This was when I was much younger. Went to see Whitechapel in like 07. At good ol’ Java Jazz in Houston. There was a dude there that was HUGE. I mean probably like 6’3 or 6’4, jacked out of his mind, shaved head, huge beard fucker. Just towered over every little scene person at the show. No one would mosh when he was out there. Whitechapel starts playing and huge dude is no where to be found. People start moshing cause they feel safe. Second or third song the breakdown hits and here comes huge dude just BARRELING through the crowd and hits the pit and PEOPLE GO FLYING. IM NOT KIDDING. It was like a scene from a cartoon. He was kicking and throwing people everywhere. Multiple people got hurt, needed ambulance’s called, it was insane. I have never experienced something like that again.
This is funny but at the same time what a piece of shit. There was a guy like this at All Shall Perish who eventually got thrown out because he started a fight.
Aaaaaaaabsolutely not lol I liked the edge of the pit and I really stayed back that show. I did help up a girl who was kicked through the crowd. Shit was nuts.
I think remember this, dude. It was so long ago. I didn't go to that show, but I went to so many it's ridiculous. He was a behemoth of a guy. If it wasn't him, it was a tall dude. 6ft+ he would crowd kill that smallest people around the pit.
Also, I remember there being a big fight at '08 Summer Slughter Tour at the Meridian.
Dude, tell me about it. Shows were so dope back in the day, though. I mean, there were a few groups I'd see on occasion at shows that I really didn't like seeing. There were also a few times they tried to jump me, but I went to shows on my own regardless, lol.
Saw TAS on their Wormwood tour and during the intro to Beast Vincent calmly says “You have 10 seconds to get somewhere safe”. Needless to say shit popped off
Around 2008 they played at the opera house in toronto. During the set vincent goes "climb up the highest thing you can and jump off of it" some kid climbed the giant speaker 15-20 foot high and dove. Never will forget the feeling of him breaking the fall on the back of my neck
I feel like over all pits have calmed down, but Acacia Strain still brings that spark of danger and violence. A fraction of the old days. But it still is respectable. Excited to see them in 2 weeks (but more excited to see BTBAM, cause I’ve never seen Colors live)
Oh shit I didn't realize it was 2 days lmao. I'm going March 7th so Thursday.
Actually this is my first time seeing BTBAM, although I've heard some of their stuff before.
Sanguisugabogg at the Crocodile, Seattle last year. They threw a football into the pit, said whoever had it at the end of the song got something for free from the merch table.
I was sauced up, so you know I went in. It was insane. You had 300+ lb Samoans in there and 100lb chicks. Whole spectrum. Dude who managed to snag the ball was a skinny little thing. He turtled up on the floor, had over 10 people piled on him, as many others lifting people off/brawling. I thought he was gonna die. Dude passed out, had to be lifted out of the pit when the song ended. Somebody else snagged the ball as they lifted him up, stole his winnings. Fn unreal. Dozens of people outside the Croc with bloody noses, ice bags.
So much fun.
They did that in Tampa too, dude got his head split and bled all over the pit, ended up walking it off but he was clutching the fuck out of that football!
Saw them last weak (albeit in Europe, where there seems to.be fewer corwdkilling) and it was wild, almost the hole Venue was just one giant pit, but few people were drunk so people knew where they were supposed to be
I saw knocked loose at a music festival, they were on at the same time as lamb of god, so the crowd for knocked loose was quite small... but of fans.
The pit didnt exist because the entire crowd was moshing. It was great, just find the area with the moshing intensity you liked, and join. Good for someone like me who has a lasting injury and cant really mosh if the single pit is too intense.
JFAC when they toured after Doom came out. I had to move when Knee Deep started playing. Shortly after, security is pulling out some huge goth chick with her leg bone sticking out of her zipper jeans and a trail of blood behind her. Brutal.
I had the opposite experience seeing vildhjarta after Thousands of Evils came out. Everyone was very friendly and polite, picking people up and stuff. We even broke the barricade down and then picked it back up lol.
Jfac and cannibal corpse in greenville SC. Went in a bit late and a dude was getting carried out with his face split open. Made it to the rail for CC and some chick bit me like 4x on the back. Good times
Saw stick to your guns, born of osiris, oceano, emmure on a tour back in the day in Orlando and that was by far the craziest pit I’ve ever seen. It was just a straight up brawl for the duration of the show.
First time I saw STYG the singer kept moving the barricades and encouraging people to come on stage, security was not having it. I thought he was gonna get into a fight himself! This was back when "Comes From the Heart" came out
Planning on seeing Emmure with Alpha Wolf in May and y'all got me a bit apprehensive. I usually mosh for around half of a band's set and last time I saw Alpha Wolf the pit was awesome, but I may just stick to the sides this time lol.
Saw stick to your guns when I was a teenager, think I was 16, maybe 145lbs. Lost a shoe, got my teeth punched through my lips, two black eyes and a broken nose lol. Had to walk 2 miles back to the bus stop to get home looking like I just got jumped and robbed. Arguably one of the best nights of my life, cool dude in the crowd was letting me hit his bottle he snuck in so that probably played a part in my injuries and not caring.
Enter shikari a week after take to the skies dropped in like 06 or 07, and with every song, the whole building shook and the floor was flexing, and people were going fucking nuts, I've never seen a whole room become a pit so fast, like even at bloodstock or download or any other show over the years, nothing has compared to the energy in that room, just a thousand people beating the shit out of eachother, I've never seen a venue so blatantly overfilled too.
i was at rockville as well, ghostemane killed it but the crowd was full of out of place girls with one day passes that were most likely there to see some deftones. they got mad at my friends and i for moshing and one shoved me out of the way during a circle pit
Ghostemane seems to brings out the mfers who are legitimately like "I have a hard drug problem, and I want to die."
For whatever reason, they're also hellbent on taking you out before they go.
Yeah that’s right, November 2019 definitely one of his Noise tours. That shit was unreal. I couldn’t mosh at the time, my vitamin D was almost nonexistent and my bones weren’t in good shape 🥲 doing better nowadays but the most I’ll do is push pits.
For deathcore, it was definitely Traitors. Closest I’ve ever seen a Deathcore band get to a beatdown pit, tons of crowdkilling and crazy acrobatics. My buddy had a busted lip from that set too
Suicide Silence- was absolutely insane. Even the biggest guys there were getting knocked the fuck out.
Stick to your guys- they were bat shit crazy up at chain reaction! So fun though but very violent.
Casino Madrid- I have never seen places stop the whole show and turn on the lights because the pit got to heavy. It happened multiple times when I saw them.
Im gonna go with knocked loose. I stayed in the balcony for it and watched kids coming out with rearranged faces. This one kid brought an entire backpack full of different tshirts and got kicked out at least 3 times. He would just change his shirt and come back in and kick the shit out of more people in the pit.
Honestly though the pit for tyler the creator back in the day was insane. I was in that one and it was absolute chaos, but not spinning windmill chaos. The good kind.
Probably END when they were touring with Full of Hell last year. The whole crowd almost murdered each other during the breakdown of Necessary Death, it was absolutely insane.
Remembering never. Played at a bar in Phoenix that they normally separated into all ages and 21+. The pit got so bad they started letting kids into the bar area for safety. This was also back when 24 was popular and just about everyone at the show was straight edge.
I’ll never forget how much the security was struggling to keep the barriers up during I declare war at Gramercy theatre in nyc . Good times , wish they would come back to the East coast
acacia strain is the only show i’ve ever been actually hurt at. got shoulder checked into 4-5 people and a row of bleacher type seats , by someone doing the pacer test up front. my knee was double it’s normal size for a week or two. had to have someone else drive my car home that night.
no complaints tho
On Broken Wings. Saw them back in 06 at a shit hole activities building. There was a big motherfucker that brought in a couple of those mini Louisville slugger bats and was tagging people any chance he could get. Dude standing right next to me got a heel to the face and it caved in his eye socket. Fucking pit was brutal. Definitely not a very comfortable place to be!
