Miles from Fenway: Blinded By Nostalgia

"Was there an age limit on this show?" Ryan asked as we entered Hammerstein Ballroom last night.
"I have no idea," I answered. "Why?"
"There are a lot of children here."

As I looked around while we snaked our way towards the front of the stage, I noticed he was right, but didn't really think anything of it. So there were a lot of teenagers. They didn't look any stranger to me than I must have looked when I went to see Belly when I was 15. Ryan, on the other hand, felt old. And then said something that took me by surprise.

"It may not be the best idea to be this close to the stage"

Excuse me? When is being close to the stage, especially in a venue as large as Hammerstein, a bad idea?

"We're going to get caught in the mosh pit."

Ok, now I felt old. It hadn’t even occurred to me that the Arctic Monkeys might be moshing music. But looking back to my mosh pit experiences in the past, I figured, eh, I could handle myself.

But as the music got going, and the shoving commenced I realized my error. I found myself thinking about the camera, phone, and cd player in my bag. Clutching my purse in front of me I fought to find the room to dance (I absolutely can not stay still at live concerts) but not be pulled into the fray.

In the end, we avoided the pit, standing only on the outskirts our view occasionally obstructed by a passing crowd surfer (I honestly thought that stuff ended a while ago - have I been that naive?). It was a great show; high energy, a mix of old and new songs, and a crowd that was - clearly - very excited to be there.

But as we walked down the street towards the subway Ryan pondered the question: What's the age cut off for moshing? I remember quite vividly being thrown around like a rag doll at the Smashing Pumpkins concert when I was sixteen and loving every minute of it. Ditto for when I went to see Bush that same year. Sometime around my 18th birthday I crowd surfed for the first time though mainly because two of my guy friends bet me I wouldn't.

So what had changed? Why was I suddenly looking at these kids thinking: um, don't you want to SEE the show? You paid $40 for your ticket, and they weren't easy to get, so you clearly really like their music. Don't you want to, you know, listen to it?

Is it that I am now earning my own money and paying my own way so it has more value to me? The idea of potentially losing my camera, keys, etc. is suddenly more meaningful when mommy and daddy won't replace it later? Or is this just a normal part of "growing up"? Cause I have to tell you, until last night, I was pretty firmly in the I'm-still-a-big-kid camp.

But apparently I’m past the moshing age. Whatever that is.

Labels: music

posted by FINY @ Wednesday, May 16, 2007

5 Comments:

At 5/16/2007, Ari said…

Yeah,

I hear you, I used to love crowd surfing. Oh the days of getting kicked out of concerts because of crowd surfing (did you know its illegal in Rhode Island) anyhow that part has long since passed. But as eve 6 or someone said, "This is Growing Up"
At 5/16/2007, Anonymous said…

PRIVATE MANNY RAMIREZ SIGNING!!!!!

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At 5/16/2007, Anonymous said…

PRIVATE MANNY RAMIREZ SIGNING!!!!!

June 28, 2007

For more information:

Ted: 813-749-8560 ext. 22

email: info@elite-sports-marketing.com

elite-sports-marketing.com
At 5/16/2007, Anonymous said…

Awesome. You must feel special you got selected to go to the private signing twice FINY.

It's an interesting question. When does that stuff change? Is it just a function of age? Is it a function of your "own" hard earned money (as opposed to an allowance)?

I know my outlook on a lot of things changed a lot when it was my own money I was spending from my own hard work, but I have friends though in similar boats that were still the same. I think the other part is how your parents treated you too. Most of the people that still behaved that way were usually ones that Mommy and Daddy would bail out, but then there were others that weren't like that.

I guess the answer is "it's complex", but I think you've hit on some of the driving factors of it.
At 5/16/2007, Esther said…

I have a feeling I was never the age that wanted to be in a mosh pit, though I never experienced one to know for sure. Now I know it's something I don't want. It's definitely a growing up/practicality kind of thing. But if you go prepared for it, then maybe it's still ok?