We're back with ITP V.011 THE ART OF DANCE PART 4 as this month we're consolidating METAL AT THE MOVIES, and THE ART OF DANCE this ONE time as the art of moshing seems to be both a grad student and documentary directors wet dream.
A new documentary has been unleashed entitled "THE PIT: A FILM ABOUT CROWD SURFING" directed by Dave Depares via RELENTLESS ENERGY DRINK.
FROM BLABBERMOUTH.NET:
Relentless Energy Drink has just released the fifth entry in the 2011 Short Stories film competition, which focuses on crowd surfing and the connection between bands and fans through the mosh pit.
Directed by Dave Depares, "The Pit: A Film About Crowd Surfing" introduces us to the fans who risk ejection from the venue, the musicians who live it every night (including Liam Carmier of CANCER BATS and Lee Spielman of TRASH TALK) and the bouncers who try to keep everyone safe. The film contrasts the focused energy of the band with the seeming chaos of the pit.
Depares draws on his dual experiences of directing music videos, and reviewing hundreds of gigs as a music journalist, to get under the skin of the fans and show how they see the art of crowd surfing.
"I've always been fascinated by crowd politics, the way different crowds respond to different bands, the changing energy levels, the positioning of various crowd members within the venue and their roles within the crowd," he says. "There are the planks, the head-nodders, the dancers, the pogoers, the moshers, and the crowd surfers."
"The Pit: A Film About Crowd Surfing" studies the rituals of crowd-surfing, moshing, pogoing and their related activities, attempting to unfold the psychology of those who partake in these manic, raucous celebrations of energy and emotion. It's a study of the politics and anthropology therein, and of the detached hedonism that its proponents gorge themselves on. The film delves deeper into the psychology of the pit, and aims to illustrate that there’s more to it than meets the eye. Depares finds a strange sort of beauty within the chaos, and exposes a world that was previously only known to those foolhardy enough to experience it at first-hand.
VIDEO BELOW: TRAILER FOR "THE PIT: A FILM ABOUT CROWD SURFING":
More Other Videos
Gabby Riches — who also runs a student group called "Heavy Metal On Campus" described moshing as a social experience, something not widely understood or even respected by some.
"People go into the mosh pit to show their appreciation for the band if you know their music, or for playing your favorite songs," she said. "It's also a way to build friendships. Afterwards, moshers affirm each other with back-patting and hugs. Often they're the same people in the pit at each concert, so a community is formed."
On unwritten rules of mosh-pit etiquette:
"Rules of etiquette include that if someone falls you pick them up right away; not wearing spiked bands or jewelry that could injure others, and no sexual contact. People look out for each other in the pit; we want people to have a great experience."
On women in mosh pits:
"Women say they feel a sense of safety even though it's very physical and very aggressive, because the etiquette is being maintained. Male moshers are also very welcoming of having women in the mosh pit. Many men [I interviewed] revealed that they are pleasantly surprised when they receive a solid hit from a woman; it adds a different dynamic and challenge to the usually male experience. And overall, metalheads are active in constructing a sense of equality within the mosh pit."
Gabby Riches, a UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA (CANADA) student (master's student in the faculty of physical education) is writing her thesis on MOSHING.
http://www.cbc.ca/radioactive/episode/2011/08/10/gabby-riches---mosh-pit-culture/#
FROM EDMONTON JOURNAL:
EDMONTON - Landon Barrowman’s leg has been broken in three places — a metal rod holds everything together — “just because kids don’t know how to mosh.”
There is, apparently, a right way to mosh, along with unspoken rules. But as Barrowman can attest, not everyone gets it.
Now a University of Alberta graduate student has shoved her way into tightly packed, pushy crowds at heavy metal concerts all in the name of academic research.
Gabby Riches, a master’s student in the faculty of physical education, is writing her thesis on mosh pits for a degree in recreation and leisure studies.
Riches, 25, has been a heavy metal fan since she was 15. During her undergraduate degree, she decided to combine her hobby and her studies and asked one of her professors if she could do a paper on metal music and immigrant integration.
Her professor liked it, so she did another paper on women’s experiences in heavy metal. She realized she was interested in music fans, so that led her to study mosh pits for her graduate degree. Riches also runs a student group called Heavy Metal on Campus.
Moshing started in the early 1980s in the American hard core punk scene. A band called Bad Brains used to yell at their audience to “mash it up.”
“But the singer had a thick Jamaican accent, so people heard ‘mash’ as ‘mosh,’” said Riches.
Mosh pits grew in popularity over the next two decades and became a mainstay at heavy metal and punk concerts.
Riches describes a mosh pit as a space in front of a stage where a group of fans gather and form a tightly packed crowd. A heavy metal mosh pit involves pushing, shoving and sometimes crowd surfing, whereas a punk mosh pit involves more swinging, jumping and diving. The “circle pit” and the “wall of death” are the two main types of mosh pit.
“Circle pits are most common in Europe. Everyone runs in a circle, and forms sort of a doughnut shape,” Riches said, adding headbangers sometimes go into the space in the middle and dance using their head.
“In the wall of death, two groups of people at either end of the floor run at each other, collide and form sort of a solid pit.”
There are rules to moshing, like no spiked jewelry and no sexual contact. One of the most important ones is to help someone up if they fall.
“The worst is when you can’t get help up if you fall. You become conscious of pain rather than pleasure,” Riches said.
Moshing etiquette, Riches said, is an important part of the culture, and moshing enthusiast Barrowman believes that’s a good reason for an academic study on moshing and mosh pits.
Landon, founder of local punk blog Dead City Press, said such a study could help educate people about what moshing is really about.
“There’s definitely a weird rift between what people know coming into moshing and what people experience with it,” he said, adding there is moshing courtesy which a lot of people don’t know about.
Barrowman said he grew up in a scene where people knew courtesy and “how to pick you up and treat you nicely,” referring to one of the main rules Riches pointed out — if someone falls, help them up.
“There are a lot of people out there who really need to understand and hear something like that,” Barrowman said.
Riches described moshing as a social experience, something not widely understood or even respected by some.
“At first, moshing can feel intimidating, frightening, because it’s physical and aggressive. It looks violent, but I don’t like to say that because it isn’t.”
Riches loves moshing because “there’s a sense of exhilaration, excitement, community. The energy the music provides drives you into the pit,” she said.
“It’s like taking a leap of faith. It’s a transcendental experience, you feel like you’re one with the others and with the music.”
Being in the pit “is good for me because then I can see the band,” she said, laughing.
Her favourite mosh pit experience was at a Slayer concert at the Shaw Conference Centre.
“It’s a huge conference centre and the whole floor was a mosh pit. And it was condensed, so someone my size could handle themselves,” said Riches, a slim five-foot-four.
Recently, Riches won a prestigious award from the Canadian Congress on Leisure Research for her paper on moshing. She said receiving the award for a topic like hers is important because the leisure field has typically focused on normal “leisure past times.”
“This award means a lot to me because it represents how leisure is constantly expanding, progressing and being challenged,” she said.
Moshpit culture “has now been taken seriously by leisure theorists and professionals. A move in the right direction.”
Riches said moshing continues to grow and expanding into other genres of music. “She plans to continue studying mosh pits, metal music and its fans at Leeds Metropolitan University, where she hopes to do a PhD next year.
Thanks-Stay Metal, Stay Brutal-\m/ -l-
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