The Judge show in Austin at The Mohawk during Fun Fun Fun Fest 2013 was one of the best things I've ever seen. It was inside, so in a room that's about 20 feet by 25 feet, with a 2.5 foot stage. Completely packed with people. As soon as they started playing it immediately turned into one of those rare "mosh to survive" situations. If you're standing still you're probably not going to leave without getting seriously hurt.
The best part was how incredibly close to the records they sounded. It was obvious that they still loved what they were doing despite how long it had been since they were last around. Sometimes older bands that get back together just seem to be going through the motions. Judge definitely wasn't.
I think the first hardcore show I saw was an all ages show headlined by Converge when I was 16 or 17, right when they dropped their Jane Doe album. It was total insanity -- kids were hanging off the rafters in the venue and falling 10 feet into the pit, feet first stage diving so people were getting drop kicked, at one point the bouncers tried to stop kids from jumping on stage and formed a wall up front, which resulted in a gang of about ten kids tackling them and punching them in the middle of the set. The venue owners pulled the sound and had to call the cops to break up the brawl... needless to say there were no more hardcore shows at the venue, and the local scene quickly fizzled out due to the insanity.
Maybe it's because I'm old and not used to that sort of moshing, but that just doesn't sound enjoyable. Back in the day (get off my lawn!), the pit was a strange mix between violence and friendliness. If someone fell, they'd immediately get picked up. If someone was getting pummeled, they'd get carried out of the pit. Stage dives were fun for the diver and crowd.
Sorry to sound like an old man, but I just don't understand this latest version of moshing. Maybe I need to go to one of these shows and get in the pit to see if I'm missing something (blow off some steam).
If I'm honest with myself, part of what really attracted me to hardcore punk as a teenager was the risk of violence at shows. It's rare that anyone gets seriously injured, but there's almost always this sense of tension and looming chaos. I'm a couple of months away from being 30 now. I still go to shows on a regular basis and that's still part of the appeal.
It's exactly like you said, "a strange mix between violence and friendliness". I'm usually friends with nearly every single person in the room but much of what happens would constitute assault in any other context. People still pick each other up when they fall, even that person just punched them in the back of the head. I suspect you'd find very little has actually changed.
On a semi-tangential note: It's always so amusing trying to explain this sort of thing to someone who has never been a part of punk. Another commenter in this thread said that it's self regulating. And that's what so many people don't get. There are rules. Unspoken ones, but they are there. Everyone in the room knows when something is actually out of hand. It may look like total mayhem at times to the untrained eye but if you've been around long enough you see the same sort of organic patterns of behavior at every show. Sometimes I'm inclined to think you've never really connected with others until you've been to a punk show with a hundred other like minded people crammed into a tiny dim smelly space with terrible music playing as loud as the speakers will allow, all the while loving every moment.
Great comment. Thanks for taking the time to reply. It sounds like, although it may be a bit more violent then in my days, it's still the mix of violence and friendliness. This makes me happy. That's what will keep the HC scene going into the future.
My first concert was a band called The Chariot in some cramped bar and when the audience started moving it was like everyone was in sync because you couldn't move without pushing someone and it was one of the best experiences of my life.
The best part was how incredibly close to the records they sounded. It was obvious that they still loved what they were doing despite how long it had been since they were last around. Sometimes older bands that get back together just seem to be going through the motions. Judge definitely wasn't.