Crowdsurfing with the cool kids

Crowd surfing is the process in which a person is passed overhead from person to person often during a concert, transferring the person from one part of the venue to another. The 'crowd surfer' is passed above everyone's heads, with everyone's hands supporting the person's weight.

At most concerts and festivals, the crowd surfer will be passed towards a barrier in front of the stage by the crowd, where they will be pulled off and put on their feet by the security stewards. Then,theywillbesentbackto the side or rear of the crowd at the end of the barrier, or they may be ejected from the venue depending on the policy enforced.

The rumors are that Iggy Popmayhaveinventedcrowd surfing at the 1970's Cincinnati Summer Pop Festival Midsummer Rock Festival. However, Bruce Springsteen appears in the first documented video of crowd surfing in his 1980 rock concert at Arizona State University, in Tempe, Ariz. during his live performance of 'Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out”.

While crowd surfing is often associated with punk rock and heavy metal concerts, crowd surfing has been adopted by a variety of music genres such as rap, metal, and edm. Not only is crowd surfing done for enjoyment, it’s also a great way for an exhausted or overwhelmed fan to exit the middle of a packed crowd with ease.

For anybody wanting to try crowd surfing, there are a few things that should be kept in mind. First, make sure there is a large enough crowd. It’s important because if there are not enough fans, or if there is too much space between the individuals in the audience, it can be a crowd-surfing disaster, causing the surfer to fall to the ground.

The surfer will have the best results if the crowd is packed into the venue like sardines. First, the surfer will need a friend to lift them up. It’s best done by a person folding their hands together and bracing their arms straight in front of their body.

This creates a “step” for the surfer’s foot to stand on. Be sure to hold on to the partner’s shoulder for balance as the surfer pushes off the ground with their other foot and straightens their leg, puttingalltheweightontheir partner’s hands.

Once lifted, gently fall back onto the crowd, and they will do the rest. It is best for the surfer to lay on their back for a good experience. Naturally, the crowd will push the surfer toward the front of the room, where they will be passed to security standing at the front of the barricades.

They will then instruct the surfer to exit the pit. If they don’t have a friend to help them, just tap the neighbor on the shoulder and point it up with your finger. This is the universal hand gesture in the live music world for “I want to crowd surf.”

If they’re seasoned concertgoers, they’ll know just what to do. For the ones who don’t care much about surfing, they can also try the mosh pit. Moshing, also known as slam dancing or simply slamming, is an extreme style of dancing in which participants push or slam into each other. Taking place in an area called the mosh pit, it is typically performed to aggressive styles of live music such as punk rock and heavy metal.

The dance style originated in the southern California hardcore punk scene, particularly Huntington Beach and Long Beach around 1978. Through the 1980s, it spread to the hardcore scenes of Washington, D.C., Boston and New York where it developed local variants.

InNewYork,thecrossover between the city's hardcore scene and its metal scene led to moshing incorporating itself into metal beginning around 1985. In the 1990s, the success of grunge music led to moshing entering mainstream understanding and soon being incorporated into genres like electronic dance music and hip hop.

Due to its violence, moshing has been subject to controversy, with several concert venues banning the practice, andsomemusiciansbeingarrested for encouraging it and concertgoers for participating. So, when enjoying music andfightingtheurgetocrowd surf or join the mosh pit, be sure to be safe.