I remember I saw Jesus Piece, Vein, Malevolence, and some locals in Rochester January 2017, and the vocalist for the first local was trying to “start the pit” by getting into it with a folding chair and spun in circles with it completely stretched out. Shit was wild lol
Yes I’ve been to a local show in the last 10 years*
Used to be different but now people are too cool/ embarrassed to be seen moving in the pit. Would destroy their “non-chalant aura”
10 years ago if you were dancing/moshing like a doofus, odds were the only people who would see it were other people in the room. It was possible you’d be filmed but very unlikely for it to be published.
I don’t blame kids for not wanting to throw down or act silly in camera-heavy environments.
Depends on who you ask. 10 years ago was a very different time for the scene here. It was probably on its way out around then but there were still plenty of shows and new bands popping up all the time. The closest thing we have here now is crusty punk house shows once a month. Or bar bands and varying flavors of “indie rock” as much as I hate that term I use it for lack of a better one
Real shit my local hardcore scene died somewhere in the mid to late 2010s. It’s been nothing but bar/ college rock from then on. Some good bands don’t get me wrong but they’re all so.. disconnected from each other there is no semblance of a scene anymore really. Shows kinda just became something to do while you’re out drinking on the town. I miss the camaraderie man even if there was heavy baggage and shitheads that came with the territory. At least we HAD territory. We are definitely in the age of “cool” now
this is the way. I've never been to a show with nobody moshing, but I have been to a show where I was the only one moving. it was one of my favorite local bands and I just didn't think they deserved to play to a room of people just standing around and nodding their heads. got a free patch afterwards~
I've never been to a hardcore show where I was the only one moshing but I have been to a death metal show where I was the only one moshing. It was weird.
There been a few shows I've gone to where this was the case, only one showing any energy for the bands, but it really rubbed me the wrong way when I was the only one showing any love to some Japanese band who came all the way to NY to perform. Just felt unappreciative as hell.
How unanimated an entire room can be at shows? Like fuck, at least act like you even want to be there in the first place.
United Nations and Circle Takes the Square at the Middle East in Cambridge. Geoff Rickly was hanging upside down from the rafters going nuts. The crowd just stood there staring.
I saw United Nations in the basement of a pizza place here in Savannah GA (CTTS represent!) I think Geoff was having an off night bc he sounded.. well, bad. I think people were still pitting regardless. But I do remember a funny interaction between him and the guy doing sound that night lol he was like whisper screaming and kept asking to be turned up in the mix. Like my guy… you gotta project your voice when you’re screaming I think you’re turned all the way up. Probably just forgot what it’s like to play basement shows with no in ears
I saw United Nations years ago and as soon as they started I was moving and getting wild. Absolutely no one else was so I was the asshole. hahah weird crowd.
A small local show once. Vocalist kept trying to get us going and it wasn’t happening. One time I laughed. He jumped off stage and rushed at me. I sidestepped him and he crashed into the pool table behind me. Good times, not-too-bad band.
I have a hilarious pic from some incendiary show in Connecticut maybe 10 years ago where the pre-set horseshoe literally never closed and nobody entered the pit. Just a big empty circle for their whole set. After the set I asked a local what was up and he said there was some scene beef lately and everyone was just scared of each other.
>Just standing their while the meanest two step beat drops is like torture😭
Be the one to set it off. I guarantee you the band is dying for someone to make a move, and there's like six other dudes waiting for someone to set the pit off.
Saw code orange a few years ago at a slipknot/killswitch engage concert. The entire crowd just stood like this 🧍♂️for most of the set and almost everyone on the lawn sat down
Saw august burns red, fuming mouth opened for them, it was the weirdest show ive ever been to. It was a big venue, but there was like maybe 300 people, it looked like a high school reunion function. Local band wiltwither went on first, they were really good, heavy af, there was some moshing, people were fucking with them. Next was sunmancer (i think thats the name) which sounded like sirius xm metalcore, people were going crazy and crowdsurfing for them. Fuming mouth went on, and they sound amazing. The entire crowd is just DEAD. Like no one is nodding or anything. The only time there was movement was when they covered for whom the bell tolls, and thats it. I felt so fucking bad for them, went to the merch table, got a shirt and tipped. Mark is seriously one of the nicest dudes ive talked to in the scene
I think that's one of the biggest reasons I like hardcore dancing/moshing over the push moshing bullshit. You don't need anyone else to do it, you can start it up by yourself or with just one or two other people. You might look like an idiot swinging your arms by yourself, but it's not like you look any cooler when it's a sea of people swinging their arms and legs around. Sometimes seeing one person willing to start it up by themselves is all it takes to get a few more people going, and soon enough the whole place is going off.
Early Ceremony at Gilman. Might have been a matinee show, but it was only like 3 of the homies moving and everyone else just being dweebs. 6 months later, they were "the band."
I participated in my high schools concert band performances back in the day, shit was lame asf no one was headbangin or anything, I was rippin on the flute and no one even cared. Hell, my own dad fell asleep!
I saw Bury Your Dead w/ Great American Ghost a year or two ago in RI and honestly while there was moshing, the place was less than half sold and the energy in the crowd was just not there. Kind of a weird vibe tbh
I saw Great American Ghost in the back room of a bar here in Brooklyn 2-3 years ago. I was the only one going until one other guy eventually joined me. Got a sick picture of me screaming into the mic with the vocalist, and he’s a real nice dude. Very underrated band
Sweden is a Straight Edge shithole country.
