Afterwards moshers affirm each other with back-patting and hugs. "People go into the moshpit to show their appreciation for the band if you know their music, or for playing your favourite songs," says Riches. The pit, which made its debut at hardcore punk music concerts in the 80's in the form of slam dancing, earned a bad rap for violence, but metal fans, who are typically drawn to the genre because they feel like outsiders in mainstream culture, have adopted and adapted this form of expression as a cathartic, vigorously expressed tribute to the band, the music, and to express their individuality and pent-up emotions. People look out for each other in the pit we want people to have a great experience." "Rules of etiquette include that if someone falls you pick them up right away not wearing spiked bands or jewellery that could injure others, and no sexual contact.
In fact says Riches, there are unwritten rules of moshpit etiquette that make it a welcoming space for moshers - and it's enforced by the fans themselves. While the moshpit may be a physically demanding and "wildly chaotic" space, in metal culture it's not a violent place even though there's plenty of pushing and shoving. "The moshpit is both a physical expression and reflection of the music," says master's student Gabby Riches, whose research on moshpit culture recently won the prestigious Marion Miller Award at this year's Canadian Congress of Leisure Research for her paper, "Moshing outside the leisure box: Moshpit culture and extreme metal music's contribution to leisure theory."
In the world of heavy metal music, the moshpit - a constructed space in front of the stage for crowd surfing, stage diving, pushing, body slamming and headbanging - is a central feature of any live metal concert and is fundamental to many metal fans' ultimate experience of their music.
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