Now, this one's going out (albeit late) specially for Mr. Mustard the Sacksquasher-sasquatch-sashquash (sat on a watch).
Rock and/or Roll
terminology 101.
terminology 101.
Now, get this right, because I'm only going to say it once. Pay attention! Especially anybody.
All too often I come across ignorant fools (well this is France, after all) going on about how great the pogo at their last metal concert was. This is just plain WRONG. Metal concerts are not designed for pogo, and that's not what happens at them. At least, that's not what it's called.
(DISCLAIMER: I am well aware of how perfectionist and pedantic this next bit will sound, but after all, Sash did ask, so it's his fault (and Lauren's, of course, can't forget her ;p), and besides, a pedant is just someone who wants his opinions to the Truth. Maybe more on that later.)
The form of dancing known as pogo-dancing originated in small London pubs at the end of the 1970's, at the time of the emergence of punk into society (I like Johnathan Ross's way of putting it with the comparison to the sci-fi B movie with the alien worms that get into your head and leave later and you think "phew, that was close" but then the eggs (oh yeah) hatch and you end up with a head full of worms.), where gigs would attract 150 people (plus the band in the corner with next to no space) into the basements designed to hold 50 or so. As you can imagine, this caused something of a problem when it came to moving around sideways, as had been the style of dancing up until then. The only solution to release all the energy you got from your speed was to jump up and down and trust your luck that your feet might touch the groundat some point later. Because all this was going on underground in a big city, though, the ceilings were never terribly high, so you kept coming down a bit earlier than expected. The overall effect this produced was to make the crowd look like they were all hopping around on pogo sticks, hence the name.
Moshing, on the other hand, is something quite different altogether. (Well, insofar as two forms of rock dancing can be differecnt, sort of like the difference between African and Asian elephants.) This type of dancing is what most people refer to as pogo, because it's easier to pronounce, but that doesn't make it right. I'm not so much of an anorak on the exact historical origins of it, but my best educated guess would have to be the '80s, when metal started appearing with bands like Black Sabbath and Motörhead and all of them. It was old glam-guitar-solo-rock which had been injected with a huge dose of agitation by the punk movement, and my was it good. And with it came lots of money, which meant bigger gigs, stadiums and wide open spaces. More room to dance, so sideways made a comeback. But there was still the issue of anger management, and very soon arms (fully equipped with spikes of course) started flailing and punching. That's where it became a contact sport, survival of the fittest/biggest/best furnished in the guard department.
All too often I come across ignorant fools (well this is France, after all) going on about how great the pogo at their last metal concert was. This is just plain WRONG. Metal concerts are not designed for pogo, and that's not what happens at them. At least, that's not what it's called.
(DISCLAIMER: I am well aware of how perfectionist and pedantic this next bit will sound, but after all, Sash did ask, so it's his fault (and Lauren's, of course, can't forget her ;p), and besides, a pedant is just someone who wants his opinions to the Truth. Maybe more on that later.)
The form of dancing known as pogo-dancing originated in small London pubs at the end of the 1970's, at the time of the emergence of punk into society (I like Johnathan Ross's way of putting it with the comparison to the sci-fi B movie with the alien worms that get into your head and leave later and you think "phew, that was close" but then the eggs (oh yeah) hatch and you end up with a head full of worms.), where gigs would attract 150 people (plus the band in the corner with next to no space) into the basements designed to hold 50 or so. As you can imagine, this caused something of a problem when it came to moving around sideways, as had been the style of dancing up until then. The only solution to release all the energy you got from your speed was to jump up and down and trust your luck that your feet might touch the groundat some point later. Because all this was going on underground in a big city, though, the ceilings were never terribly high, so you kept coming down a bit earlier than expected. The overall effect this produced was to make the crowd look like they were all hopping around on pogo sticks, hence the name.
Moshing, on the other hand, is something quite different altogether. (Well, insofar as two forms of rock dancing can be differecnt, sort of like the difference between African and Asian elephants.) This type of dancing is what most people refer to as pogo, because it's easier to pronounce, but that doesn't make it right. I'm not so much of an anorak on the exact historical origins of it, but my best educated guess would have to be the '80s, when metal started appearing with bands like Black Sabbath and Motörhead and all of them. It was old glam-guitar-solo-rock which had been injected with a huge dose of agitation by the punk movement, and my was it good. And with it came lots of money, which meant bigger gigs, stadiums and wide open spaces. More room to dance, so sideways made a comeback. But there was still the issue of anger management, and very soon arms (fully equipped with spikes of course) started flailing and punching. That's where it became a contact sport, survival of the fittest/biggest/best furnished in the guard department.
Here endeth the lecture.
1 comment:
Well now I know! It has made me a tad smarter which I guess is okay... but I'm not sure it'll change my life just yet. I also liked the bit where I sit on a watch (sacksquasher-sasquatch-sasquash (sat on a watch (that was a swatch))) This could go on...
Post a Comment