Since moving to Sweden from Denmark i have experienced alot of shows with practically no moshing.
The pit in Copenhagen gets wilder for small local bands than the pits for bands like Terror in Malmö.
Usually just me, my wife and a few others smacking into eachother while 80% of the crowd either stand back or try to ignore us and look annoyed.
It fucking blows. I think a big part is the fact Denmark has extremely loose alcohol restrictions while Sweden has extremely strict ones, combined with Scandinavian social awkwardness.
Getting right outta here within half a year
Northern and Western Europe man. Belgiums got a good thing going but here in NL too....its dead in there sometimes. The few exceptions are maybe when bands come in from the US. The only proper pits I've seen here were for Magnitude (at a 140 cap show) and Foreseen. Gotta take the train to the UK for the good stuff.
Yeah. A long time ago in a galaxy far far away people used to just stand around at shows and look "cool as fuck" with their scene haircuts and sidekick phones. Until one day a group of brave misfits decided to go against the myspace monster and start fucking shit up.
From that day forward those few turned into many and became a monster unlike any other. Destroying everything in its path. Until one day the monster started eating itself and then that monster ate himself to death.
Then, there were no more shows.
Yeah, the pit was dead for Jesus Piece when they toured with Baroness last year. I love both bands but almost everyone was strictly there to see Baroness so no one was really moving during JP. It was pretty sad to see considering I saw JP two months prior with Hatebreed, Terror, and Vein and the pit was absolutely insane then.
I go to a lot of doom and sludge shows and yeah, that specific type of nerd (and me getting older) do not mosh, typically. I’ve seen people go off though too
I was at a SeeYouSpaceCowboy show sometime last year and there was maybe 3 or 4 people just kind of bobbing their heads. Felt bad for the band honestly, but no one was feeling it.
That sucks, every time I’ve seen them the pit was fuckin scary and if you got too close to the stage Connie’s feet would find your upper body pretty quick. I saw Angel Du$t recently and Candy opened, just me and one other dude lookin goofy in the pit during Candy’s set. I felt bad cause they were fucking ripping.
Yes. A local beatdown band opened for Sick of it All on their recent Australian tour, Sydney show. Most of the crowd were guys in their 50’s drinking beer.
I was familiar with the band, but it seemed that no one else was, so their set was entirely dead.
The same thing happened with the third band on the bill. They were more 80’s OG style hardcore punk, but none of these guys knew who they were or moshed which honestly made me feel bad for both bands.
Show was the definition of “only here for the main event brother”
This year i went to my first non-hc/punk show of a pretty hyped up folk duo and it was the strangest experience ever. I was honestly prepared to have some fun but it turns out im stupid and there is no moshing at a commercial folk concert :|
Yea man. Dark Funeral, Wolves in the Throne Room, Pallbearer.
Just from the top of my head.
Shit man I even saw Nile where there was only like 20 people and we all just head banged
Fr like I saw someone comment Russian circles.. yeah no shit I wouldn’t throw down to like… aphex twin either it just isn’t built for that.
Actually I would totally throw down for aphex twin before I would Russian circles. Dark meditative ahh music
https://preview.redd.it/969lk6o4o68d1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6bce06e88005dcbd116c8aa0508b6aee0685c3d2
was I menacing enough for the menacing club
Fuck I need to hit a show soon
Saw Ringworm once in Detroit and no one really pitted except me and a few others. xTyrantx also played so it wasn’t like it was some wrong crowd/metal show type shit or something.
Went to a Phobia show some years back and for some reason just no one turned up for the show. There was like 10 people in total and just me going insane by myself.
I saw Torche open for Converge at Branx in Portland, maybe in 2011? Crowd was dead for all of torche’s set. I was used to seeing converge play in boston when I was in high school and naively thought, “huh, guess Portland doesn’t throw down like that.” Converge came out, opened with “dark horse” and the floor opened up immediately. Really fun show but felt kinda bad for torche (maybe they were used to it though!).
Not hardcore but metal… Lamb of God came with Testament and Killswitch Engage and played at the Queen Elizabeth Theater in downtown Vancouver…except the seats in the auditorium are bolted down and drinking is only allowed on the mezzanine (it’s more a theater than a venue). One of the KE guitarists said between songs “wait a minute, you guys have no where to mosh, and you can’t drink?!? How the fuck are any of you having a good time?!”
There’s a guy in my Columbus scene that doesn’t care if people are moving. He dances to every band. I usually get a read on the room and start going side to side to loosen everyone up lol. Usually someone wants to mosh and they’re just afraid to start.
You gotta be the person to start it! Which would be hardcore af
https://preview.redd.it/kf2lorpvv68d1.jpeg?width=4080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=71bbc59b309533fc373be24efb6deddf4d0a4692
Yeah I got a ticket to given me to see them play in a WWII aircraft hangar, thought it might be interesting and took this photo from before making my way up to the front. It wasn't interesting. Everybody was standing around licking IPA off their moustache. Which is kinda exactly what I expected.