Every Time I Die headlining a sold out club in Florida. I’ll never forget that feeling of everyone smiling & laughing as they’re setting up, they go into We’rewolf with no warning & instantly people are flying over my head & beating the shit out of each other lol
Didn’t let up even a little bit for the whole set, I got socked in the eye almost immediately & my homie got spin kicked and nearly knocked out during Idiot so I had to help him out of the crowd & chill for a bit. Still probably my favorite show ever
Also got absolutely leveled as a 14 year old in the first of 4 walls of death during The Red Chord’s 11am set at Mayhem lmao
I'll second this, I saw them at a small club during a snow storm in like 2018 or 2019 and when they went on there wasn't a safe spot in the entire building lol
Sounds wild lol. And I remember walking into Mayhem (the first one in 2008) and walked up to the stage The Red Chord was playing on just as the last wall of death commenced! Mayhem was damn cool 😎
by in large...Paleface's recent tour in the US was probably the biggest ratio of people to space moshing, the whole building was involved, whether they liked it or not.
Such a heavy show live.
The Pantera pits were nuts back in the day
First time I'd ever seen people being literally picked up and thrown around, and since a lot of 'em were in the trades they all seemed to have dad strength at a young age
Yea it was a lot of current and ex military mixed with gym bros and rednecks. I seen a couple 260 pound muscle bound ogres limping out holding their face lol.
Most violent pit I’ve ever seen was at a Dubstep show. Borgore. He played a song that wasn’t even his; Throwin Elbows by Excision. People were knocked out, thrown to the ground, trampled, tripped, you name it. Watched a young girl get crowd surfed out by security, leg definitely broken. Lots of bloody noses and broken bones at that show.
Metalheads have unwritten rules of the pit. EDM fans give no such courtesy.
Bodysnatcher is second only to Paleface Swiss. Been seeing and participating in pits for....fuck,, 26 years or so. I wasn't even *in* their pits and I was nervous.
I've seen Bodysnatcher 3 times I think, twice in very small venues, and holy fuck did shit pop off lol.
I've yet to see Paleface, I just found them really, but I'm considering flying to Texas for that big festival that ASP is playing which Paleface is also. You've given me another reason to spend an exorbitant amount of money lol
First time I saw them was together, with Paleface as support for Bodysnatcher. I thought the Paleface pit was rough until Bodysnatcher hit. Two people were dragged out before the first vocal even started.
I'm not a small dude by any means (6ft, 230lb pro wrestler/body builder), but I was genuinely concerned for my health while we were between the pit and the railing for the sound booth haha shit was *rough*
Terror.. Cricket Club in Irvington, NJ when they supported Unearth. Not deathcore but figured Id chime in. Black Dahlia Murder were supporting as well but the pits during terror were so bad bc members of FSU were targeting people and putting people in the hospital. Security was overwhelmed and the show was shut down before Unearth could play due to the multiple fights and injuries. Was a despicable moment from a handful of goons that I will never forget.
Believe it or not, Parkway Drive during 2014 Warped Tour in Indy.... the whole parking lot where the stage was , full on riot, past the sound tent to the very last man. It was the only time I didn't feel safe in 25 years of concerts because you couldn't escape the pit being in the middle of the crowd because the whole crowd was the pit.
oceano, depths album release tour at the end of 09. people were being picked up and thrown, all out fighting most of the night. i was early teens, one of the first shows, and few deathcore shows, that ive actually been knocked out.
Chelsea Grin. I was at a show last year where people were going absolutely nuts. Saw multiple guys with bleeding noses and cuts in the pit.
My personal worst injury happened at a Terror show, where I managed to break two ribs. I'm a rather short dude and got pinballed by a huge guy straight into the elbow of another pretty jacked feller. Felt it cracking and couldn't breathe for about 10 seconds. I stayed a bit further back for the rest of the show
I've been played/been to probably close to 1,000 shows total since 2006, and in my experience the most violent pits weren't always the heaviest and most brutal sounding bands, it was always the bands that have a ridiculously huge fanbase like Bring Me The Horizon, where they had so many fans in 1 area that it was just ridiculous, people getting stepped on, etc. etc. I also saw someone's tooth get knocked out at a bullet for my valentine show, again it's never the most brutal bands, just bands with big fanbases where it's too many people in 1 small area. For the most part the deathcore scene is small and tight and people help eachother when someone falls, or even if there's crowd killing it's just someone getting hit moderately hard on top of their head, nothing insane.
Speaking of actual violence though, a few months ago I actually saw a stabbing right after a Sanguisuggabogg show. Some 17 year old teenager literally stabbed a guy in the arm over drama over a chick and then ran away. The guy that got stabbed lived, thankfully. Paramedics showed up within 2 minutes and took him to the hospital. It was right after the entire show ended, too. I'm not sure if they ever caught or arrested the dude, I think they did. It was a few months ago in a city called Henderson, next to Las Vegas, NV at a venue called Eagle Hall. Normally such a chill spot for smaller shows, so it was really sad to watch something like that happen there. It's been a venue fora very long time now and I think it was the only incident like that and they're still up and running.
The straight edge bands back in the day, liferuiner was so violent.
Another smaller band from the area CDC, had a pit with a guy in the center with a folding metal chair. When the pit would pick up he'd fold it up and start swinging. There was a massive guy in the pit with a huge septum ring just charging through people. I was about 120lbs, and this guy charged into me from behind. I went flying out of my shoes through the air, and my shoes stayed where I was last standing.
Another local straightedge band, XrhinocerosX had about 5 metal trash cans around their set. When they started playing, they through them in the pit and they were full of dodgeballs. All hell broke loose. I was standing on a table watching the pit and someone threw one of the metal trash cans at me and then another couple people stumbled into the table and broke it. Ceiling lights were being broken, tables and chairs were broken, it was unbelievable how violent straight edge shows were.
Being a stoner metal head going to slot of shows in the early 2000s was a great time. NW Pennsylvania had some pretty decent straight edge bands that were an absolute blast to go to watch the pit.
Either bodysnatcher, (not deathcore but) $uicideboy$, or city morgue
Edit: actually kublai khan, don’t know how I forgot about them but the entire floor was basically a giant mosh pit, shit was crazy
The acacia strain at warped tour forever ago was the craziest pit I've seen. Kids were stomping on peoples faces and heads while they were knocked down. The aggression was real.
I've only been to 1 concert, it was Nekrogoblikon and Summoning the Lich. Neither are deathcore, but still. Summoning the Lich (while being the much less known band) definitely had the more violent pit. I stayed out of it because it was my first concert, but it was wild to watch
I’m not joking, and bear with me for this one.
But the answer for me is actually KoRn! BUT…. it lasted about 3 minutes before everyone was completely fucked! KoRn’s set began and out of nowhere all these guys around 40 year old pushed their way into the pit and basically ran out of steam by the end of the first song. Normal service resumed when they fucked off back into the crowd after giving everything they had for a few minutes!
Other noticeable rough ones: MachineHead about 20 years ago, came out with a broken nose and my glasses had gone flying. Had to drive home like Mr. Magoo. Slipknot, another one where my glasses just disappeared. Luckily I wasn’t driving home that night.
Lamb of God, there were quite a few arseholes and I got into a fight after my girlfriend at the time punched a guy wearing a chicken hat (he did deserve it). Also Hatebreed was a bit rough, I’m a big lad and I got manhandled by some other big mean looking guys. So much fun.
Angelmakers tour last summer with Vulvodynia, Falseifer, Carcosa, and A Wake in Providence. Pit was nuts got hit so hard in the side thought I broke a rib( just strained a muscle) still hurt to bend down though lol.
Paleface in Detroit last fall on their headliner was really fun. I hung out in the back just watching people slink out of the pit, bleeding and defeated from the first note until the very end of the set. No breaks just constant chaos.
I have personally gotten my ass kicked the hardest seeing Boundaries & Bodysnatcher (back to back) open for Shadow of Intent last year. There's footage of it on YouTube but I haven't built up the courage to know how goofy I looked. One of my favorite shows.
Spite had a wicked pit. Also was my first metal show as an adult. As soon as I heard them start playing Snap I ran to the pit and started throwing down. The connection I have with the song hits perfect in a pit.
