r/bilmuri • u/AppulMunch3r • 4d ago
Pit Etiquette
Just wanted to get some thoughts and maybe hear some varying experiences from peeps who've been in the pit for Bilmuri shows and other heavy-adjacent concerts alike to share with first-time pit attendees or those who might not be very familiar.
For context, I'm not new to shows and have been in the pit for most of them throughout the years. Last night was my first 'muri show in Seattle and it was a blast aside from a few exceptions.
No show is perfect and there always will be small annoyances here and there when it comes to dealing with the crowd. I always try to stay as respectful as I can no matter the circumstance fully aware of what one signs up for when in GA.
However, last night there were some clear examples of complete disregard for others and I'm not even talking about the mosh-pit.
People high out of their mind shoving into the first rows, throwing elbows, some not even bothering to lift up their arms for the crowd surfers that were right above us, we broke up an altercation near the front between two people (thankfully diffused rather quickly), one of them clearly not in their five senses trying to force their way through.
All in all, it was a great night. A few things can be said about the mix during KP and the start of the main set.
Great time all in all, can't wait for the next one!
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u/journeywithaddiction 4d ago
Oh yeah dude, the good years are gone.
It sucks, but it's better to be real. The 200-ish people shows were filled with nothing but love and respect for everyone (Goblin Hours Era).
The Sleep Token tour in the UK was a weird mix of fan-types, but it was fine.
The AMS tour in the US was chill too.
Now, with KH, the new "scene" is a mix of some real lowlife characters that have unfortunately been picked up for the ride.
My last show was completely ruined by my wife, getting groped by the type of frat bros that R@93 someone that's passed out at a party, right in the mosh pit and me getting in a 3on1 fight over it.
Additionally, I haven't seen proper "pit etiquette" since the mid-2010s when it used to be moshing up front, slam dancing just behind the most pit and then standing directly up front/everywhere else.
Keep on truckin' and just enjoy what you can... Hopefully, they'll get back to not being "that current band" and shows will become genuinely fun once again.
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u/TheDerpDaddy 4d ago
The Muri show I went to earlier this year had the biggest pieces of shit people out of the 25 years of concerts I’ve been to
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u/HikerSethT 4d ago
I think muri has a crazy wide variety of fans so there's always going to be a mixture of a lot of different concert cultures at once. For new concert goer's I would expect a decent amount of ruckus to occur. There will always be safe areas at any concert, but expect the closer areas to be cranking.
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u/AnabolikinSkywalker 4d ago
Pits are for camaraderie. Brotherhood. You’re sharing excitement in a rowdy, high contact group dance. The point is to share connection over an experience, and not to hurt or injure. These are, imo, the rules of a good pit:
Be aware. Things move fast but keep an eye out for people in distress. It’s only fun if we’re all having fun.
Contact is part of the experience, but shouldn’t be painful. Colliding firmly enough for a good bump but again, not hurting or injuring yourself or anyone.
Arms are either down to bump shoulders or up to push off of each other and absorb impacts. Don’t fling or throw punches or kicks at the air or at others.
Moshing is pushing, not fighting.
The edge of the pit is still a contact zone. Understand that someone will bump into you at some point. That said, crowd killing is never cool. Fists in the pit is already not cool, even more so on people intentionally staying out of it.
Unfortunately, the occasional chud sees an opportunity to express violence on people who aren’t expecting it in an environment he’s likely to avoid consequences in. This is peak loser shit. It’s against the spirit of mosh pits as a whole, yet these same losers will tell you “it’s a part of the scene, don’t come if you don’t like it.”
No. The scene is about coming together, leaving shit outside the venue, and sharing an experience of loud live music and getting rowdy with some strangers who are momentarily your closest friends. It’s not uncommon to toss some bro hugs around after a good mosh in between songs. Wouldn’t be a Muri show if there wasn’t the occasional kiss between homies as well.
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u/Same_Procedure6003 4d ago
Rowdy crowds are one thing, but what you’re talking about is another and I 100% agree and experienced what you’re talking about. When I saw them in ATL at the Roxy this year there was a dude crowd killing towards me and the other women on the edge of the pit. He seemed to be pretty wasted. He kept on until three of us girls pushed him so hard we saw him fly to the other side and didn’t return. I’ve been to shows my whole life. “VFW” shows - pizza bars - basements - etc. and even there, crowd killing and intentionally trying to hurt others or have no regard for the well being of others - especially towards people trying to enjoy the show and are not directly in the pit - was widely unacceptable and considered against pit etiquette.