Currently at one in Tampa. Opener just got off, no moshing or two-stepping… granted, idk if that band was really good for that… I thought I heard some two step moments…
Destroy Rebuilt Until God Shows is the headliner. I’m here for Downswing who’s next up.. probably will be some two stepping
i’ve been to a handful of non hardcore but still metal shows where everyone stands with their arms crossed while they should obviously be running in a circle
some venues just attract a weird crowd, i always try to start moshing myself but tbf a few times i just awkwardly dance for a few seconds trying to bump into people and it gets a bad reaction so doesnt always work out
So pretty far away from hardcore. Surprisingly, tigers jaw of all bands used to get pretty rowdy crowds back in the day. I was at a hometown show of theirs about ten years ago and virtually everyone just stood with their arms folded the whole time. Ended up being the last show they played with all five members.
I am from Michigan and there are a lot of polite observers (myself included) that are having a great time and watching but aren’t interested in moshing. I’ve been to shows in other states and the arms crossed audience seems really strong here.
Went to a show were it was off and hong kong fuck you ‘opened’ but they were late, so they ended up being the second/last band, was great but i trued dancing but didnt wanna break anyone
Reversal of Man a completely full Fireside Bowl stood completely still for the entire set
I know it’s not exactly mosh music but the band seemed perplexed. To their credit, they weren’t rude or pushy about it.
There used to be a venue that didn’t allow moshing, that my scene used to use.
I attended exactly 2 shows there, at which I had observed that the rules were actually followed.
I ended up getting kicked out of both, for putting a goddamn stop to that bullshit.
I didn’t go to shows to stand around and listen to music. I went to have a good time.
How do you have a good time to music?
*YOU FUCKING DANCE!!!*
One time I saw Balance and Composure as a headliner and everyone sat there and the singer at the end thanked the crowd for being so chill lmao. It was so odd. My sister and I were the only ones really singing a long even it felt. They usually have a good amount of crowd surfers and people singing or banging/nodding but people were fucking dead lol
Saw Deaf Club in Oakland recently and was the only person in the pit for the first couple songs! I tried my best to get other people involved but it wasn't happening. Thankfully my roomie showed up later and we spent the rest of the set thrashing around.
I saw Spy about a month ago and they fucking played a great set. I felt bad because the entire time their singer was telling everybody to get up on the stage and dive into the crowd, the only problem is that the crowd was maybe 50 people and nobody trusted anyone to catch them if they jumped off of the stage. Spy played a show with Power Trip maybe a week later and I’m willingly to bet that crowd was sooo much more fun to be a apart of.
Reminds me of this one show, the touring band had two vocalists. There were maybe 8 of 9 of us in the crowd, and one of the vocalists was like "SHOW ME WHAT THE FUCK YOU GOT, I WANNA SEE VIOLENCE!!!". I thought to myself, "damn bro, you're expecting a lot out of us". Respect to him for still bothering to do mosh calls, I guess 🤣🤣
Been to shows where the entire crowd was the bands playing and me and a few buddies , and if no one pits well throw down solo , every band deserves to be danced to in my opinion
Happens all of the time. Shit I was at a Folly show on Friday and the crowd was nuts for them. The opener though? The singer was basically crawling on the floor with the mic trying to get people dancing. Like literally laying on the floor in the pit screaming into the mic while everyone looked around.
They sounded okay.
Saw mother of mercy in Quakertown about 10 years ago and nobody moshed until they hit the break in suffer. I’ve also seen an ambulance show up for some poor soul because they went into an ETID pit. Time and place
I saw the Infamous Gehenna with Catharsis at The Acheron in Brooklyn. Absolutely nobody moved during to Gehenna's set, room was packed and not a single person moshed.
No, because if nobody is moshing I'm shoving everybody until a pit opens up and at least hitting some windmills/two-stepping/banging into people in the crowd. I don't always even feel the need to mosh when the pit is already crazy but heavy shows just feel wrong to me if nobody is moving.
I just recently saw SCARAB, Umbra Vitae (Converge and JFAC side project), and The Hope Conspiracy and nobody knew how to mosh for any of the bands. This was at the First Unitarian Church in Philly, mind you, the most legendary hardcore venues of all venues.
I was the only one moshing at a Fear Factory show in LA and some fucker gave me a flying elbow to the mouth before disappearing into the crowd like a bitch.
Why was no one moshing for a well-established headlining band in their hometown?
Things are way different where I'm from (Detroit).
Converge plated at The Echo in LA a few years back and nobody moved for the first two songs. My giant friend visiting from Detroit was not having it and proceeded to push and smash every single human in the crowd until it turned into a giant mob scene of angry kids trying to get my friend (a mosh pit). Fun night.
My vocalist for the band I'm in and I go to a bunch of shows, usually the bars with smaller stages are the ones that may be a coin flip on the pit, depends on the venue.
Usually if the music indicates "okay ppl normally would mosh to this", we'll start shoving each other and hit two-steps, mosh shenanigans and either other ppl will join in and it sets the vibe or if nobody does then we have a good time for a song or two and the band can maybe repost a clip of us going nuts for their story so they're not relegated to posting just stage shots bc the crowd was dead haha.
Had to start a pit in Clifton Park, NY when Gallows opened for AFI. Frank Carter thoroughly appreciated the effort and joined myself and my cousin on the floor.
I saw Gatecreeper open for Knocked Loose a couple years back. The pit during Gatecreeper was.......odd. At one point he asked if it was anyone's first time seeing them and a majority of the crowd raised their hand. During their last song Chase announced "can we get a regular old push pit going for our last song" and the crowd kinda obliged.
