[ASTRO] Re: They Might Be Giants !

[kepler@metro1.com (Michael Kepler)]

.. begin astro-transmission

<SNIP!>
>... Another thing is that  TMbg
> does not enforce moshing or crowd surfing , Actually they hate it !   A
> recent interview with them stated that they simply  do not want people doing
> this because they dont want anyone to get hurt.  As far as Conga Line goes,
>    People get really out of hand during it , and thats when people start
> actin like asses.
> 
> Cornel   
> 

Well... I was there and one of the Johns, the one with more girth, was
actively encouraging moshing behavior and was directly responsible
for initiating the Conga Line Of Death.  So what they say in an interview
and what they do at a show are apparently not the same.

Also, let me re-iterate that half the blame for my near-death experience
goes to the management of the nightclub (LaLuna) for over-selling and
probably also letting in lots of crashers.  Even when they weren't moving,
the crowd was an opressive crushing force.  My wife and I were way back
in front of the mixer board in the back of the hall where we thought we
would be safe.  This turned out to be a terrible mistake since the railing
protecting the mixer just became a nice object for us to be crushed against.

Call me sexist or whatever, but this was doubly annoying for me because
I wasn't just worried about myself, but also my wife, who isn't a really
big person.

Sorry to go on and on about this, but I've been pissed about it ever since
it happened.  I walked away from that show feeling like I'd been in a
barroom brawl, which isn't far from the truth.

Plenty of moshing and such goes on at MOAM shows, but only in the center
and right up front.  And MOAM actually takes a moment to tell the kids
to be careful every now and then.  I was peripherally involved in a 
conversation Dexter was having with a couple of people at the soundcheck
last April, and he clearly expressed his distaste for out-of-control
moshing.  Unlike the John, Dexter's behavior during the show was consistent
with his "interview" statement.

My first MOAM show, at Satyricon, I was able to stay completely out of
the pit just by standing on a bench off to the side.  The funnest part of
that show was when Coco sat on the bench in front of me and mimed driving
a racecar during "Mouthful of Exhaust".  My second MOAM show, I wanted
to be right up front to video tape and photograph the show, so there was
no avoiding the Projectile Teenagers.  It was my own mistake to try to
hold onto two cameras in the middle of all that, especially since I had
a friend with me who could have handled one of them.  To the crowd's credit
only one guy seemed to be completely out of control, and he would have
done a lot more damage to me if it had not been for some helpful people
around me who deflected many of his kamikaze dives at my head.

Yikes!  I don't know when to shut up, do I?

Mookie

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
This message is from the Man Or Astro-Man List. Replies will be directed 
to the ENTIRE list at: astro-list@furball.slime.org  If you wish to be 
removed from the list, please send a message with "UNSUBSCRIBE astro-list"
(no quotes) in the BODY of the message to listserv@furball.slime.org
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
.. end astro-transmission