The most publicized mosh pit incident in Madison occurred at the Hole concert in the Paramount Music Hall last month. The next day, Fred Frank of Frank Productions, which co-promoted the show with Milwaukee-based Cellar Door, called the Nine Inch Nails concert “just another rock ‘n’ roll show.”įrank described the crowd as “very well behaved.” “But it was cool.”Īsk others – one with a welt below his eye, another who had been kicked, several with scratches – and most ended their mosh pit stories by saying it was fun. The line for water extended 20 feet.Īl Ksionek, 23, is panting when he recalls what happened in his section of the mosh pit. Many had T-shirts ripped others hunched over catching their breath three cried. Hospital.) After the show’s first 15 minutes, the lobby filled with sweat-soaked fans, who departed the mosh pit’s bedlam. (Two girls, including one who injured her knee in the mosh pit, would be taken by ambulance to a A first-aid area off the main floor handled a steady stream of dazed or bruised concertgoers. Just as Madison’s clubs and small theaters anticipate mosh pits, the Coliseum was braced for it at Nine Inch Nails last week.Ī barricade prevented stage diving, which is a staple at other shows. “But it’s like a big whirlpool in the middle of a lake.” “It’s never a large percentage of the audience, it seems,” says Gary Taylor, co-owner of the Paramount Music Hall and a veteran manager of hard rock bands. Of course, it would be easy to dismiss the usher’s comment as something predictable from a person who is a generation or two removed from current pop culture, but consider:Īre mosh pits out of control? And why, in recent years, locally and nationally, is the area in front of the stage at rock concerts resembling a bloodyīattleground? Band management, promoters, club owners and – most importantly – concertgoers acknowledge it’s part of the show. They both laugh and shake their heads no. Near the concert’s end, two ushers, white haired and wearing bright red sweaters, survey the mayhem from my vantage point.Īfterwards, I ask if they’ve ever seen anything like the crowd’s response. (Fans then are let go, and most return to the mosh pit.) One after another after another are passed into the arms of security guards, standing between the four-foot-high barricade and the stage.
When stage light exposes the area, the mosh pit resembles a swarm of bees and, at its worst, rugby in an elevator.ĭuring the four-song encore, dozens of concertgoers – male and female, pre-teen to young adult – are lofted overhead. Headliner Nine Inch Nails plays a thundering, relentless beat, fueling this activity throughout a 90-minute show. From the side of the stage, about 30 rows up an aisle, you can’t see the band – only the chaos, a modern-day “Lord of the Flies” frenzy that covers a quarter of Dane County Coliseum’s floor.Īt various times, there’s pushing, slam dancing, heads bobbing spastically and lots of body passing.
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