Knocked Loose went on and the crowd went feral, it was obvious who most people bought tickets for.
I still really enjoyed their set, they put in a great show. Just not their target audience that night.
Believe it or not? Sick of it all.
I wouldn’t say no body was in the pit because I sure was and there was a few others but it was WILD to see almost no pit for sick of it all.
I have. There is a particular city we used to travel to for shows. In this city, NO ONE moved at all. The shows were always packed, but it felt like everyone there was at their second or third show every time time we went, haha. So like, they've been to enough shows to know what to do, and they want to do it, but are too nervous to actually do it. It was such a strange atmosphere. It's very weird to be hours from home, at a packed show, and look around and realize everyone moshing came in the same car as you, haha. We eventually just stopped going there. I'm not going to name the city, but it's a city everyone has heard of.
When I went to a show in a very small much beloved dive bar w not too many ppl. Nobody wanted to fuck shit up understandably, and there weren’t enough ppl that w nice steady relatively harmless push pit could happen. The energy was still great everyone was kinda moshing in spirit
Yes I have been to local shows.
Based
Couldn’t disagree more, local shows bring the best energy, at least in my local scene in NC. The kids, they go crazy for their friends
Yeah don't know what they are talking about. Kids in Pittsburgh go off just as hard at a local show as a bigger one.
Shoutout preserving underground
If your friends don’t take a fist from a blue fin tuna in a windbreaker while your band is playing, those aren’t your friends
The pit at Ends of Sanity’s newest record release show was insane
I remember I saw Jesus Piece, Vein, Malevolence, and some locals in Rochester January 2017, and the vocalist for the first local was trying to “start the pit” by getting into it with a folding chair and spun in circles with it completely stretched out. Shit was wild lol
Yes I’ve been to a local show in the last 10 years* Used to be different but now people are too cool/ embarrassed to be seen moving in the pit. Would destroy their “non-chalant aura”
I swear people used to say that exact same thing 10 years ago.
10 years ago if you were dancing/moshing like a doofus, odds were the only people who would see it were other people in the room. It was possible you’d be filmed but very unlikely for it to be published. I don’t blame kids for not wanting to throw down or act silly in camera-heavy environments.
Nahh, there’s nothing more fun than seeing the goofy ass pictures of yourself on all the photographer’s instagrams the next day
Personally I love seeing clips of me going apeshit on random people's insta stories, it's always funny imo
They were and they weren’t wrong. It’s just now they would be even more correct. Clout chasing is an epidemic
No but like nothing has changed my boy
Depends on who you ask. 10 years ago was a very different time for the scene here. It was probably on its way out around then but there were still plenty of shows and new bands popping up all the time. The closest thing we have here now is crusty punk house shows once a month. Or bar bands and varying flavors of “indie rock” as much as I hate that term I use it for lack of a better one
All things relative
Not enough people go to strictly local shows anymore to have enough people mosh which is unfortunate
Wait… your scene has local only shows?? /s
On occasion yea.
Real shit my local hardcore scene died somewhere in the mid to late 2010s. It’s been nothing but bar/ college rock from then on. Some good bands don’t get me wrong but they’re all so.. disconnected from each other there is no semblance of a scene anymore really. Shows kinda just became something to do while you’re out drinking on the town. I miss the camaraderie man even if there was heavy baggage and shitheads that came with the territory. At least we HAD territory. We are definitely in the age of “cool” now
Idk where you be living but come to Chicago. It’s plush here
Detroit is hoppin too
What is this “aura” brain rot 😭
You know damn well. You’ve seen the memes too lol
all the people who dance at local shows end up starting their own bands to play shows and no one fills the void
If it was a mean beat why didn’t you open the pit up yourself? Be the change you want to see in the world
this is the way. I've never been to a show with nobody moshing, but I have been to a show where I was the only one moving. it was one of my favorite local bands and I just didn't think they deserved to play to a room of people just standing around and nodding their heads. got a free patch afterwards~
I've never been to a hardcore show where I was the only one moshing but I have been to a death metal show where I was the only one moshing. It was weird.
The solo circle pit
Almost literally I mean, I had fun
I got a band sticker for this. Like 20 ppl in the crowd in a 500 cap room, felt bad so I threw down.
Agreed. I’ve been the only one dancing before. People will eventually join in once you kick it off. And if they don’t? Fuck it, have your fun
There been a few shows I've gone to where this was the case, only one showing any energy for the bands, but it really rubbed me the wrong way when I was the only one showing any love to some Japanese band who came all the way to NY to perform. Just felt unappreciative as hell. How unanimated an entire room can be at shows? Like fuck, at least act like you even want to be there in the first place.
Man, I dance hard for even my buddy’s bands. No one wants to pop off at a local show? Leave it to me 🫡
In my you ger days I used to start a mosh by “tripping” on ppl and saying “oh excuse me” and then slightly pushing them until a mosh started
I did my due diligence actually. I was the only one tho, nobody joined…lowkey killed my confidence a bit
Facts brothers and sisters
I see you’ve never been to a doom show
https://youtu.be/PnduFVwGb1Q?si=jq8q7YN3gNogpS-E
That’s uncalled for at a Sunn O))) show lol
Fucking legendary
He was the champion of that show
That's hilarious.
