The Pits
Quite unexpectedly, I found myself in the middle of a deal.
Last Saturday, I was at a music festival put on by a local alternative radio station. My wife’s favorite band Blue October had just finished their set and one of my favorites Taking Back Sunday was set to finish the festival. Since we were already pretty close to the stage, we decided to stay put rather than try to run for a drink or the portable toilets in the park, just to see if the large crowd was going to disperse or not. The crowd chose “or not” and we waited a short while for the band’s roadies to finish setting up the stage.
The unforgiving Florida sun was finally letting up its grasp on us for the day as TBS arrived and took their places. I’ve been a fan of theirs since about 2006, but they have been around since 1999. So to celebrate their 20th year, they were playing a lot of songs from their first three albums, of which I am very familiar with. The crowd was energetic and singing along with the band. Stef was feeling gassed from the heat and decided to pull out of the crowd to go get herself some badly needed water. Not long thereafter, the small amount of crowd that was in front of me started to shift back and forth, more powerfully each time. I’ve been in the right amount of mosh pits to know when they are about to erupt.
The funny part about this is that in all the years that I’ve listened to TBS, I have never even once thought “This would be a GREAT moshing song”. The thought that one would develop at this otherwise peaceful and relaxing day of music didn’t cross my mind. Nevertheless, it happened without anyone consulting me.
I stood on the edge of the circle, content with pushing people back in or keeping them from falling down. For those who have never been in one, the mosh pit participants generally run around the circle, jumping and bumping into each other. It’s not in an attempt to injure each other, however some people can get cross if they feel wronged. There was one brief fight that happened, but their friends pulled the respective parties away from each other. A classic misunderstanding.
Shoes were lost, but then found between songs. Strangers helped each other off the ground. Exactly one phone was lost but recovered untrampled. A good day indeed.
As the show was winding down, I found my way out of the crowd to meet up with Stef. I told her that she had left at probably the most ideal time. She stated that there was no way in hell she would have stuck around to be anywhere near it, but it’s our differences that make this relationship work. It was a fun date night that had some unexpected action in it, but not the bad kind. All in all, it was a great evening to be able to enjoy away from the kids and I’ll have a lasting memory of all the exuberant TBS fans who thoroughly enjoyed themselves five rows back from the stage.
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