Sløtface’s vocalist, Haley Shea, says: “I have always loved the chaos and feeling of being able to blow off some steam without being judged on your dancing, how sweaty you are or any of the other superficial things you get judged on a lot, especially as a young girl.” Yet, the majority of rock bands want moshpits to stay. Most women I know who go to shows are either agnostic or hate them. The biggest defenders of moshpits are usually straight men. The bands bringing in these changes most enthusiastically tend to be those with female and LGBT members. These harassment rules don’t just apply to the real world – the same rules apply in rock shows as well.” He says that now Sløtface are always looking out from the stage for any behaviour like this, and will throw out the perpetrator in a second.Ĭrucially, anything to do with safety at shows is always a gendered conversation. “Unfortunately, things such as groping can happen to girls in moshpits, which is absolutely unacceptable. Tor-Arne Vikingstad of Norwegian punk band Sløtface believes that a sense of entitlement from certain men can extend to moshpits. “This is pretty common, as people don’t feel comfortable reporting situations to staff at the venue, or they get ignored.” “Sometimes, we go and do a stint on the merchandise stand on the night, and, aside from the selfies and band chat, it can be a good place for people to talk to us about anything wrong at the show,” says Rory Loveless from Drenge, who first s poke out against sexual harassment at gigs back in 2015. I sense a sea-change, however: recently, everyone from Slaves to Swim Deep and Drenge have come out to condemn such behaviour at their shows. I remember numerous occasions while I was growing up when male crowd members rubbed against me or touched me inappropriately – it was just accepted as part of the experience. Girls Against, a group of young women, has been successful in campaigning against – and spreading awareness of – sexual harassment at gigs. With aggressors frequently being held accountable on social media, making women feel unsafe has started to be collectively shamed. Even within metal and hardcore – where moshing is a crucial part of the live experience – these arguments are becoming less alien, and women’s stories have helped make bands and male audience members understand what it’s like to be a female rock fan. Such bold moves hark back to the days of “riot grrl” in the 90s where the war cry demanded “girls to the front” as a reaction against the macho punk scene. A very masculine type of aggression is being rejected here, in order that minorities – women, trans people, people of colour and so on – are able to feel free. When I went to my first PWR BTTM show last year in London, everyone was dancing and laughing, and it felt like a party more than a gig. “We get to feel safe on the stage, and we want to extend that feeling to our audience.” And there is something undeniably warm about being in these spaces. “So, on the spot, I taught them, ‘Hey, do that, but altogether … we call that a circle pit.’ … The song kicks in, and these kids are going hard.“At least at our shows, we’re trying to create a safer space, and, right now, I can’t see a way to have moshing that’s completely respectful of everyone there,” says Diet Cig’s Alex Luciano. “ the very last song … I saw these little kids just really getting into it in front of us, and one of them started doing a circle pit motion,” recalled De Leon. The vocalist said he is a “huge gamer” and had befriended this particular GameStop’s manager, who invited the band to play the Zelda release event. In a YouTube video (below), Chris De Leon, the current singer of Severance, explained how the gig came together. The beautiful moment happened as people were waiting for the midnight release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, where long-running Texas death metal band Severance set up a gig to entertain the crowd as they stood in line.įrom there, the kids took over, forming a circle pit as Severance delivered a crushing performance. Now, this is the America we love: A bunch of little kids started a circle pit in the parking lot of a GameStop in Texas.
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