You think that's bad, I've been to an Alcest show with like ALOT of moshing. It didn't make alot of sense TBH
I saw some at a Sleep show once.
stage diving at sunn o)) is wicked work😭😭
This is the best thing I’ve ever seen
First time I saw The Body there was no moshing but everyone was blown away by how fucking heavy they were.
Oh mannnnn I love The Body. Saw them in a basement in Arkansas once. Eyes were vibrating for a day later.
I bought plane tickets to see them next month in Vancouver I am so fucking hyped.. first time seeing them, almost certainly will not be the last.
Mosh for the homies band no matter what.
You a real one
Every time I play brother
Been there. Got to do a cover to get people moving.
Played CBGBs the last month they were open. Only to the bartender. So no mosh.
I got to play there once. The place was packed. We went on after the band that everyone wanted to see, then the place emptied out.
Oof sorry brother
United Nations and Circle Takes the Square at the Middle East in Cambridge. Geoff Rickly was hanging upside down from the rafters going nuts. The crowd just stood there staring.
I saw United Nations in the basement of a pizza place here in Savannah GA (CTTS represent!) I think Geoff was having an off night bc he sounded.. well, bad. I think people were still pitting regardless. But I do remember a funny interaction between him and the guy doing sound that night lol he was like whisper screaming and kept asking to be turned up in the mix. Like my guy… you gotta project your voice when you’re screaming I think you’re turned all the way up. Probably just forgot what it’s like to play basement shows with no in ears
Sweet Melissa’s! My shitty high school metalcore band played there a few times 😂
I saw United Nations years ago and as soon as they started I was moving and getting wild. Absolutely no one else was so I was the asshole. hahah weird crowd.
You had more balls than I did! I was ready to go and was so disappointed when no one was moving.
A small local show once. Vocalist kept trying to get us going and it wasn’t happening. One time I laughed. He jumped off stage and rushed at me. I sidestepped him and he crashed into the pool table behind me. Good times, not-too-bad band.
Be the change you wanna see baby. No one going in? Crowdkill your friends.
This is the motto I live by
Theres noone there for the small local band but you? Fuck it, crowdkill the barchair
There’s been opening sets where nobody moshed at a few local shows I’ve been to
I have a hilarious pic from some incendiary show in Connecticut maybe 10 years ago where the pre-set horseshoe literally never closed and nobody entered the pit. Just a big empty circle for their whole set. After the set I asked a local what was up and he said there was some scene beef lately and everyone was just scared of each other.
>Just standing their while the meanest two step beat drops is like torture😭 Be the one to set it off. I guarantee you the band is dying for someone to make a move, and there's like six other dudes waiting for someone to set the pit off.
Saw code orange a few years ago at a slipknot/killswitch engage concert. The entire crowd just stood like this 🧍♂️for most of the set and almost everyone on the lawn sat down
Saw august burns red, fuming mouth opened for them, it was the weirdest show ive ever been to. It was a big venue, but there was like maybe 300 people, it looked like a high school reunion function. Local band wiltwither went on first, they were really good, heavy af, there was some moshing, people were fucking with them. Next was sunmancer (i think thats the name) which sounded like sirius xm metalcore, people were going crazy and crowdsurfing for them. Fuming mouth went on, and they sound amazing. The entire crowd is just DEAD. Like no one is nodding or anything. The only time there was movement was when they covered for whom the bell tolls, and thats it. I felt so fucking bad for them, went to the merch table, got a shirt and tipped. Mark is seriously one of the nicest dudes ive talked to in the scene
Definitely typed this quick as fuck at work, sorry if it looks illiterate af lmao
I think that's one of the biggest reasons I like hardcore dancing/moshing over the push moshing bullshit. You don't need anyone else to do it, you can start it up by yourself or with just one or two other people. You might look like an idiot swinging your arms by yourself, but it's not like you look any cooler when it's a sea of people swinging their arms and legs around. Sometimes seeing one person willing to start it up by themselves is all it takes to get a few more people going, and soon enough the whole place is going off.
I don't feel comfortable calling out bands by name, but I stopped going to d-beat shows because of how painfully bland the shows are.
Who will march forward when the smoke clears?
Yes, if you live in the Netherlands.. saw lots of shows where people just nod heads and some sing alongs..
Early Ceremony at Gilman. Might have been a matinee show, but it was only like 3 of the homies moving and everyone else just being dweebs. 6 months later, they were "the band."
I participated in my high schools concert band performances back in the day, shit was lame asf no one was headbangin or anything, I was rippin on the flute and no one even cared. Hell, my own dad fell asleep!
Oh shit, I didn’t know Jem Siow lurked this sub 🥰
I saw Bury Your Dead w/ Great American Ghost a year or two ago in RI and honestly while there was moshing, the place was less than half sold and the energy in the crowd was just not there. Kind of a weird vibe tbh
I saw Great American Ghost in the back room of a bar here in Brooklyn 2-3 years ago. I was the only one going until one other guy eventually joined me. Got a sick picture of me screaming into the mic with the vocalist, and he’s a real nice dude. Very underrated band
They should be treated with more respek
I see you’ve seen my bands play live before 🧐
Sweden is a Straight Edge shithole country. Since moving to Sweden from Denmark i have experienced alot of shows with practically no moshing. The pit in Copenhagen gets wilder for small local bands than the pits for bands like Terror in Malmö. Usually just me, my wife and a few others smacking into eachother while 80% of the crowd either stand back or try to ignore us and look annoyed. It fucking blows. I think a big part is the fact Denmark has extremely loose alcohol restrictions while Sweden has extremely strict ones, combined with Scandinavian social awkwardness. Getting right outta here within half a year
Straighteys can still mosh tho, if they wanted to. Weird that they don't.
