Can you believe it? It was actually fun. Here are my keen observations:
1) Heavy metal enthusiasts have perfected the head nodding as well as the devil's horn hand sign.
I wish I could easily whip out a devil's horn sign but it's not instinctual for me. I actually have to think about it. And the head nodding... dude, who said white people don't have any rhythm? They do when they jam to heavy metal, that's for sure. But I do worry for their brains... all that nodding, especially the head twirl, cannot be good for the preservation of brain cells. For true enthusiasts, I recommend fish oil pills before attending a concert. Also, ear plugs are key.2) Speaking of devil's horns, is that why every lead singer sounds like Satan? I'm sure it's no coincidence that Lamb of God sung a song entitled, "Take a Walk with Me in Hell."
3) There were only like ten women in attendence. When Pure White and I arrived at the Wiltern, I was the only person in the women's security line and had to wait for Jeff to be cleared. The lead singer of Machine Head also made a comment about naked heavy metal chicks... all 17 of us. Ironically, despite the lack of female presence, I still had to wait in line at the women's bathroom!
4) Mosh pits are fascinating. There's a certain synchronicity to the hyper-aggressive ritual. At first glance, it seems violent and scary. But after a while, you realize that, what all those stupid boys are doing is simply pushing each other in circles. I now see that moshing is actually a form of dance. In fact, I couldn't stop watching it from above. What's even more intriguing is whenever someone from the audience began to body surf on top of the crowd, the big black body guards in the front row would immediately stop it. Yet they never stopped the moshing. So it made me think that the Wiltern's liability insurance probably doesn't cover negligent falls from body surfing. Injuries from moshing, however, are probably cheaper to insure. God, I get sick when I realize how much I think like a lawyer.
Overall, my first heavy metal concert was enjoyable. I don't know if I would go again, but I'm glad I went. Thanks, Pure White!
2 comments:
I too had a recent interaction with some heavy metal.
It would be in the form of Jada Pinkett Smith's band Wicked Wisdom on You Tube.
It was really scary how Will Smith's sylish and pretty wife could easily transform herself into a frizzy-haired, no fashion-sense, bad lead singer of a heavy metal band.
Yeah, I heard of her band. I will have to check her out. I wonder if Scientology advised her to do it.
BUT Jada Pinkett came from the same performance arts high school (similar to my alma mater, Whitney Young) that Tupac went to... so that may contribute to her adventures in music.
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