As Avenged Sevenfold blazed away onstage at the War Memorial Thursday night, a methodical madness erupted on the arena's floor.
Moshing.
A fellow music fan (and morning radio host) sent a sarcastically curious tweet my way after I mentioned the raucous rampage.
Turns out that yes, kids are still mosh pitting (or moshing, or pitting or whatever you call it). And so are many grownups.
I'm too old (or maybe just too cowardly) to partake in the moshing myself. But from my perch in the stands Thursday I had a bird's eye view of the insanity on the floor. My neighbor in the seats informed me about several finer points of moshing, like trying to not hit anyone in the face.
I, admittedly, am not much of a hard rocker. I got a heavy dose of the scene at last year's K-Rockathon, but in my spare time I stick to more tame concerts. Maybe I've been going about this all wrong, though. Because while mosh pitting seems violent on the surface, upon closer study, it actually adheres to some unwritten code.
"No fighting. No punches. We're family. Take care of each other," Avenged singer M. Shadows said before rousing everyone to rage.
And it is an almost familial ritual -- like wrestling with your brother or sparring with a friend. Is it juvenile? Sure. But what good show doesn't occasionally make you feel like a kid again?
Here are a few pointers I took away:
- Are there rules?
- Can girls mosh?
- Should you be angry?
- Should you be aggressive?
- Should you be violent?
- Should you take it personally?
- Can you mosh to anything?
I'm probably over-simplifying my observations. After all, I'm new to this. If you've got some words of wisdom to add or war stories to share, chime in below.
Chris Baker is the music writer for Syracuse.com and the Post-Standard. Contact him: Email | Twitter | Google+