Life's the Pits

A few weeks ago I spent an evening in the mosh pit with Slipknot. Seeing Slipknot live was a dream come true. They came up with new masks and jumpsuits just for this tour. Unearth and As I Lay Dying opened. This is the only show I've been to where people started moshing during the first opening song. It was a pretty rowdy crowd. I was already wearing someone else's beer by the end of the opening acts.
During Slipknot I was right up front. I was hanging onto the rail separating the crowd from the stage. I high-fived a crowd-surfer after the crowd dumped her into the arms of waiting security guards at the foot of the stage. She smiled as her gentle hand slapped mine. Then the crowd mass swallowed her back up.
I feel really alive when I'm in the mosh pit. Detailed moments from past concerts are etched in my memory, like the clear blue of Dexter Holland's eyes when I pushed my way up to the stage at The Offspring concert, or the deep echo of James Hetfield's voice as he said, "Metallica loves you," at the end of the night. There is something bordering on catharsis that occurs during a really good concert.
Slipknot and a lot of other heavy bands have been disparaged by certain groups for having angry music. What's wrong with being angry? Everyone feels angry sometimes. I like to listen to "Break Stuff" by Limp Bizkit after a bad day at the office. It really restores my spirits, especially the line about firing up the chainsaw. It's probably better to rock out to "Break Stuff" than to actually break stuff.
The Friday night before the show, I listened to the 93X interview with Corey Taylor (he's the lead singer, in case one or two of you reading this are not a Slipknot fan.) Sadly, the father of one of the band members passed away recently. They just seem like really nice guys, and pretty down to earth. They're from Iowa, and during the show Corey praised Midwesterners for being real rock fans, not plastic, soulless drones like people on the coasts. Of course, as shamelessly Farmington-centric as I am, his comments appealed to me greatly.
A night in the pit with Slipknot was just what I needed to kick off he busy holiday season. After a little practice in the mosh pit, I was ready to elbow my way through throngs of middle-aged ladies at the JC Penney sale last weekend. The crowds didn't slow me and I managed to cash in my $10 off coupon for a couple of gifts. I don't know which is more daunting, a throng of middle-aged ladies waving coupon mailers or a crowd of heavy metal fans waving beer cups. All I know is, I'm prepared to take on either one.