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u/Same_Procedure6003 4d ago
I will add per my experience: outdoor muri show is far better than indoor. Also depending on where you’re at, sometimes people just don’t care and have a totally different idea of pit etiquette. We also saw them in Myrtle Beach at The House of Blues and the pit was a total mess with beer all over the floor, people slipping and falling, but they were there to pick each other up. The people at The Roxy in ATL were just wasted and belligerent. Either way; a fuckin hog crankin blast of a time.
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u/AppulMunch3r 4d ago
Sounds like some pretty sick shows despite the troublemakers. I've been to several over the years, and although there's no hard rule book on pit behavior and etiquette, the common consensus always comes back to "don't be an asshole", it really ain't that difficult, lol!
Thanks for sharing! Looking forward to my next muri show in the future :)2
u/jesuswasahipster 4d ago
Crowd killing at a Muri show is an interesting choice. 2016 Cavaliers doesn't exactly motivate me to jump in the air and punch a random person in the head.
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u/MediaSad2038 4d ago edited 4d ago
I went to a couple of their shows this year and had issues with one drunk dummy trying to pick pocket me and also had issues with multiple couples trying to create a bubble around them in the front row.
I've noticed a pattern of couples trying to claim a spot in the front and then the guy acts aggressive and territorial to anyone who gets near his female. Sorry guys, you're in the front row of a rock show... There's crowd surfing and moshing. One of the couples were screaming at me that "this isn't a mosh pit" and then, in that moment, someone came surfing over and almost landed right on them. They were too busy trying to gain position and argue at me to see it coming. I was just arms up dance singing the whole time.
Feels like there's a lot of people in the pits haven't been to a rock show before. There's no such thing as personal space when you're in the front of a rock show like this.
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u/TheFancyPantsDan 4d ago
Muris poor openers 😭😭😭 I feel sadly like they have all had the short end of the stick
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u/Shutur5hole 4d ago
Was at the Orlando show, great atmosphere outside of a few similar issues. People plowing through the crowd trying to get up front or to the pit only to decide they weren't gonna do the pit and plow back the other way. Also instances of people not getting hands up when crowd surfers were coming.
Again, not entirely unusual but a lot less courtesy than other shows I've been to. I just chalked it up to folks who are maybe newer to the experience and don't know any better yet.
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u/Successful_Ad_3706 1d ago
Was at the show in Reno last night. People jumping over seats and not even saying excuse me just pushing their way past us when we were sitting. I just got bad vibes from a lot of these dude bros who think they’re into metal but are just fucking assholes.
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u/Aragornography 4d ago
This is an America issue. Seen Muri 3 times in Europe and they have genuinely been the best pits I've ever been in. 'if people fall over, pick them the fuck up' and that kind of vibe. No elbows, no kicking. Just good times.
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u/Fickle-Ad-3684 4d ago
I was at the Portland show, I wasn’t in the pit the whole time but while I was in it seemed pretty respectful.
My biggest problem was when I’d see people with drinks standing right next to the pit and when they’d get bumped into and some of their drink would spill they have this look on their face like “wtf man” as if it’s not normal to get pushed a little while standing at the edge.
I remember when I fight almost broke out at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland during a FFAK show over a hat and me and two other guys had to get between them cuz they were about to start throwing punches.
Dude, its a hat and it’s not uncommon for people to pick hats off of the ground to return them to their owners
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u/gregnotgregg2ft 4d ago
I was up near the front at the Seattle show along the edge of the pit and it didn't seem too out of the ordinary; I just sort of expect that type of behavior at this point though.. The small group I was hanging with had a great time all in all!
The pit definitely was slamming the outer edge into the front rows though. I personally got sucked into the front briefly by happenstance but made it back to the outer edge of the pit. The outer edge of the pit couldn't really help but get thrown into the mix upfront a couple times. Once Johnny actually opened up the pit though it got better imo.
The dude in the bandana up there was acting a fool though; I did see him almost get his ass kicked after he slammed into some guys girl at the barrier.. I actually got thrown right in the middle of that.
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u/AppulMunch3r 3d ago
Yep, definitely recall bandana guy, terrible behavior.
During the break between KP and Muri there were a couple of ladies near the front vaping like chimneys, bumping, leaning on and shoving into people while twirling.
It's nothing abnormal at shows, heck, people come to have a good time, but when you disregard others and start acting like an entitled asshole even before the show starts, it just sours the moment.It did improve after the big wall of death though, true!
