I was recently speaking to a friend of mine that lives in a different part of the country and she was telling me that ‘the scene in my town and the areas around my town are dying’. She went on to explain that the ’scene’ didn’t mean that boys in tight pants and girls with childish jewelery were deciding to mature up, but that there were almost never any shows, that people just didn’t care about the music anymore.
Then, the next day, I get a link from my cousin with a demand to ‘go shut this old man up’ or something to that effect. I head on over to Citizen Wausau, where, right there on the front page, demanding my attention, was a headline that read ‘Who Wants To Listen Anymore?‘ The author, Tom Neal, goes on to explain how, at shows, people prefer to hang out and talk instead of watching the band on the stage. He also says that often times, at concerts, some youth and people prefer to do crazy versions of moshing instead of listening and enjoying the music.
Personally, I have no idea what he’s talking about regarding ‘where has the music gone’, but there is a distinct difference between my scene and his scene, I think. Yes, my generation has a tendency to just stand around at concerts. I’ll get to that later.
I’ve been to a fair few concerts, and while I certainly don’t consider myself as ’seasoned’ as him in the world of music (I am, after all, only eighteen), I can easily say that every kind of concert I’ve been to I have actually made a real connection with the music. That’s why I go to the concert in the first place. That’s why I listen to music, the connection is in my body somewhere, like a live wire that runs from my ears to my core. The concert is just eighty times better because while I listen to music, I imagine the band on the stage, whether I’ve seen them or not. Going to see them live, in person, pretty much makes every second on that record that I spent $9.99 on worth every penny.
And moshing? Um, hello? Moshing is a part of the concert experience, although it does depend on what kind of concert you’re at. I wouldn’t expect to see any moshing at a Bright Eyes concert or something like that (although I’m sure it has been attempted). Frankly, I find the reason that there’s a connection between moshing and making the music come alive to me very hard to explain, but I will make my best attempt.
At some concerts, you can express your love for the song by swaying gently, maybe even casually raising your cellphone (or, back in the day, a lighter) and waving it in time to the songs that are being played. You can casually head bob, not to be confused with head banging, while having a totally satisfied expression on your face. This kind of ‘appreciation’ can probably be found at an acoustic set, or some mellow band…something like that.
Then there’s the kind of music that makes you want to move, makes you want to jump, makes you want to just go crazy. That’s where moshing comes from. It’s a uniform movement of bodies and general mayhem, and everyone in the pit has one passion: they’re all there for the music. I don’t think people get into moshes just to throw people around. There are certain songs that have certain crazinesses of moshing (for example, at The Devil Wears Prada, most of the moshing just involves throwing yourself around and pushing other people while you’re being thrown around). Every time I’ve seen Mayday Parade, it’s jumping in time, screaming out the lyrics and not caring that you’re grinding against the person in front of you.
All I have to say to you is: if you’re that person that wants to head bob or just STAND there, you better not be in the front of the crowd because I swear, I will push you if you’re just standing there to take pictures and not enjoy the music. You can take pictures all you want, from the press pit or from the sides, but I’m telling you right now that the front of the crowd? Not the place to be if you don’t want to get pushed at from all sides, kicked in the head, and molested. And, if any of those things happen to you, you can’t go around complaining to everyone about what happened because, well, that’s what happens when you’re in the front. Get over it.
That was mean. I don’t mean to say that you don’t have passion if you don’t rock out hard. You have more passion than those kids in the back, and maybe you’re just not the moshing/throw yourself around/get pushed around by other people, that’s fine. Lots of people aren’t into that kind of things. Even I can get tired and just stand in the back and head bob, but I’ll still listen to the band, sing along, even while I’m standing in the back. Maybe get a bottle of water, but I’m not going to go and sit down somewhere and ignore the band that I paid to see.
Now, to address the other issue in the article, the people standing around. I’ve learned from my personal experience at concerts that most of the people that are standing around (and this is, again, my generation) are the ’scene kids’ who think they’re so cool because, well, they’re at the concert. They don’t necessarily care about the music, they’re just there because they think it’s cool to go to a concert, stand around, and then, afterwards, try to meet the band and play off that they’ve been in the actual crowd the entire time. They’re usually dressed in tight and (optional) obnoxiously bright coloured pants, Vans, Converse, or those ridiculously priced neon Nikes, and some t-shirt that has something juvenile, like a dinosaur. They go to the concert to meet other scene kids that they met over MySpace by ‘whoring’ themselves out.
Basically, they think they’re hot shit, but to me, they’re kids who pretty much think they’re cooler than everyone else, when they’re not.
So, Tom, you’re probably right on that aspect of people ’standing around’, but just remember, for every stupid person that’s standing outside of the pit is another person that has enough passion, vigor and hype for eight people outside of the stage. I’m one of those people, the people I go to concerts with are those people, and the people next to us in the pit are those people.
End of story.
