Editing Moshing (section)

==Opposition, criticism and controversy==
While moshing is seen by some as a form of positive fan feedback or expression of enjoyment,<ref name="popmusic">Tsitsos, William</ref><ref>{{cite news|author= Pogrebin, Robin |author-link=Robin Pogrebin |title= Hard-Core Threat to Health: Moshing at Rock Concerts |date= May 9, 1996 |url= https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B01E4DB1539F93AA35756C0A960958260 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date= 2007-12-14}}</ref> it has also drawn criticism over dangerous excesses in its violence. Injuries and even deaths have been reported in the [[Crowd collapses and crushes|crush]] of mosh pits.<ref name="Nussbacher">Nussbacher, Mike (2004) [http://martlet.ca/view.php?aid=39067 A Survivor’s Guide To The Mosh Pit].  ''The Martlet.'' {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090318031759/http://martlet.ca/view.php?aid=39067 |date=March 18, 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.upvenue.com/music-news/blog-headline/1029/tuym-get-into-a-moshpit-and-live-to-tell-about-it.html|title=TUYM: Get Into a Moshpit and Live to Tell About It|access-date=11 May 2017}}</ref><ref name="etiquette">Sacahroff, Reaz (1996) [http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tw/08-29-96/mus2.htm Music: Pit Etiquette]. ''Tucson Weekly''.</ref><ref>Irvine, Martha (1996) [http://www.rockmed.org/mosh.htm Moshing Exciting but dangerous] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070626213914/http://www.rockmed.org/mosh.htm |date=2007-06-26 }}. ''Associated Press.'' at rockmed.org</ref><ref>Brulliard, Karin [https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/11/11/astroworld-survivor/ ‘I just, like, took my last breath. And I passed out.’] Washington Post 11 November 2021.</ref>

The American [[post-hardcore]] band [[Fugazi]] opposed slamdancing at their live shows. Members of Fugazi were reported to single out and confront specific members of the audience, politely asking them to stop hurting other audience members, or hauling them on stage to apologize on the microphone.<ref name=ourbandcouldbeyourlife>{{cite book|last=Azerrad|first=Michael|title=Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981–1991|year=2002|publisher=Back Bay Books|location=New York, N.Y.|isbn=978-0-316-78753-6|pages=392–393|edition=Reprint.}}</ref>

[[Consolidated (band)|Consolidated]], an industrial dance group of the 1990s, stood against moshing. On their third album, ''[[Play More Music]]'', they included the song "The Men's Movement", which proclaimed the inappropriate nature of slamdancing. The song consisted of audio recordings during concerts from the audience and members of Consolidated, arguing about moshing.<ref>{{cite web |title=Consolidated - The Men's Movement |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8lRf6j6fGY  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/e8lRf6j6fGY| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|website=Youtube |access-date=29 January 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
[[File:No moshing sign, Bumbershoot 2010.jpg|thumb|right|200px|A no-moshing sign at a concert]]

In the 1990s, [[the Smashing Pumpkins]] took a stance against moshing, following two incidents which resulted in fatalities. At a 1996 Pumpkins concert in [[Dublin]], Ireland, 17-year-old Bernadette O'Brien was crushed by moshing crowd members and later died in the hospital, despite warnings from the band that people were getting hurt.<ref name="pumpkins">{{Cite web|author= Unknown |date= May 19, 1996 | title= Fan Crushed at Smashing Pumpkins Show |publisher= MTV.com |url= http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1434230/19960517/smashing_pumpkins.jhtml |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20031211182847/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1434230/19960517/smashing_pumpkins.jhtml |url-status= dead |archive-date= December 11, 2003 |access-date= 2006-06-23}}</ref> At another concert, singer [[Billy Corgan]] said to the audience:
{{quote|I just want to say one thing to you, you young, college lughead-types. I've been watchin' people like you sluggin' around other people for seven years. And you know what? It's the same shit. I wish you'd understand that in an environment like this, and in a setting like this, it's fairly inappropriate and unfair to the rest of the people around you. I, and we, publicly take a stand against moshing!<ref name="pumpkins"/>}}

