Mosh Pits are Life
I remember when I was about 11 and used to get up early on a Monday morning before Soccer to watch this TV show called Rage.
It was a countdown of the best music around the world (according to someone) and ran from midnight the night before.
There are a few songs carved into my memory from that time…
Unforgiven 2 by Metallica, How Bizarre by OMC (funny AF), Gangster’s Paradise by Coolio and then there was
Breathe by The Prodigy.
It was scary,
I didn’t know what to make of it, except,
It’s the kind of song you can’t unhear.
I fucking loved it!
JAMS THROUGH THE YEARS
I listened to The Prodigy throughout my teen years, usually when there was a banger released.
I think Invaders Must Die is my fav.
Then in 2009 I saw them in the Boiler Room at Sydney’s Big Day Out: At the time the biggest festival to tour Australia and New Zealand.
It was farken hot and I was coming off the back of a particularly big Big Day Out.
I remember the sweat dripping down off the roof and a lot of red lazers. Plus jumping around with my mates in an imaginary competition to see who could punch their fist through the floor the hardest.
I couldn’t tell you much else though.
Which is a shame.
I spent a lot of money on music in my 20’s and a lot of the time I probably partied to excess which meant often my memory was shot to shit.
I still had a farken good time though. Mostly 🤓
The cool thing now, and for the past almost ten years, is I plan my parties.
I set intentions for my good times.
There are probably only a handful (maybe a full handful) of gigs I’ve got so chopped at I can’t remember them.
WIDER INTENTIONS
I set an intention last year to go to more gigs and my partner Jacqueline bought me a ticket to see The Prodigy for last Sunday night in Brisbane at the Riverstage Motherfucker (Old reference to a floorfiller Riverside EDM track from the naughties)
How distracting for me to be placing tunes in the middle of my article.
And I was heading out by myself.
Earlier that year
Earlier that year I’d been out with my buddy Tom and his mate to the Riverstage to see these loose units Idles (vid below).
We had about 6 or 7 beers in the pouring rain. I set the intention of 6–8 drinks 😎.
It was siiick.
Tom goes harder than I do when it comes to moshing which is cool because he’s got 15 years on me and goes to more gigs than I do.
The other day I msg’d him and said it’s ‘the year of the gig.’
He wrote back and said ‘Every year is the year of the gig.’
Touché Tom, Touché!
Back to the press and also Earlier that weekend…
To paint a semi-lucid picture, we’d had epic waves all weekend. Big for me, so about 3–4 ft.
So I surfed twice Friday, which for my non-surf fit rig was a lot, plus it was mega humid and I worked the farm all day Saturday before surfing that afternoon again. Cheersing the day with 3 schooners to honour the sunset.
Sunday morning I was back on the mower and whippa snippa and then off to the gig!
I decided I was going to have a couple of beers on the hill waiting for the band to come on.
Turned out I didn’t like the first one.
Tasted like water.
Then the only other cans they had were XXXX Gold (MANGOES) which are not my beer of choice but at least they taste like beer.
I’d planned on having 1–3 beers because I had to drive.
I Didn’t count the first one because it was shit, then had two XXXX.
The problem was I got there at 6 and they came on at 8:20.
So I had one more cheeky at about 8.
Four mids is almost like 2 full strengths really ;)
So there I was standing back from the mosh when the place goes dark.
I can feel a little kink in my neck from the whippa snippa strap but in this moment it feels like all’s right in the world.
At the River Stage you can stand just above the flat area in front of the stage and you feel like you’re right in front of the band.
So I had an epic spot.
Dun dun dundundundundundundun.
Whip! Whip! Crack!
‘Breathe the pressure.’
If you don’t know the song make sure to listen above.
In that moment, I asked myself ‘what would Tom do?
So I followed two slender blonde girls making their way into the centre of the mosh.
Best trick is to pretend you’re with them if you’re trying to get up the front without fuss.
Big dudes get less angry you’re pushing past.
And The rest is history.
A mid-strength headbutt to the cheek was the worst collision I had over the next hour and a bit of rugby circles, solid elbows and debauchery.
I love moshing because while there’s physicality there’s always someone to pick you up if you get slammed.
There are rules to the violence and listening to the Prodigy live is like a mix of head banging to a hardcore metal band and dancing like a maniac to Warehouse Electro.
90 Minutes Later
I’m bouncing out of there.
The celebratory sweat of hundreds still wafting up from my shirt.
I dance across the city to grab my van and head an hour home. The whole night in full focus.
Sick.
Due to the energy pulsing through my body, I couldn’t really sleep till 1AM but woke up feeling awesome on Monday.
I don’t play any form of football anymore.
I get physical when I’m working on the farm and surfing can be tough some times but it’s not collisions of bodies.
I think we all need to smash each other sometimes to awaken something inside us.
And a good dose of music from our teenage years also helps tap into that wellspring of full force froth.
In the Year of the gig
Mosh pits are life.
