Faces of the Mosh Pit

August 10, 2017

When the average person thinks of the mosh pit, they think just a bunch people running in a circle, “smashing” into one another. What the average person doesn’t realize is there a community in the rock n roll culture of the mosh pit. 95% percent of the time no one is there to hurt another person (yes I’m familiar with hate moshing and crowd-killing, but we’re not going to get into that). This community was captured recently by our friend Christian Lawrence and his stop on this year’s Vans Warped Tour. Christian got the bright idea to capture his friends and fellow concert goers, while they were in the pit, in a photo series he calls, the “Mosh Pit Series”. Check out the photos below as well as what some of his friends had to say about being a part of this Mosh Pit Community.

Patrick Bloomfield (Pictured above) of Roslyn, PA had this to say when asked, “When you think of the community of the Moshpit what do you think of?”

“Brotherhood, always having each other’s back and making sure everyone’s good if they get hit.”
Bloomfield continued stating: “Releasing all the I’ve got Built up, just letting myself go and forgetting about everything and moving to the music” when asked what his favorite part of the pit was.

Nicole Gonzales (Pictured Above) who attended the Long Island, NY stop had this to say when asked what draws her to the mosh pit.

“The music honestly, I’ve made a lot of friends from dancing in the pit but I started by feeling the music. you just hear a sick break down and part of a song and just need to move. the adrenaline, the violence, even when we get hurt we usually just laugh it off or hug it out. call us crazy but we love it”

I asked Clayton Lawrence (Pictured Above) what draws him to the pit show after show. He stated,

“I would have to say the sense of community, the physical release of emotion, and the different displays of style from region to region are what draw me to the pit.
It’s a way for me to express the way the music makes me feel, in a way that is individual to me. I craft my own style, my own signature moves, and share a bond with everyone else there with me.”

Kareen Cooper (Pictured Above) From Philadelphia PA who was at the Camden NJ stop of the Vans Warped Tour and who has been in the pit since he was 12 years old (Cooper is currently 19 years old) had this to share about the mosh pit culture.

“Moshing gets a bad rep from those who don’t understand it. Local shows are a perfect example. I attend them and when moshing happens it’s honestly just friends having fun sharing freedom expression to the music. To random people who don’t attend these shows, they see it at crazy violence when honestly we are just letting loose of stress or just having a good time.”

As you can see the bad rap that the pit gets from people outside the culture is false. The community within the pit is one of brother/sisterhood, unity, and family. Yes, you’ll have a few bad apples in the pit, but that’s in anything you do. So the next time you’re at a show, whether it’s your favorite local band or at a national tour get in the pit, have a good time, and make new friends. Check out the rest of Christian’s photos below.