Last night I went to a concert for a band I'm familiar with, but not that familiar with, in a building I haven't been inside in years, and got to do something I'd never done before. It was a good time.
Sevendust is one of my buddy Moppy's favorite bands. He's got everything they've done, probably twice. I do have some of their music from various soundtracks and such but I mostly know them through Moppy, from car rides or tailgating or whatever. I enjoy them and their heavy metal/hard rock style music. Like I mentioned, I'm not that familiar with their work. I don't remember song titles or lyrics or anything, I just know I like the sounds they make. Normally that would not be enough to get me to go to a concert but I figured it would be a good time and, more importantly, Moppy had some free tickets so I went along.
I haven't been to the building known as the Rave in about a decade. It has been fixed up a bit in that time. It's an old, old building that's probably falling down more than it shows. The ballroom is where the concert was held and, oddly enough, was also the scene of the last concert I went to in the Rave. It has two or three areas to host concerts. It's old and a big place. I'd been using my memories of it to invent a place for my stories. It looks nicer than I've been describing it.
Moppy and I were in the midst of the crowd. When the first chords of music began, he turned sideways, became paper thin, and dove deeper into the crowd, into the center where a mosh pit was guaranteed. As I'm unable to become that thin anymore and the seam closed after he passed through it, I stayed where I was, happy to headbang by myself. We had a place to meet if we got separated so I wasn't concerned about finding him again. I just rocked and enjoyed myself.
About halfway through the concert, another mosh pit formed next to me. Now, if you've never been in a mosh pit before, they look very violent. There's a reason for that; they are very violent. It's not an angry violent, it's a very good natured sort of violent, like football. Guys slam into each other repeatedly during the music, then shake hands, hug and go on their ways. If someone gets knocked down, he gets picked back up again. If someone gets hurt, he gets helped out.
When I was younger, moshing wasn't quite such a contact sport. I still didn't do it too much due to concerns over my eyewear. Now, it's a little too rough for me. Considering where the pit formed, I became part of the pit wall. Now, the thing about these concerts is that not everyone wants to be in the pit. Some people just want to listen to the music. A wall forms around the pit to absorb the energy of the moshers and try to disperse it before it can affect the rest of the audience. Basically you're trying to block them from knocking everyone else down. Most of the time, the moshers aren't hitting the pit wall that hard. You're just helping them keep their feet. Occasionally they bump into someone wrong, lose control and you're trying to keep everyone from falling, especially yourself. I stumbled a few times but never fell. The moshers were doing their best to keep the bumps to themselves. As it should be. I would rock out during the break between songs and then return to watching the pit. When it's on you cannot take your eyes off of it. If you do, you will get knocked down.
Sevendust finished their set. Moppy, tired, rematerialized by my side. I shook hands with one of the guys from the pit before leaving. Good times.
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