Another fan died at a Smashing Pumpkins concert in [[Vancouver]], British Columbia, [[Canada]], on September 24, 2007. The 20-year-old man was dragged out of the mosh pit, unconscious, to be pronounced dead at a hospital after first-aid specialists attempted to save him.<ref name="pumpkins4">{{Cite web | year= 2007 | title= Man dies in Smashing Pumpkins mosh pit | publisher= yahoo.ca | url= http://ca.music.yahoo.com/read/news/48976294 | access-date= 2007-09-27 | archive-date= 2009-07-16 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090716175807/http://ca.music.yahoo.com/read/news/48976294 | url-status= dead }}</ref><ref name="pumpkins2">{{Cite web | year=2007 | title=Man Dies After 'Crowd-Surfing' At SMASHING PUMPKINS Show | publisher=BLABBERMOUTH.NET | url=http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=81524 | access-date=2007-09-27 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013075822/http://roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=81524 | archive-date=2007-10-13 }}</ref><ref name="pumpkins3">{{cite news| title= B.C. man dies after crowd-surfing at rock show | publisher =cbc.ca | url= https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/b-c-man-dies-after-crowd-surfing-at-rock-show-1.661869 | access-date=2007-09-27 | date=2007-09-26}}</ref>
[[File:La Gente Mosheando.JPG|thumb|left|200px|A crowd of moshers, with a few people "crowdsurfing" on top of the mosh pit]]
[[Reel Big Fish]]'s 1998 album ''[[Why Do They Rock So Hard?]]'' included their mosh-criticizing song "Thank You for Not Moshing", which contained lyrics that suggested that at least some individuals in the mosh pit were simply bullies who were finding conformity in the violence.

[[Mike Portnoy]], founder and drummer of [[Dream Theater]], and [[Avenged Sevenfold]] where he briefly filled in after the death of [[The Rev]], criticized moshing in an interview published on his website:
{{cquote|I think our audience have become a little bit more attentive and less of that type of [mosh] mentality [...] I understand you want to release that energy... [but] once people start doing that during "[[Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory|Through Her Eyes]]" it gets ridiculous [...] So this time around we're consciously aiming at theaters that people can actually sit down and enjoy the show and be comfortable [...] without having to worry about their legs falling off or being kicked in the face by a Mosh Pit. So [that] will probably eliminate that problem anyway.<ref name="portnoy">{{Cite web |author= John Kotzian |date= 11 January 2002 |title= An Interview with Dream Theater's Mike Portnoy |publisher= mikeportnoy.com |url= http://www.mikeportnoy.com/articles/pdf/007.pdf |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080910053332/http://www.mikeportnoy.com/articles/pdf/007.pdf |archive-date= 10 September 2008 }}</ref>}}

Sixteen-year-old [[Jessica Michalik]] was an Australian girl who died as a result of asphyxiation after being crushed in a mosh pit during the 2001 [[Big Day Out]] festival during a performance by [[nu metal]] band [[Limp Bizkit]].<ref name="Observer2012">{{cite news |author1=Staff |title=Limp Bizkit honour dead fan at show |url=https://www.gladstoneobserver.com.au/news/limp-bizkit-honour-dead-fan-show/1290642/ |access-date=14 April 2020 |work=Observer |publisher=Gladstone Newspaper Company |date=1 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191231093407/https://www.gladstoneobserver.com.au/news/limp-bizkit-honour-dead-fan-show/1290642/ |archive-date=31 December 2019 |language=en}}</ref> At that same festival, [[post-hardcore]] band [[At the Drive-In]] ended their set early after only three songs due to the audience's moshing.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://musicfeeds.com.au/news/drive-reflect-bdo-walk-off-couldve-handled-better/|title=At The Drive In Reflect On BDO Walk-Off: "We Could've Handled It Better"|date=4 October 2017|website=Musicfeeds.com|access-date=5 September 2020}}</ref>

[[Joey DeMaio]] of American heavy metal band [[Manowar]] has been known to temporarily stop concerts upon seeing moshing and crowd surfing, claiming it is dangerous to other fans.<ref name="Heavy Metal Monday: Manowar">{{cite web|url=https://ohmars.wordpress.com/2011/03/08/heavy-metal-monday-manowar/|title=Heavy Metal Monday: Manowar|date=8 March 2011|access-date=11 May 2017}}</ref><ref name="Joey demaio Manowar- Anti Mosh PSA">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfRl_JjofYQ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/DfRl_JjofYQ| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|title=joey demaio manowar - anti mosh psa|last=xchousenx|date=13 March 2011|access-date=11 May 2017|publisher=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Former [[Slipknot (band)|Slipknot]] percussionist [[Chris Fehn]] spoke about the state of audience interaction following the onstage incident and subsequent legal issues involving [[Lamb of God (band)|Lamb of God]]’s [[Randy Blythe]], who was eventually [[Randy Blythe manslaughter case|found not guilty]] of criminal wrongdoing in the death of a concertgoer, despite being held "morally responsible". Fehn briefly addressed the Blythe situation, stating "I think, especially in America, moshing has turned into a form of bullying. The big guy stands in the middle and just trucks any small kid that comes near him. They don’t mosh properly anymore. It sucks because that’s not what it’s about. Those guys need to be kicked out. A proper mosh pit is a great way to be as a group and dance, and just do your thing."<ref name="Slipknot’s Chris Fehn: Moshing Shouldn’t Turn Into Bullying">{{cite web|url=http://loudwire.com/slipknot-chris-fehn-bullying-mosh-pits/|title=Slipknot's Chris Fehn: Moshing Shouldn't Turn Into Bullying|website=Loudwire|date=10 December 2014 |access-date=11 May 2017}}</ref>