Exeter 25th October

[Jon Jarrett]

On Sat, 1 Nov 2003, John Majka wrote:

> In general I'm pretty cautious about being in the front at any show just
> because it tends to be the most physically dangerous place to be.  Granted,
> Hawkwind has  a tendency to draw a somwhat more sedate audience such that I
> don't really expect a "pit" to develop, but I've had uniformly bad
> experiences at the front.  This opinion may be unduly influenced by a single
> person who seems inevitably toshow up at all Chicago area HW shows, go to
> the front, and generally cause trouble.  I'm sure others probably remember
> this person as well.  I particularly remember in 1995 at the Park West,
> standing right in front of the stage while this guy shouted and whistled at
> maximum volume pretty much nonstop for the entire show, to the annoyance of
> everyone nearby.  He was flailing around as well, knocking into people, and
> at some point said to me, "You don't look like you're having fun," and he
> grabbed my arms and raised them over my head and flailed them around against
> my will for probably ten minutes... other people got similar treatment.  I
> remember the same character right next to me at the Strange Daze 1998 show
> where all the same behavior ensued, except this time people were more pissed
> off and would give him a good shove any time he got too close.  Of course
> this precipitated some minor fighting and eventually the guy was seemingly
> removed.  At the same show it seemed like fans were extraordinarily
> territorial as well.  At one point when I was knocked into by the above
> mentioned fellow, I was jostled two feet to my left where the gentleman
> behind me took my shoulder and informed me that he had been standing at the
> front of the stage for hours waiting for Hawkwind and wasn't going to have
> his spot taken by a newcomer!  As if I hadn't been there for hours as
> well...  *sigh*  it was very much a "can't win" situation.  In general, I've
> found that it isn't necessarily the most hardcore fans one finds at the
> front... it's mainly the most aggressive ones.  Mainly these days I don't
> even bother troubling myself but just try to get a good view in a
> comfortable area.  In some ways the issue is reminiscent of many punk/indie
> rock bands I've seen.  All the scenesters/mohawk kids etc gravitate toward
> the front, while the fans of the band are lurking shyly somewhere near the
> back.  A sad state of affairs.

        That sounds like a thing I see at gigs other than Hawkwind for
the most part. This time (the Christmas party) there was one very drunk
guy who suddenly got by the techno and shouted "COME ON! LET'S GO F***ING
CRAZY!" at everyone around him for ten minutes or so, but he didn't
actually interfere with anyone except the friend he was with and his
enthusiasm was difficult to dismiss.

        By and large, I find that on those rare and unpredictable
occasions when a Hawkwind gig generates a mosh, if you can *get* right to
the front, you'll find an impenetrable wall of forty-something bikers
there, and if you can get among you'll be safe enough. Bikers being the
unreformed creatures they are, they'll make room for a girl but not for
the likes of me by and large, but no moshers will shift them... Yours,
                                                                       Jon

ObLP: My Dog Popper - _668: Neighbour of the Beast_
--
                Jonathan Jarrett, Birkbeck College, London
    jjarrett at chiark.greenend.org.uk/ejarr01 at students.bbk.ac.uk
  "As much as the vision of the blind man improves with the rising sun,
       So too does the intelligence of the fool after good advice."
       (Bishop Theodulf of Orleans, late-eight/early-ninth century)