The 'Common Courtesy' at Gigs?

If we were to put the people who go to gigs into categories, two categories would form. The first, ‘the people who will mosh to absolutely anything’. The second, ‘the people who stand to the side and soak in every little piece of the atmosphere’. These two categories may not clash with (pardon the pun) the other. However, this does not make one of these groups more superior than the other, nor does it mean that one of these groups of people should not attend gigs.

We are all music fans, right? Of course we are. That’s why we are at the gig in the first place. One person’s way of expressing their love for music may be another person’s equivalent to being knee jerked in the lower stomach several times (essentially moshing in a nutshell). It may be what one person views as not the ‘correct way to listen to and enjoy live music’. But does that make it wrong?

To some people (myself included) they think it is pretty bizarre that anyone would want to mosh to music that does not need to be moshed to (this usually constitutes music with no significant bass drops, heartfelt ballads or pop songs to any degree). But moshing has become the ‘common courtesy’ of gigs of pretty much every music genre nowadays. And this is where the argument begins.

The ‘common courtesy’ at gigs should always and forever be to enjoy yourself. That is what the band/artist, promoters etc want you to do. And, by all means, throw yourself against random strangers to mediocre bass drops, if that floats your boat. But please, for the love of God, consider other people’s desires not to mosh. Accept that people like to listen to music by just throwing their arms around a little, maybe even having a little dance and a sway on the spot. And that is ok.

To the second category people, the indulgence enthusiasts, please do consider people’s desires to mosh. If you see an empty space begin to form around you, usually with teenage boys running around the circle ‘hyping up the crowd’, it is not because they are cheering on your overly-enthusiastic singing. And they definitely are not prepping themselves up to give you a celebratory hug for memorising every word. If a multitude of sweaty bodies colliding with yours is not how you envisioned spending your night, it is probably best that you remove yourself from that circle pretty quickly. Accept that people like being pushed around to music, that their way of enjoying music is to dance ferociously in a circle with sweaty strangers. And that is ok.