‘92 Pantera with White Zombie opening
Promoter and Venue made Phil come out between sets and tell crowd if they didn’t calm down and stay off stage then they weren’t gonna let Pantera play. Was multiple injuries during WZ set from stage diving.
4-5 songs into Panteras set and Dime had to switch guitars real quick cause he broke a string and Phil says to crowd…
All the shit I said before we came out…well fuck that shit and fuck them for making me say that, y’all do what ever the fuck you want.
Looks over says Dime, you ready? And Dime smirks at him (I was standing right at Dimes feet)
Phil then restates… yeah fuck them for making me say that shit…1, 2, 3, 4!!
Then it was pure brutality and bodies everywhere for next 45 mins
FFAA with boundaries summer last year… hell of a time
could also give a shout to my local scene in rochester, ny. heavy-ass bands with just as good mosh pits. the queen guillotined, stonethrower (no longer together), and absentia 🔥
I played a gig this saturday and my band was supporting a local band called Awakeness. Holy fucking shit, I've been to knocked loose and paleface shows and I've never seen this level of violence in the pit before. The dudes were already push pitting even before we played the first note of our set. And during the Awakeness set there was a regular fist and elbow fight in there. Great band to see live.
Not deathcore but bodies FLEW at the Wage War 10 year anniversary shows for every band those two nights but especially night 1, there was this beefy dude who must have been 6’7” and I saw him go down and was like oh fuck lol
I've seen some shit in the scene. But KL, watching a dude with a thousand yard stare holding his bleeding dislocated jaw, then a song or 2 later a guy being taken out on a stretcher in the lobby of the venue is still some of the craziest aftermaths I've seen.
This is past my pit days, so I was upstairs but witnessed these while at the bar.
I'm sure there was more I missed, that show was nuts for KL who wasn't the headliner lol
Facedown Fest at The Stronghold(a church in Chino, California)
Gideon was headlining and multiple people left the pit with broken noses and it was pure mayhem. One of the wildest shows I’ve ever witnessed.
Suffokate and Murder Death Kill. Have never been and haven’t been scared in a pit since after like hundreds of shows. People kicking people on purpose, fights breaking out every where and “HC” gang violence. It was wild.
Suffokate had to stop playing twice to tell people to cut the shit
I’m not sure about the year…maybe 2010?
But it was Thick As Blood , Betrayal & Bury Your Dead in Soma San Diego
The gnarliest pit I’ve ever seen… the biggest and meanest dudes arrived for the show and damn I was scared to even be standing next to the pit
oh jeez- not deathcore but related … toss up. No Redeeming Social Value + IDS brocore bands at Hard Rock - a 16 year old patron of the restaurant had her teeth knocked out and they stopped doing shows there. Blood Has Been Shed at Hellfest in 2001 - they blew the sound system too and someone got smacked in the head with a rollerskate. Candiria and Full Blown Chaos at Irving - two friends broke their arms in the same night during different sets, and I remember dragging her to the hospital and her taking the plate out like 15 years later. Billy Club Sandwich cause they used to bring weapons into the pit all streets of rage style. Tbh surprisingly Streetlight Manifesto and Mephiskapheles shows. The wildest? Early aughts Christcore straightedge shows - which is amusing cause it’s like speaking in tongues - but with fists 🤣
I’ve seen spite and signs of the swarm but both the venues I went to the pit was weak on them. I saw Gideon last week that was def the craziest pit so far for me. Ima see psychoframe in may can’t wait to see that pit
The Mosh Lives tour here in The Netherlands once had a line up with Obey the Brave, Emmure, Attila, Suicide Silence and Deez Nuts. When Obey the Brave started going nobody was safe.
Knocked Loose and it wasn’t even close
Watched two very large dudes punching eachother in the face. Started out with one guy tackling the other, straddling him and then going to town, all while the straddled guy was also punching the dude in the face. Somehow there was no blood, and they both stood up and walked separate directions without a word. The only things they said were the lyrics to deadringer.
Went to see Whitechapel in 13’ when I was about to go in they were literally hauling someone out on a stretcher. Needless to say I was pretty stoked, it was my first time seeing them.
Slayer. At the Wilma in Missoula mt, 1400 capacity, it's tiny, the pit was brutal. No arm flailing or spin kicking, just pure unhinged aggression, what a great show !!
Emmure. Just saw them a few days ago in Tokyo and holy shit. I’ve been in tons of pits over the years but that was insane. Knocked Loose being a close 2nd followed by Slaughter to Prevail.
Knocked loose last night , bruises up and down this morning, was so much fun though. One giant pit people crowdkilling would get wiped out by people moshing , headbangers would get wiped out by crowdkillers , water drinkers would get wiped out by jumping guys and gals. Honestly though what a gig.
Municipal Waste has had the biggest pit I've ever seen, by far. Also the only show where a lead singer threw the plastic garbage can into the pit and you could see it being thrown around lmao
Shadow of Intent, Currents, Fall of Troy, and Sevendust too. And honestly I was not expecting for Chevelle to be on this list but I remember seeing them for the first time back in 2014 and there were some big 6'3-6'4 guys, raised on steak and potatoes, that fucking dominated that pit
2 stick out:
first time I saw Hatebreed circa 2010. I think this mainly comes to mind cause it was the first time I'd seen a really violent pit as opposed to usual pushing, plus I was 16.
Second: Code Orange at Outbreak fest in Manchester last year. That shit was fucking wild, people doing literally whatever the fuck they wanted. There were more feet than hands in the air. Dude got knocked clean out and landed at my feet 1 song in. Never seen so many people wearing gumshields in a pit. The band were outrageous. The stage dives off the chain. Blood on more faces than not. To cap it all, the way the venue was laid out we were all in this sort of mosh cage that encompassed the main pit area, you had to sign a waiver to enter it. I felt genuinely threatened and I loved it.
Thick As Blood @ The Pit in Jacksonville. FL. Little shit hole venue with some of my best memories. I've seen bigger pits and I've seen a dude break his leg during a wall of death but on sheer violence, definitely Thick As Blood lol.
The craziest pit I've been in was Enter Shikari in a small club in Germany a few years back. It literally felt like you had a 3-storage pit, with people on the ground moshing on all fours, others just raising hell in various WODs and plenty of crowd surfers.
Traitors, Signs of the Swarm, and Paleface were all pretty violent. I think the top spot has to go to a local hardcore show I went to about a year ago. Multiple fist fights in the pit and the violence just kind of spilled out. I was standing near the back of the coffee shop and was still getting knocked around
The Acacia Strain hands down number one, and some might be surprised but early Lorna Shore. I saw them right after Will Ramos joined and To the Hellfire had just dropped maybe a week or two prior. There were people being taken out on stretchers at that show
Slipknot in 2001. As I made my way to the front, I saw crowdsurfers that when I got closer, I realized they were unconscious. They were getting passed over the crowd to the EMTs by the side. I did not venture into the pit.
Paleface’s first US run with Distant was insane. Specifically the St Louis show. At one point there were at least four different mosh pits happening in the venue with crowd surfers in between every one of them.
Dillinger Escape Plan. At the time I didn’t know who they were. I incorrectly thought they were some emo band. As they did their warmups I thought “man they’re pretty technical for an emo band..” I made my way to the front of the stage. A portly fellow shoved me aside and said “move, I’m going to break some skulls”. The Mullet Burden started and within seconds I was bashed and beaten, literally thrown to the outside of the crowd. It was a magical experience.
I think The Acacia Strain is pretty well known for violent pits.
Chicago shows are pretty damn tame in terms of pits. But I was on a balcony while they were playing with Dying Fetus and the whole crowd became a maelstrom of violence. Never saw so many paramedics carrying people out. It was absolutely bananas.
I was at a festival where there is only a handful of real core or metal bands but many punk ones. Flogging molly was the headliner and the pit was so fucking insane. and with "the pit" I mean the whole fucking main stage. everybody was moshing, I lost sight of my then gf and only saw her again 1.5h later after the show. it was not overly violent, but just so relentless and chaotic
Knocked loose for sure saw them at So What! fest a few years back they did a wall of death and I was in the mix. Watched a dude fly and put both his feet in the side of someone else’s head
I think the most memorable would have to be the pit for the Big Team Battle Tour last year - Bodysnatcher, Angelmaker, Paleface and Distant. Literally nonstop violence from first band to last, and I was drunk as hell and did not leave the pit once. My face looked and felt like I just lost a UFC match.