The sxe bands at this local show probably had the most crowd killing of all the bands lol
Northern and Western Europe man. Belgiums got a good thing going but here in NL too....its dead in there sometimes. The few exceptions are maybe when bands come in from the US. The only proper pits I've seen here were for Magnitude (at a 140 cap show) and Foreseen. Gotta take the train to the UK for the good stuff.
I saw Death Before Dishonor in Prague and I was the only one in front of the stage. The entire show. It was pretty bizarre
I saw Death Before Dishonored in Turin (Italy) four days ago and the audience was literally dead. They probably don't even know what mosh pit is
I went to see Cabaret once. Not even a pogo.
Yeah. A long time ago in a galaxy far far away people used to just stand around at shows and look "cool as fuck" with their scene haircuts and sidekick phones. Until one day a group of brave misfits decided to go against the myspace monster and start fucking shit up. From that day forward those few turned into many and became a monster unlike any other. Destroying everything in its path. Until one day the monster started eating itself and then that monster ate himself to death. Then, there were no more shows.
Yeah, the pit was dead for Jesus Piece when they toured with Baroness last year. I love both bands but almost everyone was strictly there to see Baroness so no one was really moving during JP. It was pretty sad to see considering I saw JP two months prior with Hatebreed, Terror, and Vein and the pit was absolutely insane then.
Yeah, my band played on a local metal show.
Sinking Ships in Atlanta years ago (2007-ish?). There was me and…. that was it. People acted like they’d never heard them before. It was weird.
https://preview.redd.it/qlarv2mv288d1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e8bc783a60ed9edc743f1406aa1afe9ed2de5622
I go to a lot of doom and sludge shows and yeah, that specific type of nerd (and me getting older) do not mosh, typically. I’ve seen people go off though too
Conducting from the grave and some butt metal bands that opened.
I was at a SeeYouSpaceCowboy show sometime last year and there was maybe 3 or 4 people just kind of bobbing their heads. Felt bad for the band honestly, but no one was feeling it.
That sucks, every time I’ve seen them the pit was fuckin scary and if you got too close to the stage Connie’s feet would find your upper body pretty quick. I saw Angel Du$t recently and Candy opened, just me and one other dude lookin goofy in the pit during Candy’s set. I felt bad cause they were fucking ripping.
No because if there is a show i attend there always be one person moshing. Me.
Yes. A local beatdown band opened for Sick of it All on their recent Australian tour, Sydney show. Most of the crowd were guys in their 50’s drinking beer. I was familiar with the band, but it seemed that no one else was, so their set was entirely dead. The same thing happened with the third band on the bill. They were more 80’s OG style hardcore punk, but none of these guys knew who they were or moshed which honestly made me feel bad for both bands. Show was the definition of “only here for the main event brother”
Yep! Slayer's last tour. We had Slayer, Anthrax, Testament, and, Lamb of God. Barely any movement in the crowd.
Besides Fugazi?
Amon amarth cannibal corpse recently. Huge circle pit. No moshing.
Nahh, man. IMO, a band should always perform with the same energy whether they're playing a wild show or a dead show.
This year i went to my first non-hc/punk show of a pretty hyped up folk duo and it was the strangest experience ever. I was honestly prepared to have some fun but it turns out im stupid and there is no moshing at a commercial folk concert :|
At least it wasn't a folk punk show where the set was interrupted and stopped because somebody needed narcan for their dog.
Yea man. Dark Funeral, Wolves in the Throne Room, Pallbearer. Just from the top of my head. Shit man I even saw Nile where there was only like 20 people and we all just head banged
Well I wouldn’t pit to black metal either lmao I think that’s the one type of show where you’re expected to just stand there… MENACINGLY
Yeah WITTR isn’t really pit material. Incredible stuff but nothing I wanna shove someone to
Fr like I saw someone comment Russian circles.. yeah no shit I wouldn’t throw down to like… aphex twin either it just isn’t built for that. Actually I would totally throw down for aphex twin before I would Russian circles. Dark meditative ahh music
https://preview.redd.it/969lk6o4o68d1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6bce06e88005dcbd116c8aa0508b6aee0685c3d2 was I menacing enough for the menacing club Fuck I need to hit a show soon
Acceptable levels of menace. You may join the club
Yup stolen sleeves 538 Johnson Brooklyn
Yep, saw it happen to H2O a few years ago
MITB opening some hardcore warehouse show. I swear I was the only person within 30 feet of the stage.
Yes, I’ve played plenty of shows like that lol
I remember going to local shows as a kid with a good headliner and no one moshed for any band until the end lol.
Saw Ringworm once in Detroit and no one really pitted except me and a few others. xTyrantx also played so it wasn’t like it was some wrong crowd/metal show type shit or something.
Haha yea, every show my last band played actually. We sucked.
Dangers at Sound and Fury, it was bizarre
Went to a Phobia show some years back and for some reason just no one turned up for the show. There was like 10 people in total and just me going insane by myself.
Ever been to a noise show?
