A brief history of the mosh pit
[This was my weekly column for GlobalNews.ca. – AC]
Any sufficiently high-energy rock show will see the formation of a mosh pit, a roiling Brownian motion of bodies in front of the stage. Yes, it can be dangerous, but mosh pits have become a tradition. How did we get here?
The Pogo
The most direct ancestor of moshing is the pogo, a dance anyone could do. You just stand in place and jump up and down like you’re on an imaginary pogo stick. The dance became a thing during the original punk rock days in the UK, where many venues lacked stages. With the band set up on the same level as the audience, those further back had to jump up and down to see what was happening.
The inventor of the pogo is alleged to be Sid Vicious, the uber-punk who eventually joined The Sex Pistols. It’s said that he started pogoing as a way of mocking the non-punks who came to see the Pistols. They would dance, but Sid felt they didn’t belong, conveying that message by aggressively bouncing up and down.