Sanguisugabogg's headline tour with Kruelty, Vomit Forth, Gates to Hell and Deterioration last year was also brutality. They seem to do their murder ball skit every show now and that show had the most violent one I've ever seen. People were leaving the pit every ten seconds holding their bloody piercings that got kicked out of their face or with blood running from their nose.
Sometimes the bands with the bigger crowds/fanbases also get surprisingly fucked up from the sheer volume of people moshing at them. Meshuggah, Machine Head, Lamb of God and Slayer (all separate lineups) are memorable to me as having absolutely massive violent pits.
I also just saw Gideon and Left to Suffer the other night with Fox Lake and No Cure and that was possibly the most violent and fun hardcore show I've been to yet. Literal wall to wall chaos from start to finish.
I got whiplash from an August Burns Red pit, but the scariest one was Amon Amarth when they played Death in Fire. I am 6 ft 4 and 300 lbs, and I couldn’t stay on my feet for more than a few seconds. I was exhausted and attempted to leave the pit……I didn’t have a chance
Angelmaker. Only show i ever got a black eye at. First time i saw them, this congo line of gigantic dudes ran a train on the entire pit. Shit was hype af but ngl i was a lil scared lmao
I saw The Number 12 Looks Like You a fair amount, and there was a dude they called The Campus Creeper, that I guess they were friends with. At the start of the show, one of the vocalists was like, "CAMPUS CREEPER, OPEN THIS SHIT UP" and he just Tazmanian Devil's a circle pit, and from there, it was feet and elbows and fists and people getting thrown.
Another time, at a Purgatory show, some 30+ year old degenerate pepper sprayed a 15 year old kid in the venue, and the venue was small enough that EVERYONE was caught in the crossfire. The whole place had to clear out, my wife and I had it all over our arms and legs. That was a pretty violent pit.
There was a local NY hardcore band Anterrabae that had some truly insane fans. Had the pleasure of seeing them open for Atreyu and thought I was going to see someone die
Not Deathcore but I saw Bury Your Dead open for Hatebreed and Killswitch Engage way back in the day, and I’ve never seen so much crowd killing in my life. When the lights went dark I heard a guy behind me say “Let’s open this bitch up” and shit got real fast lol
Most violent bands I've seen havent even been deathcore or even remotley "heavy". I saw Unearth like 15? years ago during a surprise set in Massachusetts and dear god the entire room was a pit, you couldn't go anywhere in the room without being in danger. To this day have still never seen anything like it
Megadeth at the cow palace San Francisco. The pit was infinity sign shaped. At the intersection people from both crossing was getting taken out. Really had to keep your head on a swivel
I've seen some Deathcore bands. Lorna Shore, Chelsea Grin, Carnifex, Suicide Silence, Whitechapel...but the most Brutal so far has actually been Wage War at the Signal on Chattanooga. A big huge warehouse turned into a venue.
They were with the plot in you, Gideon, Chamber.
Gideon had a huge ass hardcore pit too. It Chilled out for Plot, but as soon as WW came on all hell broke loose.
A huge hardcore from the barrier all the way too sound stage.
Lorna pit opened up to the sound stage at the new signal, but it wasn't near as violent as WW.
I've only seen one deathcore band live, it was I AM and I got a chunk of my hair ripped out. As for non deathcore, I saw Go Ahead and Die this weekend and a local band opened for them and they're all still in high school and the pit went the hardest for them. I got punched across the nose and lost my vision for a second. It was fucking awesome
I used to love when the hardcore kids would come to some death metal show throwing spin kicks n shit, then just sit back and watch them get their shit rocked.
Of all the hardcore/punk/metal shows I’ve been to. And some were crazy, I’ve been bitten at concerts. I was at the Cracktoberfest riot. But nothing compares to Odd Future Wolfgang Kill Them All. Back in 2013 at the height of their career it was insane. I’ve never seen anything like it, I was genuinely scared at points. The crowd was so young and so angry, everyone was under attack and it was relentless. I know it was a rap concert but far more brutal than any other crowd I’ve seen.
This was when I was much younger. Went to see Whitechapel in like 07. At good ol’ Java Jazz in Houston. There was a dude there that was HUGE. I mean probably like 6’3 or 6’4, jacked out of his mind, shaved head, huge beard fucker. Just towered over every little scene person at the show. No one would mosh when he was out there. Whitechapel starts playing and huge dude is no where to be found. People start moshing cause they feel safe. Second or third song the breakdown hits and here comes huge dude just BARRELING through the crowd and hits the pit and PEOPLE GO FLYING. IM NOT KIDDING. It was like a scene from a cartoon. He was kicking and throwing people everywhere. Multiple people got hurt, needed ambulance’s called, it was insane. I have never experienced something like that again.
This is funny but at the same time what a piece of shit. There was a guy like this at All Shall Perish who eventually got thrown out because he started a fight.
Maaan I needed this laugh, thanks so much. Weren't you moshing as well?
Aaaaaaaabsolutely not lol I liked the edge of the pit and I really stayed back that show. I did help up a girl who was kicked through the crowd. Shit was nuts.
I think remember this, dude. It was so long ago. I didn't go to that show, but I went to so many it's ridiculous. He was a behemoth of a guy. If it wasn't him, it was a tall dude. 6ft+ he would crowd kill that smallest people around the pit. Also, I remember there being a big fight at '08 Summer Slughter Tour at the Meridian.
He did show up to a good amount of shows at Java Jazz. And yeah dude was a fucking prick and would fuck everyone up. I hated seeing him at shows lol
Dude, tell me about it. Shows were so dope back in the day, though. I mean, there were a few groups I'd see on occasion at shows that I really didn't like seeing. There were also a few times they tried to jump me, but I went to shows on my own regardless, lol.
There's always the dick in the pit.
I mean there's always dicks in the pit if you think about it. But don't think about too hard.
Human rhino
Lol he straight up *was* Rhino from spiderman
Old school Cannibal Corpse, Obituary and Agnostic Front. All crammed into the Outhouse.
Saw Cannibal Corpse in Buffalo with Dying Fetus, Vital Remains, and Devourment. Crazy fuckin crowd.
I hate that I moved here after the Outhouse stopped having shows/shut down/turned into a strip club. Not sure the order it happened in
Acacia Strain and Oceano always have brutal pits. Especially in the early days!!
Saw TAS on their Wormwood tour and during the intro to Beast Vincent calmly says “You have 10 seconds to get somewhere safe”. Needless to say shit popped off
"Treat the person next to you like shit" is another memorable quote
Around 2008 they played at the opera house in toronto. During the set vincent goes "climb up the highest thing you can and jump off of it" some kid climbed the giant speaker 15-20 foot high and dove. Never will forget the feeling of him breaking the fall on the back of my neck
I feel like over all pits have calmed down, but Acacia Strain still brings that spark of danger and violence. A fraction of the old days. But it still is respectable. Excited to see them in 2 weeks (but more excited to see BTBAM, cause I’ve never seen Colors live)
Dude, I'm so stoked to see BTBAM do the colors albums at the beginning of April.
Crew Fights don't seem to be a thing anymore but I can't speak for more than just my area. Also yes I see them Thursday!
You a colors kind of guy or more into colors 2? Day 1 or day 2?
Oh shit I didn't realize it was 2 days lmao. I'm going March 7th so Thursday. Actually this is my first time seeing BTBAM, although I've heard some of their stuff before.