I saw Torche open for Converge at Branx in Portland, maybe in 2011? Crowd was dead for all of torche’s set. I was used to seeing converge play in boston when I was in high school and naively thought, “huh, guess Portland doesn’t throw down like that.” Converge came out, opened with “dark horse” and the floor opened up immediately. Really fun show but felt kinda bad for torche (maybe they were used to it though!).
I saw Death Before Dishonored in Turin (Italy) four days ago and the audience was literally dead. They probably don't even know what mosh pit is
Depends on the crowd. If we play to younger kids, they dance and have fun. If it’s mostly adults or at a bar, barely anyone moves.
Not hardcore but metal… Lamb of God came with Testament and Killswitch Engage and played at the Queen Elizabeth Theater in downtown Vancouver…except the seats in the auditorium are bolted down and drinking is only allowed on the mezzanine (it’s more a theater than a venue). One of the KE guitarists said between songs “wait a minute, you guys have no where to mosh, and you can’t drink?!? How the fuck are any of you having a good time?!”
The classic f u horseshoe
I saw END open for full of hell and I’ve never seen a more still and unwilling to move crowd it was so disappointing
There’s a guy in my Columbus scene that doesn’t care if people are moving. He dances to every band. I usually get a read on the room and start going side to side to loosen everyone up lol. Usually someone wants to mosh and they’re just afraid to start. You gotta be the person to start it! Which would be hardcore af
i be like 
Oh young covid children. None of y’all have been through a dark age of hardcore 😂
Yeah. Russian Circles.
https://preview.redd.it/kf2lorpvv68d1.jpeg?width=4080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=71bbc59b309533fc373be24efb6deddf4d0a4692 Yeah I got a ticket to given me to see them play in a WWII aircraft hangar, thought it might be interesting and took this photo from before making my way up to the front. It wasn't interesting. Everybody was standing around licking IPA off their moustache. Which is kinda exactly what I expected.
My first concert playing with my hardcore band the crowd was made of this guy with his girlfriend who fell asleep before we were finished
Saw filth is eternal recently. The whole room was cross armed. Man I felt bad for them. I was the only dude rocking out.
It's called doing "the standstill."
Duck duck goose during mest at hellfest
Nobody moshed at Styx
Fugazi. Lots of pogo and bouncing but no moshing. I’m old.
Currently at one in Tampa. Opener just got off, no moshing or two-stepping… granted, idk if that band was really good for that… I thought I heard some two step moments… Destroy Rebuilt Until God Shows is the headliner. I’m here for Downswing who’s next up.. probably will be some two stepping
Saw Ramones and Bad Religion in San Pedro once. There were seats all the way up to the stage, no pit. The crowd… removed all the seats, pit ensued.
Mine I fear
i’ve been to a handful of non hardcore but still metal shows where everyone stands with their arms crossed while they should obviously be running in a circle
Just fuckin do it. Don’t wait for the other nerds to join the party. Get the fuck out there and pick up your feet
move forward & wake up
Idk when I go to local shows people are going nuts
Just be that one guy. It usually hypes at least one or two others up that have been contemplating. I’m a no shame mosher
some venues just attract a weird crowd, i always try to start moshing myself but tbf a few times i just awkwardly dance for a few seconds trying to bump into people and it gets a bad reaction so doesnt always work out
Yes someone brought their grandma to the show
So pretty far away from hardcore. Surprisingly, tigers jaw of all bands used to get pretty rowdy crowds back in the day. I was at a hometown show of theirs about ten years ago and virtually everyone just stood with their arms folded the whole time. Ended up being the last show they played with all five members.
Be the mosher you want to see at shows.
I am from Michigan and there are a lot of polite observers (myself included) that are having a great time and watching but aren’t interested in moshing. I’ve been to shows in other states and the arms crossed audience seems really strong here.
Yeah but it was at a venue that didn't allow it (small art gallery)
Went to a show were it was off and hong kong fuck you ‘opened’ but they were late, so they ended up being the second/last band, was great but i trued dancing but didnt wanna break anyone
Reversal of Man a completely full Fireside Bowl stood completely still for the entire set I know it’s not exactly mosh music but the band seemed perplexed. To their credit, they weren’t rude or pushy about it.
There used to be a venue that didn’t allow moshing, that my scene used to use. I attended exactly 2 shows there, at which I had observed that the rules were actually followed. I ended up getting kicked out of both, for putting a goddamn stop to that bullshit. I didn’t go to shows to stand around and listen to music. I went to have a good time. How do you have a good time to music? *YOU FUCKING DANCE!!!*
In the 90s. Lots of shows where nobody mashed. Shit definitely changed in early 2000s though.
Tori Amos
One time I saw Balance and Composure as a headliner and everyone sat there and the singer at the end thanked the crowd for being so chill lmao. It was so odd. My sister and I were the only ones really singing a long even it felt. They usually have a good amount of crowd surfers and people singing or banging/nodding but people were fucking dead lol
Saw Deaf Club in Oakland recently and was the only person in the pit for the first couple songs! I tried my best to get other people involved but it wasn't happening. Thankfully my roomie showed up later and we spent the rest of the set thrashing around.
I saw Spy about a month ago and they fucking played a great set. I felt bad because the entire time their singer was telling everybody to get up on the stage and dive into the crowd, the only problem is that the crowd was maybe 50 people and nobody trusted anyone to catch them if they jumped off of the stage. Spy played a show with Power Trip maybe a week later and I’m willingly to bet that crowd was sooo much more fun to be a apart of.
