Pitfalls

Monday 21st November marked the third time in a little over a year that I saw Slaves live.

I'll admit I wasn't overly excited; after all this was the third time I was seeing them, I knew what to expect.

I'd seen the set list a few days before. I knew they would play Debbie Where's Your Car? I knew they would play The Hunter and Cheer Up London. I knew they would play the majority of songs from their new album Take Control which I had wisely began listening to a whole two days before the gig (there's nothing like being prepared eh?)

There were few surprises on the day. Isaac performed the majority of the set shirtless. The pit was full of young people whereas the outer layer of the crowd were generally people above 40. The atmosphere was insane.

But if I learnt one thing on Monday it was this; mosh pits look way more fun than they are.

I'm sure that is not always the case. For example, I am sure that if you're a teenage to early twenties, fairly muscular, above average height male it's great. Unfortunately for someone of a below average height who has little to her, I struggled. I really struggled.

I survived a whole two songs in the pit (which was pretty good going for me I thought) before I began to panic due to a severe lack of space and air.

I was beginning to severely overheat and had already been pushed to the ground countless times. My tactic of grabbing whichever person around me looked most stable had helped but not altogether stopped my falls.

By this point I had lost Bella (who I was with up until mid-way through the first song) and was completely alone. But this didn't bother me; I was absolutely fine being alone and I wasn't expecting to be with Bella the whole time anyway.

My cute and punk looking space buns were failing me. I was covered in sweat; both mine and other peoples. I was thankful for choosing shorts and fishnet tights as opposed to my ripped jeans. It was not my finest hour.

I saw a tweet the other day about a fan who experienced the 'crowd from hell' along with a response that she 'couldn't handle' the gig. There were many comments about how she should have expected this atmosphere for the concert she was attending along with many highly unsympathetic comments regarding her experience.

This wasn't the case with me. I knew what I was letting myself in for - well I kind of knew - after all no one had specifically told me that I would be crushed between 6ft guys and knocked to the ground more times than was necessary but you live and learn.

I'm not bitter, I'm just not so sure it was for me.

--- Aimee ---