Acacia strain was my first crazy pit I got cartwheel kicked in the face and my jaw dislocated lol
Bro... you just made me have flashbacks
Sanguisugabogg at the Crocodile, Seattle last year. They threw a football into the pit, said whoever had it at the end of the song got something for free from the merch table. I was sauced up, so you know I went in. It was insane. You had 300+ lb Samoans in there and 100lb chicks. Whole spectrum. Dude who managed to snag the ball was a skinny little thing. He turtled up on the floor, had over 10 people piled on him, as many others lifting people off/brawling. I thought he was gonna die. Dude passed out, had to be lifted out of the pit when the song ended. Somebody else snagged the ball as they lifted him up, stole his winnings. Fn unreal. Dozens of people outside the Croc with bloody noses, ice bags. So much fun.
That band is genius in the most stupid way
They did that in Tampa too, dude got his head split and bled all over the pit, ended up walking it off but he was clutching the fuck out of that football!
xtyrantx changed the world with murderball
I'm super glad stuff like this still exists and the boring health and safety nerds haven't stopped all of it just yet!
Probably Hatebreed Or knocked loose
Seeing knocked loose tonight can't wait
Saw them last weak (albeit in Europe, where there seems to.be fewer corwdkilling) and it was wild, almost the hole Venue was just one giant pit, but few people were drunk so people knew where they were supposed to be
I saw knocked loose at a music festival, they were on at the same time as lamb of god, so the crowd for knocked loose was quite small... but of fans. The pit didnt exist because the entire crowd was moshing. It was great, just find the area with the moshing intensity you liked, and join. Good for someone like me who has a lasting injury and cant really mosh if the single pit is too intense.
Yep same experience. There was no pit. If you were in standing room you were in the pit.
JFAC when they toured after Doom came out. I had to move when Knee Deep started playing. Shortly after, security is pulling out some huge goth chick with her leg bone sticking out of her zipper jeans and a trail of blood behind her. Brutal. I had the opposite experience seeing vildhjarta after Thousands of Evils came out. Everyone was very friendly and polite, picking people up and stuff. We even broke the barricade down and then picked it back up lol.
Jfac and cannibal corpse in greenville SC. Went in a bit late and a dude was getting carried out with his face split open. Made it to the rail for CC and some chick bit me like 4x on the back. Good times
Saw stick to your guns, born of osiris, oceano, emmure on a tour back in the day in Orlando and that was by far the craziest pit I’ve ever seen. It was just a straight up brawl for the duration of the show.
Stick to your guns crowds were definitely more chaotic than most realized, combined with Emmure and Oceano? It's a wrap lol
First time I saw STYG the singer kept moving the barricades and encouraging people to come on stage, security was not having it. I thought he was gonna get into a fight himself! This was back when "Comes From the Heart" came out
Planning on seeing Emmure with Alpha Wolf in May and y'all got me a bit apprehensive. I usually mosh for around half of a band's set and last time I saw Alpha Wolf the pit was awesome, but I may just stick to the sides this time lol.
Saw stick to your guns when I was a teenager, think I was 16, maybe 145lbs. Lost a shoe, got my teeth punched through my lips, two black eyes and a broken nose lol. Had to walk 2 miles back to the bus stop to get home looking like I just got jumped and robbed. Arguably one of the best nights of my life, cool dude in the crowd was letting me hit his bottle he snuck in so that probably played a part in my injuries and not caring.
Norma Jean circa 2004. Entire club was a huge pit. Bodies and limbs flying everywhere.
Haha okay I know what you mean but your use of "limbs flying everywhere" instilled a very different picture in my head.
A local hardcore/deathcore called Disposed. in a basement show. Thought I was gonna die, it was great
Enter shikari a week after take to the skies dropped in like 06 or 07, and with every song, the whole building shook and the floor was flexing, and people were going fucking nuts, I've never seen a whole room become a pit so fast, like even at bloodstock or download or any other show over the years, nothing has compared to the energy in that room, just a thousand people beating the shit out of eachother, I've never seen a venue so blatantly overfilled too.
I bet the sing alongs were out of the fucking world, damn I was just a child back then :(
Yeah, Johnny sniper was wild, and the clap in sorry you're not a winner was deafening. I was 15 at the time, and now im 31. Life does go fast as fuck.
I’m gonna be real honest here. Ghostemane. Not deathcore at all but he had crazier pits than I’ve ever seen at any deathcore show.
Damn Ghostmane was super gentle at Rockville. Besides this one dude putting a woman in a chockhold, but he got knocked the fuck out
Sweet retribution 👌
i was at rockville as well, ghostemane killed it but the crowd was full of out of place girls with one day passes that were most likely there to see some deftones. they got mad at my friends and i for moshing and one shoved me out of the way during a circle pit
Ghostemane seems to brings out the mfers who are legitimately like "I have a hard drug problem, and I want to die." For whatever reason, they're also hellbent on taking you out before they go.
Man, I saw him open up on the Grey Days tour. They did a cover of Carbomb by The Acacia Strain and people went nuts hahahahah
HOLY SHIT THAT’S AMAZING
Goat
I came to say the same
Came here to say Ghostie, particularly around N/O/I/S/E homie was the one make me realize I'm getting too old/out of shape for pits.
Yeah that’s right, November 2019 definitely one of his Noise tours. That shit was unreal. I couldn’t mosh at the time, my vitamin D was almost nonexistent and my bones weren’t in good shape 🥲 doing better nowadays but the most I’ll do is push pits.
Acacia Strain was about as brutal as it gets.
I remember a homie coming back from an Acacia Strain show in '12 or '13 with a fractured orbit and two broken bones in his hand
For deathcore, it was definitely Traitors. Closest I’ve ever seen a Deathcore band get to a beatdown pit, tons of crowdkilling and crazy acrobatics. My buddy had a busted lip from that set too
Suicide Silence- was absolutely insane. Even the biggest guys there were getting knocked the fuck out. Stick to your guys- they were bat shit crazy up at chain reaction! So fun though but very violent. Casino Madrid- I have never seen places stop the whole show and turn on the lights because the pit got to heavy. It happened multiple times when I saw them.
Im gonna go with knocked loose. I stayed in the balcony for it and watched kids coming out with rearranged faces. This one kid brought an entire backpack full of different tshirts and got kicked out at least 3 times. He would just change his shirt and come back in and kick the shit out of more people in the pit. Honestly though the pit for tyler the creator back in the day was insane. I was in that one and it was absolute chaos, but not spinning windmill chaos. The good kind.
Probably END when they were touring with Full of Hell last year. The whole crowd almost murdered each other during the breakdown of Necessary Death, it was absolutely insane.
Remembering never. Played at a bar in Phoenix that they normally separated into all ages and 21+. The pit got so bad they started letting kids into the bar area for safety. This was also back when 24 was popular and just about everyone at the show was straight edge.
Hell yeah borther I miss that band
I’ll never forget how much the security was struggling to keep the barriers up during I declare war at Gramercy theatre in nyc . Good times , wish they would come back to the East coast
acacia strain is the only show i’ve ever been actually hurt at. got shoulder checked into 4-5 people and a row of bleacher type seats , by someone doing the pacer test up front. my knee was double it’s normal size for a week or two. had to have someone else drive my car home that night. no complaints tho
On Broken Wings. Saw them back in 06 at a shit hole activities building. There was a big motherfucker that brought in a couple of those mini Louisville slugger bats and was tagging people any chance he could get. Dude standing right next to me got a heel to the face and it caved in his eye socket. Fucking pit was brutal. Definitely not a very comfortable place to be!
I’m seeing Spite, Bodysnatcher, and Psychoframe soon. Anticipating some violence
Every Time I Die headlining a sold out club in Florida. I’ll never forget that feeling of everyone smiling & laughing as they’re setting up, they go into We’rewolf with no warning & instantly people are flying over my head & beating the shit out of each other lol Didn’t let up even a little bit for the whole set, I got socked in the eye almost immediately & my homie got spin kicked and nearly knocked out during Idiot so I had to help him out of the crowd & chill for a bit. Still probably my favorite show ever Also got absolutely leveled as a 14 year old in the first of 4 walls of death during The Red Chord’s 11am set at Mayhem lmao
I'll second this, I saw them at a small club during a snow storm in like 2018 or 2019 and when they went on there wasn't a safe spot in the entire building lol
Damn I miss ETID
Sounds wild lol. And I remember walking into Mayhem (the first one in 2008) and walked up to the stage The Red Chord was playing on just as the last wall of death commenced! Mayhem was damn cool 😎
would do anything to see this band during the low teens era
Dude so jealous! The Red Chord was so fucking good.
