Have children who enjoy the occasional hardcore show? Constantly hear words and think to yourself what the hell are they talking about? Fear no more lovely parents and hardcore homies, I am here to teach you, prepare for a lesson in concert terminology!
MOSH (verb) – A form of self-expression at a show, involves jumping and deliberately running into people, may include but is not limited to; becoming a windmill or fighting enemies only you can see. Moshing also involves taking care of others in “the pit” if someone falls, you help them up, someone’s punched, you make sure they’re ok. If you fail to help those around you, you face the full deliberate power of the mosh!
PIT (Noun) – Where “the mosh” occurs, a large space that seems empty to bystanders but is full of emotion for those who choose to throw down. Generally moshers have their own space and keep to it, this is why they generally look empty, the space is required to prevent injuries and usually succeeds, however those on edge run the risk of being hit of they don’t signal they don’t want to participate with a closed outstretched fist.
HARDCORE (Noun, Genre) – Hardcore, not to be confused with metalcore (especially on merch swap pages) is an arm of underground music heavily influenced by punk rock, this arm has fast become a stalk of its own branching into many sub genres. Hardcore is considered alternate as it does not require anything pre-recorded and is raw music filled with emotion.
METALCORE (Noun, Genre) – Metalcore is a genre that fuses elements of hardcore and metal together, this genre has to be done correctly to be done well. Metalcore is not as heavy as hardcore and not as accepted by those who like hardcore.
EMO (Noun, Genre) – A genre hailing from soft core punk, the name was quite popularised in the 00s but the popularisation wasn’t truly what emo is about. Emo is genuinely just emotional music for emotional people.
MERCH (noun) – What everyone needs to support a band, basically turns you into a walking billboard, which is the opposite of a problem. Merch is a must for anyone who genuinely loves music.
CROWD SURF (Verb) – The act of jumping on people you don’t know and hoping to the mosh gods they hold you up, an act generally undertaken by those who launch from the mosh, crowd surfing is for those who like to cause a bit of a ruckus during high energy sets.
So, hopefully, that educated you a little bit more on what terminology may mean, and what people may be talking about, best thing to do, if you don’t know just ask!
MILLI RANSOM