Stories from the mosh pit

After near 40 years of concert going poor health as meant I have had to cut right down, and no more in the pit. I have been at the front for some of the biggest metal bands, often well beyond the "being too old stage". there has been blood, much sweat and a few beers. These wont be in the right order , as my memory doesn't work that way.

1 . PANTERA-FAR BEYOND DRIVEN TOUR

I was near the front as usual, then my ex wife decided to join me. She told me people were using her to climb up and surf. She decided she couldn't do much more and got rescued by the security. A few minutes later I felt a tap on the shoulder, my wife had returned with a wet cloth. She had seen how hot I was and decided to help. She was rescued again and didn't return.

2/SLAYER/SLIPKNOT CO HEADLINER TOUR.

I think slipknot were on first, not something that would happen for long. In my usual place on the barrier they played " spit it out". Before the final part the band get everyone to crouch down and to jump up on cue. I tried but couldn't find the floor, just legs and arms. I'm not a small person , so did my best to not hurt anyone too much.

I stayed in place when they finished , ready for slayer. The bit was as chaotic as ever and the band played an intense set. I started to feel a little rough towards the end of the set, so I started to force my way backwards. It wasn't working, at least not until I started vomiting blood.

I went to the first aid area, they gave me a bag of ice to put on my head so I would cool down. It started to melt almost instantly. That was when I got the first "aren't you a bit old for this"

3.KILLSWITCH ENGAGE , END OF THE HEART ACHE TOUR

As usual front and centre I was waiting for the main band. After roughly 1 song I felt something brush my head. I put my hand on the top of my head to brush anything off. My hand came off covered in blood, I signalled to the bouncer to help me over the barrier. I was taken to the first aid area, next to the stage. There a paramedic spent an hour holding the top of my head together. After I went to the hospital with my brother. I ended up with 4 staples in my head. I stayed at my brothers for the night, I managed to ruin the pillow by bleeding on it.

Just before I had left the venue one of the security said that a thick glass bottle had bounced off my head after being thrown from the balcony. After me it hit the bouncer in front of me, at first they had no idea where it came from.

4.HATEBREED TOUR

Saw them in a large pub near me. 500 capacity venue, packed and hot despite being November. A great set as usual, as left took my shirt off to wring out the sweat, walked a bit longer and was getting more strange looks then usual. I realised I was walking shirtless down a road, at 11pm, in heavy snow. I was so hot I hadn't noticed.

5,MACHINEHEAD PART 1

After the previously mentioned split head at a Killswitch engage show , my brother decided on the best Christmas gift. The idea was to see him a few days after the Machinehead gig , where he would give me a first aid kit.

When meeting him after the show I noticed a problem, his eyelid was split and bleeding. He still gave me the kit, although he needed it most.

6, MACHINEHEAD PART 2

This tale should have been first time wise but that's the way I remember things. A friend of mine from work was going with me to see Slayer, with an unheard of support called Machinehead. He had a bootleg copy of Machineheads first record and was sharing it around. Obviously this happened a few times as there was about 30 of us on the barrier , singing all the Machinehead songs as they played them.

The problem was, the record hadn't been released and so the band looked very confused. how were we singing along to songs that hadn't been released. ?

7, FINDING LOST SOULS

This is for 2 concerts, 1988 monsters of rock at Donnington and Mettalica at the same venue, 7 years later.

Tragically 2 people died during a crush that occurred when Guns and Roses came on. Many thousands had joined the crowd after climbing over barriers and the venue couldn't cope. The friend I was with couldn't keep up with the crush and walked away. After Guns had finished I went off towards the side of the venue for fresh air. After 10 minutes walking I felt a grab on my arm, my friend had found me among roughly 110,000 people.

For Metallica I went with friends, my brothers went separately. Mobile phones weren't much use, so I presumed we would compare notes a few days later. My friends and I decided to walk down through the crowd in order to get a good position for the main band. I walked about 10 steps, looked to my right and there were my brothers. I found them among 90,000 people.