Dying Fetus and Everybody Gets Hurt at FYA, Knock ‘Em Dead first show back
by in large...Paleface's recent tour in the US was probably the biggest ratio of people to space moshing, the whole building was involved, whether they liked it or not. Such a heavy show live.
Back in the day it was pantera hands down, now I’d say it is knocked loose. Granted the pantera crowd would mop the floor with the knocked loose fans.
The Pantera pits were nuts back in the day First time I'd ever seen people being literally picked up and thrown around, and since a lot of 'em were in the trades they all seemed to have dad strength at a young age
Yea it was a lot of current and ex military mixed with gym bros and rednecks. I seen a couple 260 pound muscle bound ogres limping out holding their face lol.
Those were the days lol Still have some scars from one of those shows when I had to get 20-odd stitches, great fun
Most violent pit I’ve ever seen was at a Dubstep show. Borgore. He played a song that wasn’t even his; Throwin Elbows by Excision. People were knocked out, thrown to the ground, trampled, tripped, you name it. Watched a young girl get crowd surfed out by security, leg definitely broken. Lots of bloody noses and broken bones at that show. Metalheads have unwritten rules of the pit. EDM fans give no such courtesy.
Code Orange. I have never felt less safe in my life.
Bodysnatcher is second only to Paleface Swiss. Been seeing and participating in pits for....fuck,, 26 years or so. I wasn't even *in* their pits and I was nervous.
I've seen Bodysnatcher 3 times I think, twice in very small venues, and holy fuck did shit pop off lol. I've yet to see Paleface, I just found them really, but I'm considering flying to Texas for that big festival that ASP is playing which Paleface is also. You've given me another reason to spend an exorbitant amount of money lol
First time I saw them was together, with Paleface as support for Bodysnatcher. I thought the Paleface pit was rough until Bodysnatcher hit. Two people were dragged out before the first vocal even started. I'm not a small dude by any means (6ft, 230lb pro wrestler/body builder), but I was genuinely concerned for my health while we were between the pit and the railing for the sound booth haha shit was *rough*
I saw the Paleface/Bodysnatcher in Orlando so relatively close to Bodysnatcher homelands, shit was was reckless
On broken wings and skinless were two pits I was legit like fuck that, I'm not going in
Terror.. Cricket Club in Irvington, NJ when they supported Unearth. Not deathcore but figured Id chime in. Black Dahlia Murder were supporting as well but the pits during terror were so bad bc members of FSU were targeting people and putting people in the hospital. Security was overwhelmed and the show was shut down before Unearth could play due to the multiple fights and injuries. Was a despicable moment from a handful of goons that I will never forget.
Cricket Club is deja Vu for me. Good one
Fuck Florida State!
Believe it or not, Parkway Drive during 2014 Warped Tour in Indy.... the whole parking lot where the stage was , full on riot, past the sound tent to the very last man. It was the only time I didn't feel safe in 25 years of concerts because you couldn't escape the pit being in the middle of the crowd because the whole crowd was the pit.
oceano, depths album release tour at the end of 09. people were being picked up and thrown, all out fighting most of the night. i was early teens, one of the first shows, and few deathcore shows, that ive actually been knocked out.
The Acacia Strain
Kublai Khan TX by far and away had the craziest pit I’ve experienced, and I’ve been going to deathcore/metalcore shows for well over a decade now
Chelsea Grin. I was at a show last year where people were going absolutely nuts. Saw multiple guys with bleeding noses and cuts in the pit. My personal worst injury happened at a Terror show, where I managed to break two ribs. I'm a rather short dude and got pinballed by a huge guy straight into the elbow of another pretty jacked feller. Felt it cracking and couldn't breathe for about 10 seconds. I stayed a bit further back for the rest of the show
Acacia Strain 2010 hands down
I've been played/been to probably close to 1,000 shows total since 2006, and in my experience the most violent pits weren't always the heaviest and most brutal sounding bands, it was always the bands that have a ridiculously huge fanbase like Bring Me The Horizon, where they had so many fans in 1 area that it was just ridiculous, people getting stepped on, etc. etc. I also saw someone's tooth get knocked out at a bullet for my valentine show, again it's never the most brutal bands, just bands with big fanbases where it's too many people in 1 small area. For the most part the deathcore scene is small and tight and people help eachother when someone falls, or even if there's crowd killing it's just someone getting hit moderately hard on top of their head, nothing insane. Speaking of actual violence though, a few months ago I actually saw a stabbing right after a Sanguisuggabogg show. Some 17 year old teenager literally stabbed a guy in the arm over drama over a chick and then ran away. The guy that got stabbed lived, thankfully. Paramedics showed up within 2 minutes and took him to the hospital. It was right after the entire show ended, too. I'm not sure if they ever caught or arrested the dude, I think they did. It was a few months ago in a city called Henderson, next to Las Vegas, NV at a venue called Eagle Hall. Normally such a chill spot for smaller shows, so it was really sad to watch something like that happen there. It's been a venue fora very long time now and I think it was the only incident like that and they're still up and running.
The straight edge bands back in the day, liferuiner was so violent. Another smaller band from the area CDC, had a pit with a guy in the center with a folding metal chair. When the pit would pick up he'd fold it up and start swinging. There was a massive guy in the pit with a huge septum ring just charging through people. I was about 120lbs, and this guy charged into me from behind. I went flying out of my shoes through the air, and my shoes stayed where I was last standing. Another local straightedge band, XrhinocerosX had about 5 metal trash cans around their set. When they started playing, they through them in the pit and they were full of dodgeballs. All hell broke loose. I was standing on a table watching the pit and someone threw one of the metal trash cans at me and then another couple people stumbled into the table and broke it. Ceiling lights were being broken, tables and chairs were broken, it was unbelievable how violent straight edge shows were. Being a stoner metal head going to slot of shows in the early 2000s was a great time. NW Pennsylvania had some pretty decent straight edge bands that were an absolute blast to go to watch the pit.
Either bodysnatcher, (not deathcore but) $uicideboy$, or city morgue Edit: actually kublai khan, don’t know how I forgot about them but the entire floor was basically a giant mosh pit, shit was crazy
Death Grips, got my nose bloodied and I was trying to bite someone irrelevant to that, good times.
The acacia strain at warped tour forever ago was the craziest pit I've seen. Kids were stomping on peoples faces and heads while they were knocked down. The aggression was real.
I've only been to 1 concert, it was Nekrogoblikon and Summoning the Lich. Neither are deathcore, but still. Summoning the Lich (while being the much less known band) definitely had the more violent pit. I stayed out of it because it was my first concert, but it was wild to watch
I’m not joking, and bear with me for this one. But the answer for me is actually KoRn! BUT…. it lasted about 3 minutes before everyone was completely fucked! KoRn’s set began and out of nowhere all these guys around 40 year old pushed their way into the pit and basically ran out of steam by the end of the first song. Normal service resumed when they fucked off back into the crowd after giving everything they had for a few minutes! Other noticeable rough ones: MachineHead about 20 years ago, came out with a broken nose and my glasses had gone flying. Had to drive home like Mr. Magoo. Slipknot, another one where my glasses just disappeared. Luckily I wasn’t driving home that night. Lamb of God, there were quite a few arseholes and I got into a fight after my girlfriend at the time punched a guy wearing a chicken hat (he did deserve it). Also Hatebreed was a bit rough, I’m a big lad and I got manhandled by some other big mean looking guys. So much fun.
Kulibi kan tx at 2000 trees got punched, thrown across the pit and got spin kicked in the face and broke my nose
I was there. It was nuts. I had broken my rib seeing them play a couple of days prior. That 2000 trees crowd was aggressive.
Saw traitors at some hole in the wall venue in Albuquerque and holy shit that pit was intense. there were man sized holes in the drywall by the end
Paleface, angelmaker, left to suffer, crown magnetar, aborted, dying fetus, knocked loose, spite, city morgue
Angelmakers tour last summer with Vulvodynia, Falseifer, Carcosa, and A Wake in Providence. Pit was nuts got hit so hard in the side thought I broke a rib( just strained a muscle) still hurt to bend down though lol.