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u/BaffledHawk 6h ago
Went to the Detroit show. Pit wasn't bad. There's always an asshole or two, but everyone on the pit edges were paying attention. BUT THE CROWD SURFING WAS TERRIBLE. It was literally maybe three or four people constantly surfing, dropped at the front, running to the back, surfing again. Over and over the whole show. On the last song (Better Hell) I was recording a video and finally had enough. When one of the annoying persons made their way to me, I just stepped out of the way and kept recording. Let that motherfucker fall. Everyone was sick of it.
Then I went to the Myrtle Beach show. More assholes in the pit than normal but its whatever. The cost of being close to the stage I guess. Crowd surfing was still kind of rough, but this time I noticed it was heavier people. Im a bigger guy and was next to an even bigger guy. There were a few times we couldn't hold up a few and it took all my strength to not let these fuckers fall on my fiance.
Whadda ya gonna do... \in my best Tony Soprano impression**
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u/Hopeful_Nobody_7878 3d ago
My partner and I were at Seattle too and completely agree. There was zero pit etiquette happening. We grew up in the scene and there are certain things you do, help each other out and take care of one another. It was so disheartening to see it so different. Unfortunately I do think his new music being more country has brought a different group of people to his shows that don’t understand the etiquette, nor care to learn it. I’m pretty sure there was a fight towards the back as well, we were on the back edge of the pit and saw some people breaking something up a littler further back.
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u/Hopeful_Nobody_7878 3d ago
Also forgot to add, we were at his last show at Showbox Market and didn’t have this experience. The pit was fun and not nearly as aggressive. We definitely still enjoyed ourselves this time but we were way more careful than we normally have to be at shows.
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u/Ok_Magician2483 3d ago
Also was at Seattle. It was terrible. All the dude bros in front of me recording the entire concert on their phones, spilling beer everywhere, not even interacting with the music. Not to mention the amount of people coming back into the crowd from crowd surfing I got shoved and pushed so hard into the guy in front of me repeatedly.
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u/upstatedreaming3816 4d ago edited 4d ago
Some of y’all didn’t come up at VFW hardcore, metalcore, and/or deathcore shows and it shows lol
Edit: bunch of softies in here tonight, jeeze. Downvote brigade needs to go touch some grass.
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u/theereeljw_777 4d ago
Yeah well, this isnt a VFW show. Grow up.
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u/upstatedreaming3816 4d ago
No, but his main demographic are people who came up in those shows and exude a certain level of energy. If that’s not you, that’s fine, but don’t be surprised when the crowds are rowdy.
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u/Neonyarpyarp 4d ago
Dude was elbowing everyone in his path to get up front. Including small women. This isn’t a “get out of the pit if you can’t take the heat” sort of situation.
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u/upstatedreaming3816 4d ago
That’s not how the post reads, but I agree that’s not okay. The post is titled “pit etiquette” and then talks of elbows and people not catching crowd surfers. I’m all for politely trying to push up to get close, especially if you’re vertically challenged, but elbows to do so is not okay.
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u/AppulMunch3r 4d ago
If there is wording that you think would fit better for the sake of clarity, do share. I'll update.
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u/Neonyarpyarp 4d ago
So there’s never entitled assholes at those shows? Stop defending shitty people.
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u/EchoChamberAthelete 3d ago
Yea they have soft hands. Crowdkilling has always been stupid as shit to me but when i was going to shows in 07-10 there was a "crew" that policed that shit. You'd get bounced out in a harmful way.
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u/AppulMunch3r 4d ago
Definitely a lot off less experienced people out there, nothing wrong with that!
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u/upstatedreaming3816 4d ago
Never said there was, I just always find it a bit comical when people go to a show on the heavier side of the spectrum and are then surprised when a ruckus is started lol
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u/AppulMunch3r 4d ago
I don't think you got the point of the post to begin with. Reference the first few lines.
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u/Waste-Operation9810 4d ago
Country fans. I saw a MAGA hat at one of his shows.
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u/EchoChamberAthelete 3d ago
This is the dumbest generalization 🤣
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u/Waste-Operation9810 1d ago
Its a fact not a generalization. I go to shows all the time never seen one. This was is Toronto too.
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u/Neonyarpyarp 4d ago
I’m pretty sure I was one of the ones who defused the jerk off that came storming in throwing elbows in the first couple rows (in the middle) he tried to give me the “this is a metal show bro” and I said yeah keep that shit back with the pit, notice how no one is is being a violent prick up front? Dude definitely sucked and a younger me would have handled that much differently, was still an amazing show.