Hardcore Dancing - Criticisms

Criticisms

Among the first musicians to criticize moshing publicly was Ian MacKaye, frontman of Minor Threat, founder of Dischord Records and early promoter of the straight edge lifestyle. Beginning in the late 1980s during his time in Fugazi, MacKaye became well known for his opposition to "violent dancing" at shows (despite having done so during Fear's Halloween 1981 performance on Saturday Night Live).

Consolidated, an industrial dance group of the 1990s, stood against moshing. On their third album, Play More Music, Consolidated included the song The Men's Movement, which proclaimed the inappropriate nature of slam dancing. The song consisted of audio recordings during concerts from the audience and members of Consolidated, arguing about moshing.

In the 1990s, The Smashing Pumpkins took a stance against moshing, following some especially tragic incidents. At a 1996 Pumpkins concert in Dublin, Ireland, 17-year-old Bernadette O'Brien was crushed by moshing crowd members and later died in the hospital, despite warnings from the band that people were getting hurt. At another concert, singer Billy Corgan said to the audience:

Another fan died at a Smashing Pumpkins concert in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on September 24, 2007. The 20-year-old male was dragged out of the mosh pit, unconscious, to be pronounced dead at a hospital after first-aid specialists attempted to save him.

At the Columbus, Ohio stop of Gigantour 2006, Lamb of God lead singer Randy Blythe chastised the crowd for moshing after someone was hurt in the mosh pit, commenting that: "The world looks at a show like this and thinks we are just a bunch of violent motherfuckers who try to hurt each other. Well, that's not what we are about. Next time someone hits the ground, pick them up or I will stop the band."

Reel Big Fish's 1998 album Why Do They Rock So Hard? included their mosh-criticizing song "Thank You for not Moshing," which contained lyrics that suggested that at least some individuals in the mosh pit were simply bullies who were finding conformity in the violence.

Mike Portnoy, founder and ex-drummer of Dream Theater, and Avenged Sevenfold where he briefly filled in after the death of The Rev, criticized moshing in an interview published on his website:

Groove metal group Five Finger Death Punch had an incident when, during the last song of a concert, a young man received a compound fracture on his ankle in a mosh pit. Ivan L. Moody, the band's lead singer, leaped into the crowd with Zoltan Bathory, the band's lead guitarist, and carried the injured fan onto the stage, where he was taken to the hospital. Moody stated "I've felt bad because of what has happened. I miss the old Pantera kids who would just throw each other. Just respect other people; come on." Bathory stated: "Because he broke his leg I threw down my guitar. We just finished when he broke his leg, and I came out and I stayed with him until the paramedics picked him up. These are my people and that's how it is."

UK punk band Hacksaw came out against moshing after an incident at a 2006 gig caused several fans to suffer serious injuries. This resulted in a song on their 2007 album, Vote Hacksaw, titled "Amateurs in the Pit", wherein they condemn all moshers as "brain dead morons who wanna stamp on kiddies".

Joey DeMaio of American heavy metal band Manowar has been known to temporarily stop concerts upon seeing moshing and crowd surfing, claiming it is dangerous to other fans.