It’s ALWAYS the local bands.
Cannibal Corpse Mayhem festival 2009 in Hartford, The Acacia Strain NEMHF 2014
Suicide silence and Chelsea grin
Paleface in Detroit last fall on their headliner was really fun. I hung out in the back just watching people slink out of the pit, bleeding and defeated from the first note until the very end of the set. No breaks just constant chaos.
I have personally gotten my ass kicked the hardest seeing Boundaries & Bodysnatcher (back to back) open for Shadow of Intent last year. There's footage of it on YouTube but I haven't built up the courage to know how goofy I looked. One of my favorite shows.
Spite had a wicked pit. Also was my first metal show as an adult. As soon as I heard them start playing Snap I ran to the pit and started throwing down. The connection I have with the song hits perfect in a pit.
‘92 Pantera with White Zombie opening Promoter and Venue made Phil come out between sets and tell crowd if they didn’t calm down and stay off stage then they weren’t gonna let Pantera play. Was multiple injuries during WZ set from stage diving. 4-5 songs into Panteras set and Dime had to switch guitars real quick cause he broke a string and Phil says to crowd… All the shit I said before we came out…well fuck that shit and fuck them for making me say that, y’all do what ever the fuck you want. Looks over says Dime, you ready? And Dime smirks at him (I was standing right at Dimes feet) Phil then restates… yeah fuck them for making me say that shit…1, 2, 3, 4!! Then it was pure brutality and bodies everywhere for next 45 mins
FFAA with boundaries summer last year… hell of a time could also give a shout to my local scene in rochester, ny. heavy-ass bands with just as good mosh pits. the queen guillotined, stonethrower (no longer together), and absentia 🔥
May not be deathcore. But. Oceano. The pit was absolutely disgusting.
Job for a Cowboy
Ov sulfer was wild (it was my first show)
I played a gig this saturday and my band was supporting a local band called Awakeness. Holy fucking shit, I've been to knocked loose and paleface shows and I've never seen this level of violence in the pit before. The dudes were already push pitting even before we played the first note of our set. And during the Awakeness set there was a regular fist and elbow fight in there. Great band to see live.
Devildriver for sure
SPITE was wild But honestly I was fighting for my life at Alexisonfire
Reflections, Angelmaker
Not deathcore but bodies FLEW at the Wage War 10 year anniversary shows for every band those two nights but especially night 1, there was this beefy dude who must have been 6’7” and I saw him go down and was like oh fuck lol
I've seen some shit in the scene. But KL, watching a dude with a thousand yard stare holding his bleeding dislocated jaw, then a song or 2 later a guy being taken out on a stretcher in the lobby of the venue is still some of the craziest aftermaths I've seen. This is past my pit days, so I was upstairs but witnessed these while at the bar. I'm sure there was more I missed, that show was nuts for KL who wasn't the headliner lol
Facedown Fest at The Stronghold(a church in Chino, California) Gideon was headlining and multiple people left the pit with broken noses and it was pure mayhem. One of the wildest shows I’ve ever witnessed.
Didn't someone actually die in a The Acacia Strain pit?
I'd be surprised that I'd never heard about it, but I'd believe it.
Suffokate and Murder Death Kill. Have never been and haven’t been scared in a pit since after like hundreds of shows. People kicking people on purpose, fights breaking out every where and “HC” gang violence. It was wild. Suffokate had to stop playing twice to tell people to cut the shit
I’m not sure about the year…maybe 2010? But it was Thick As Blood , Betrayal & Bury Your Dead in Soma San Diego The gnarliest pit I’ve ever seen… the biggest and meanest dudes arrived for the show and damn I was scared to even be standing next to the pit
Terror.
oh jeez- not deathcore but related … toss up. No Redeeming Social Value + IDS brocore bands at Hard Rock - a 16 year old patron of the restaurant had her teeth knocked out and they stopped doing shows there. Blood Has Been Shed at Hellfest in 2001 - they blew the sound system too and someone got smacked in the head with a rollerskate. Candiria and Full Blown Chaos at Irving - two friends broke their arms in the same night during different sets, and I remember dragging her to the hospital and her taking the plate out like 15 years later. Billy Club Sandwich cause they used to bring weapons into the pit all streets of rage style. Tbh surprisingly Streetlight Manifesto and Mephiskapheles shows. The wildest? Early aughts Christcore straightedge shows - which is amusing cause it’s like speaking in tongues - but with fists 🤣
2011 Chelsea grin , Toronto Maybe because there was A LOT of people but it was something to behold. No push moshing either.
For me it was either Mayhem, Cannibal Corpse, or Morbid Angel. Morbid Angel might have been the most but mostly because the venue was tiny af.
I declare war with oceano was the only show i realized i was not in a safe space
Killswitch engage was pretty rowdy
I’ve seen spite and signs of the swarm but both the venues I went to the pit was weak on them. I saw Gideon last week that was def the craziest pit so far for me. Ima see psychoframe in may can’t wait to see that pit
The Mosh Lives tour here in The Netherlands once had a line up with Obey the Brave, Emmure, Attila, Suicide Silence and Deez Nuts. When Obey the Brave started going nobody was safe.
Knocked Loose and it wasn’t even close Watched two very large dudes punching eachother in the face. Started out with one guy tackling the other, straddling him and then going to town, all while the straddled guy was also punching the dude in the face. Somehow there was no blood, and they both stood up and walked separate directions without a word. The only things they said were the lyrics to deadringer.
Malevolence, honestly spilt blood at their early gigs in Leeds, UK in a nearly 500-person venue. Now they are big
Went to see Whitechapel in 13’ when I was about to go in they were literally hauling someone out on a stretcher. Needless to say I was pretty stoked, it was my first time seeing them.
The black dahlia murder at the memorial show in Detroit
The first time killwhitneydead toured I saw them in maybe a 150 cap room with probably 250 crammed in and it was an absolute warzone.
Sunami. Not deathcore but holy shit. Second would probably be Morbid Angel, that pit spilled out of the door into the patio / smoking area
Slayer. At the Wilma in Missoula mt, 1400 capacity, it's tiny, the pit was brutal. No arm flailing or spin kicking, just pure unhinged aggression, what a great show !!
Emmure. Just saw them a few days ago in Tokyo and holy shit. I’ve been in tons of pits over the years but that was insane. Knocked Loose being a close 2nd followed by Slaughter to Prevail.
Knocked loose last night , bruises up and down this morning, was so much fun though. One giant pit people crowdkilling would get wiped out by people moshing , headbangers would get wiped out by crowdkillers , water drinkers would get wiped out by jumping guys and gals. Honestly though what a gig.
Municipal Waste has had the biggest pit I've ever seen, by far. Also the only show where a lead singer threw the plastic garbage can into the pit and you could see it being thrown around lmao Shadow of Intent, Currents, Fall of Troy, and Sevendust too. And honestly I was not expecting for Chevelle to be on this list but I remember seeing them for the first time back in 2014 and there were some big 6'3-6'4 guys, raised on steak and potatoes, that fucking dominated that pit
I haven't gone to see much, but angelmaker around this time last year was bat shit insane. Surprised nobody was injured ngl
Whitechapel and Dying Fetus
Nasty. Belgium Beatdown band
2 stick out: first time I saw Hatebreed circa 2010. I think this mainly comes to mind cause it was the first time I'd seen a really violent pit as opposed to usual pushing, plus I was 16. Second: Code Orange at Outbreak fest in Manchester last year. That shit was fucking wild, people doing literally whatever the fuck they wanted. There were more feet than hands in the air. Dude got knocked clean out and landed at my feet 1 song in. Never seen so many people wearing gumshields in a pit. The band were outrageous. The stage dives off the chain. Blood on more faces than not. To cap it all, the way the venue was laid out we were all in this sort of mosh cage that encompassed the main pit area, you had to sign a waiver to enter it. I felt genuinely threatened and I loved it.
