the direction in which you want to dance, this is often done through the guidance of the band.
Circle / Wall of Death
Circle of Death or Wall of Death are two phenomena that are best described as an organized mosh pit. Circles of Death are more likely to be represented at punk concerts. At metal concerts you will find the Wall of Death clearly more often than the Circle, as it also brings with it a bit of the "big man playing" of Metal: Two parties face each other like before a battle, the front row shows the front line. These two sides then rush towards each other on Signal as described below. This is the beginning of the battle, so to speak. Usually it is initiated by the band who split the crowd before a wall of death song. There is often a dividing line on the floor of the hall / concert space in order to distribute the masses fairly.
A circle of death is often initiated by fans. You usually look for a quiet part of a metal or punk rock song (or the break in between), which is followed by a loud, aggressive phase. In the quiet phase, the largest possible space is cleared in the area in front of the stage. This creates a free circle that is stormed from all sides at the same time. In some cases this can create a gap that extends from the stage to behind the breakwater. These practices can be massively disrupted if many people stand in the cleared area in order to be knocked down by the approaching crowd or to give them vigorously.
literature
- Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 228701 (2013): Collective Motion of Humans in Mosh and Circle Pits at Heavy Metal Concerts