In Columbus tonight, Times New Viking played a show. Because it was a hometown show, a lot of people in the crowd were fired up and dancing. However, also because Columbus is Columbus, many people chose to just stand in the back with their arms crossed. First off, there’s nothing wrong with standing in the back. If you’re not at the show to dance, by all means, don’t. Just don’t create an uncomfortable environment for people who want to dance.
That being said, tonight at this show, I was both shocked and frightened by my experience tonight. If you’re ever been to a show where a solid amount of dancing is present, you’ve encountered the three rings.
1. The Inner Ring – This is where people dance. Bodies are colliding, people are flying, generally a sweaty mess.
2. The Barrier – This is where people stand if they don’t want to dance at the moment/don’t mind getting jostled. Generally, people that stand here will push people from the inner ring back into the inner ring if they careen too close to the outside where they could disturb fellow attendees.
3. The Outer Area – This is where people stand if they just want to watch the show without being jostled or hit. Generally, standing room is plentiful here and you won’t be pushed more than once or twice.
That being said, I was standing on the barrier at the moment, using my six-foot, 150-pound frame to keep people from breaking the barrier. How is this achieved? You push people back into the Inner Ring. Sometimes, if people are off-balance, they might fall over, yes, but normally they are immediately helped back up (I have never experienced a show where anyone is in serious danger of being trampled). Now, I’m definitely not the strongest person in the world, and most of the time I get pushed back more than I push forward. I don’t send people flying or anything like that. At one point, a guy who I talked to after the show and said he took no offense started spinning towards me, and I pushed him back to the center. He did not fall over and showed no signs of offense. Immediately after this, however, a hand grabbed me by the front of my shirt collar and I was face-to-face with a man about my size who yelled “CALM THE FUCK DOWN” in my face. Needless to say, I was shocked. I didn’t think I was doing anything wrong, I was just trying to enjoy myself and keep a positive atmosphere. Luckily, Times New Viking had two songs left, so my daze didn’t keep me from missing too much.
After they had finished, I turned around to try to find the guy and try to apologize. I figured maybe I had accidentally spilled his beer or something. When I did find him, he immediately got in my face and stated that I was “just pushing people, which is fucking rude” and that if I wanted to dance, that was fine, but “this is 2009 and this is an indie show, so stop moshing”. All the while, I was trying to stammer out an apology, but kept being told that I needed to “grow up”. Now, this man was not affiliated with any of the staff of the Summit (who are pleasant people whom I’ve never had any issues with), so I don’t think it was his call unless I was putting others not dancing in danger. By my logic, I was attempting to keep others from harm and let everyone at the show have fun. As mentioned earlier, in taking with other dancing kids outside the venue, they confirmed that I had done nothing wrong and was at no fault.
So, I guess my question is, do you guys think I was at fault? Is pushing people to keep the barrier excessive? At what point does dancing for fun turn into moshing? Hearing your views on the subject would be totally awesome and appreciated. It was a sweet show though!
Love ya Columbus!
-McKenna