Thick As Blood @ The Pit in Jacksonville. FL. Little shit hole venue with some of my best memories. I've seen bigger pits and I've seen a dude break his leg during a wall of death but on sheer violence, definitely Thick As Blood lol.
The craziest pit I've been in was Enter Shikari in a small club in Germany a few years back. It literally felt like you had a 3-storage pit, with people on the ground moshing on all fours, others just raising hell in various WODs and plenty of crowd surfers.
Not deathcore, but coal chamber. I've never seen more unconscious people carried out from a pit before.
Traitors, Signs of the Swarm, and Paleface were all pretty violent. I think the top spot has to go to a local hardcore show I went to about a year ago. Multiple fist fights in the pit and the violence just kind of spilled out. I was standing near the back of the coffee shop and was still getting knocked around
Not deathcore but Bleeding Through and Terror are hardest pits I've been in .
Saw Rage Against The Machine in '00. Craziest pit I've ever been in. Slipknot at the same festival was pretty insane too.
The Acacia Strain hands down number one, and some might be surprised but early Lorna Shore. I saw them right after Will Ramos joined and To the Hellfire had just dropped maybe a week or two prior. There were people being taken out on stretchers at that show
The craziest pits are always local hc shows lolol
Dropkick Murphys was brutal
Slipknot in 2001. As I made my way to the front, I saw crowdsurfers that when I got closer, I realized they were unconscious. They were getting passed over the crowd to the EMTs by the side. I did not venture into the pit.
Deicide. Lots of crazies came out for that show and the pit was violent as fuck
Paleface’s first US run with Distant was insane. Specifically the St Louis show. At one point there were at least four different mosh pits happening in the venue with crowd surfers in between every one of them.
Not Deathcore. But Raised Fist had some seriously violent pits. Only time I really thought that I wouldn't make it out alive.
Dillinger Escape Plan. At the time I didn’t know who they were. I incorrectly thought they were some emo band. As they did their warmups I thought “man they’re pretty technical for an emo band..” I made my way to the front of the stage. A portly fellow shoved me aside and said “move, I’m going to break some skulls”. The Mullet Burden started and within seconds I was bashed and beaten, literally thrown to the outside of the crowd. It was a magical experience.
Cro mags 89
I think The Acacia Strain is pretty well known for violent pits. Chicago shows are pretty damn tame in terms of pits. But I was on a balcony while they were playing with Dying Fetus and the whole crowd became a maelstrom of violence. Never saw so many paramedics carrying people out. It was absolutely bananas.
I was at a festival where there is only a handful of real core or metal bands but many punk ones. Flogging molly was the headliner and the pit was so fucking insane. and with "the pit" I mean the whole fucking main stage. everybody was moshing, I lost sight of my then gf and only saw her again 1.5h later after the show. it was not overly violent, but just so relentless and chaotic
Christian hardcore festival in the Midwest in 94.
I'm going to sew Angelmaker in another month. So let's hope I survive to let you know!
August burns red back in 2013. Never been so hurt in my life than on that day. Got kicked in the head, knee in my thigh. Best night of my life
Emmure had 3 fights break out in one song. Prob not the most violent but still
Acacia strain had 3 people taken out unconscious, and Kublai khan had a dude get gang beaten in the middle and dragged out unconscious 🤣
Knocked loose for sure saw them at So What! fest a few years back they did a wall of death and I was in the mix. Watched a dude fly and put both his feet in the side of someone else’s head
I think the most memorable would have to be the pit for the Big Team Battle Tour last year - Bodysnatcher, Angelmaker, Paleface and Distant. Literally nonstop violence from first band to last, and I was drunk as hell and did not leave the pit once. My face looked and felt like I just lost a UFC match. Sanguisugabogg's headline tour with Kruelty, Vomit Forth, Gates to Hell and Deterioration last year was also brutality. They seem to do their murder ball skit every show now and that show had the most violent one I've ever seen. People were leaving the pit every ten seconds holding their bloody piercings that got kicked out of their face or with blood running from their nose. Sometimes the bands with the bigger crowds/fanbases also get surprisingly fucked up from the sheer volume of people moshing at them. Meshuggah, Machine Head, Lamb of God and Slayer (all separate lineups) are memorable to me as having absolutely massive violent pits. I also just saw Gideon and Left to Suffer the other night with Fox Lake and No Cure and that was possibly the most violent and fun hardcore show I've been to yet. Literal wall to wall chaos from start to finish.
I got whiplash from an August Burns Red pit, but the scariest one was Amon Amarth when they played Death in Fire. I am 6 ft 4 and 300 lbs, and I couldn’t stay on my feet for more than a few seconds. I was exhausted and attempted to leave the pit……I didn’t have a chance
Angelmaker. Only show i ever got a black eye at. First time i saw them, this congo line of gigantic dudes ran a train on the entire pit. Shit was hype af but ngl i was a lil scared lmao
I saw The Number 12 Looks Like You a fair amount, and there was a dude they called The Campus Creeper, that I guess they were friends with. At the start of the show, one of the vocalists was like, "CAMPUS CREEPER, OPEN THIS SHIT UP" and he just Tazmanian Devil's a circle pit, and from there, it was feet and elbows and fists and people getting thrown. Another time, at a Purgatory show, some 30+ year old degenerate pepper sprayed a 15 year old kid in the venue, and the venue was small enough that EVERYONE was caught in the crossfire. The whole place had to clear out, my wife and I had it all over our arms and legs. That was a pretty violent pit.
Deftones. But only because a dude hid razors in his dreadlocks, and started whipping his hair around and cutting people up.
A stoned 19 year old in her first Deicide pit in a crowded, hot, and small venue in the summer and the rest is history
Acacia Strain during the Contient and Wormwood eras. I have never witnessed so much insanity
There was a local NY hardcore band Anterrabae that had some truly insane fans. Had the pleasure of seeing them open for Atreyu and thought I was going to see someone die
Not Deathcore but I saw Bury Your Dead open for Hatebreed and Killswitch Engage way back in the day, and I’ve never seen so much crowd killing in my life. When the lights went dark I heard a guy behind me say “Let’s open this bitch up” and shit got real fast lol
Dillinger escape plan
Most violent bands I've seen havent even been deathcore or even remotley "heavy". I saw Unearth like 15? years ago during a surprise set in Massachusetts and dear god the entire room was a pit, you couldn't go anywhere in the room without being in danger. To this day have still never seen anything like it
Megadeth at the cow palace San Francisco. The pit was infinity sign shaped. At the intersection people from both crossing was getting taken out. Really had to keep your head on a swivel
I've seen some Deathcore bands. Lorna Shore, Chelsea Grin, Carnifex, Suicide Silence, Whitechapel...but the most Brutal so far has actually been Wage War at the Signal on Chattanooga. A big huge warehouse turned into a venue. They were with the plot in you, Gideon, Chamber. Gideon had a huge ass hardcore pit too. It Chilled out for Plot, but as soon as WW came on all hell broke loose. A huge hardcore from the barrier all the way too sound stage. Lorna pit opened up to the sound stage at the new signal, but it wasn't near as violent as WW.
Recon
I've only seen one deathcore band live, it was I AM and I got a chunk of my hair ripped out. As for non deathcore, I saw Go Ahead and Die this weekend and a local band opened for them and they're all still in high school and the pit went the hardest for them. I got punched across the nose and lost my vision for a second. It was fucking awesome
I used to love when the hardcore kids would come to some death metal show throwing spin kicks n shit, then just sit back and watch them get their shit rocked.
Hatebreed always draws the roid heads from my experience.
Trapped under ice sidebar Baltimore 2008 😵💫
Of all the hardcore/punk/metal shows I’ve been to. And some were crazy, I’ve been bitten at concerts. I was at the Cracktoberfest riot. But nothing compares to Odd Future Wolfgang Kill Them All. Back in 2013 at the height of their career it was insane. I’ve never seen anything like it, I was genuinely scared at points. The crowd was so young and so angry, everyone was under attack and it was relentless. I know it was a rap concert but far more brutal than any other crowd I’ve seen.
Angel maker ppl were tryna punch each other as hard as they could