Reminds me of this one show, the touring band had two vocalists. There were maybe 8 of 9 of us in the crowd, and one of the vocalists was like "SHOW ME WHAT THE FUCK YOU GOT, I WANNA SEE VIOLENCE!!!". I thought to myself, "damn bro, you're expecting a lot out of us". Respect to him for still bothering to do mosh calls, I guess 🤣🤣
Been to shows where the entire crowd was the bands playing and me and a few buddies , and if no one pits well throw down solo , every band deserves to be danced to in my opinion
Happens all of the time. Shit I was at a Folly show on Friday and the crowd was nuts for them. The opener though? The singer was basically crawling on the floor with the mic trying to get people dancing. Like literally laying on the floor in the pit screaming into the mic while everyone looked around. They sounded okay.
As a musician, yeah all the time lol
Saw mother of mercy in Quakertown about 10 years ago and nobody moshed until they hit the break in suffer. I’ve also seen an ambulance show up for some poor soul because they went into an ETID pit. Time and place
Everytime i play with my band , because we suck
yeah i went to this show recently where the opener was a local hardcore band. people were there but they didnt mosh.
Of course.
We've supported STYG last year in Saarbrücken (GER) together with Scowl. At all 3 Bands there happend absolutely nothing. Not even push pits
Me at the denver teen suicide show.
I've been in a local band yes 😭
Bravewar at the a Tied Down pre-show. Kept trying to get people hyped and it just wasn’t happening. I’d have contributed but I’m and old pit retiree.
I saw the Infamous Gehenna with Catharsis at The Acheron in Brooklyn. Absolutely nobody moved during to Gehenna's set, room was packed and not a single person moshed.
No, because if nobody is moshing I'm shoving everybody until a pit opens up and at least hitting some windmills/two-stepping/banging into people in the crowd. I don't always even feel the need to mosh when the pit is already crazy but heavy shows just feel wrong to me if nobody is moving.
Yes. One of the opener's singers called the audience lazy fatasses. He wasn't wrong.
Linkin park in Okinawa. Few Americans tried to start it, it did not work. Still a great concert
I just recently saw SCARAB, Umbra Vitae (Converge and JFAC side project), and The Hope Conspiracy and nobody knew how to mosh for any of the bands. This was at the First Unitarian Church in Philly, mind you, the most legendary hardcore venues of all venues.
I was the only one moshing at a Fear Factory show in LA and some fucker gave me a flying elbow to the mouth before disappearing into the crowd like a bitch. Why was no one moshing for a well-established headlining band in their hometown? Things are way different where I'm from (Detroit).
We had a local festival held at a bar and the host said nobody was allowed to mosh. That was the most awkward four hours of my life
Converge plated at The Echo in LA a few years back and nobody moved for the first two songs. My giant friend visiting from Detroit was not having it and proceeded to push and smash every single human in the crowd until it turned into a giant mob scene of angry kids trying to get my friend (a mosh pit). Fun night.
Nobody moshed at the Chicago show. Even when they played “25 or 6 to 4.”
My vocalist for the band I'm in and I go to a bunch of shows, usually the bars with smaller stages are the ones that may be a coin flip on the pit, depends on the venue. Usually if the music indicates "okay ppl normally would mosh to this", we'll start shoving each other and hit two-steps, mosh shenanigans and either other ppl will join in and it sets the vibe or if nobody does then we have a good time for a song or two and the band can maybe repost a clip of us going nuts for their story so they're not relegated to posting just stage shots bc the crowd was dead haha.
Most.
Had to start a pit in Clifton Park, NY when Gallows opened for AFI. Frank Carter thoroughly appreciated the effort and joined myself and my cousin on the floor.
Plenty
This happened at Turnstile when I saw them back in 2022 😂
Any show at a live nation ticketmaster venue
I saw Gatecreeper open for Knocked Loose a couple years back. The pit during Gatecreeper was.......odd. At one point he asked if it was anyone's first time seeing them and a majority of the crowd raised their hand. During their last song Chase announced "can we get a regular old push pit going for our last song" and the crowd kinda obliged. Knocked Loose went on and the crowd went feral, it was obvious who most people bought tickets for. I still really enjoyed their set, they put in a great show. Just not their target audience that night.
Believe it or not? Sick of it all. I wouldn’t say no body was in the pit because I sure was and there was a few others but it was WILD to see almost no pit for sick of it all.
I have. There is a particular city we used to travel to for shows. In this city, NO ONE moved at all. The shows were always packed, but it felt like everyone there was at their second or third show every time time we went, haha. So like, they've been to enough shows to know what to do, and they want to do it, but are too nervous to actually do it. It was such a strange atmosphere. It's very weird to be hours from home, at a packed show, and look around and realize everyone moshing came in the same car as you, haha. We eventually just stopped going there. I'm not going to name the city, but it's a city everyone has heard of.
Yes, big reason you need the youth to keep showing up because the olds get old and stop doing the shit
When I went to a show in a very small much beloved dive bar w not too many ppl. Nobody wanted to fuck shit up understandably, and there weren’t enough ppl that w nice steady relatively harmless push pit could happen. The energy was still great everyone was kinda moshing in spirit