Heavy Metal concerts tend to be more about the show itself rather than the sound that is put out. Bands will usually wear costumes and use stage props to enhance their performance. The shows that I went to used lights, pyrotechnics, and fog machines to create the atmosphere that the band wanted to use for their set-list. As with all Metal concerts these were incredibly loud and densely packed throughout the entire venue. The concerts that I went to were all rather small venues (Under 300 people) so the atmosphere wasn’t as intimidating as large concerts can be. Due to the smaller audience, the venue sectioned off the drinking area so that no underage individuals slipped by. Most of the events I went to had the merchandise area outside the main concert hall, in a lobby type area to avoid stealing and to make the seller easier to hear.

 

            Zone one like at any other concert was densely packed with approximately fifty people all trying to reach for the band members when they reached out to us. I on a couple occasions actually got to touch Maria Brink, the lead vocalist from In This Moment, during her performance. This is surprising because there was a metal guardrail in front of us keeping the crowd at least three feet away from the stage at any given time. Behind this guard rail there were security guards that would watch for any trouble in the crowd. They were also available to assist anyone in the front row who was having issues standing their ground and was at risk of being crushed by the people behind them. On occasion when the band finished a set of songs the guitarist or the drummer would throw their pics or drum sticks into the crowd. These implements became the prized possessions of the individuals that caught them and were often fought over.

 

            As usual zone two is depicted as the site for mosh pits. Overall this zone two was surprisingly dense compared to other concerts analyzed in this site. There were between sixty and seventy people in zone two rather than the usual fifty. At this concert the pit started five feet from the guardrail in front of zone one. This particular pit was around fifteen feet across and had approximately sixteen people in it at a time. The activity in the pit would take on kind of an undulating pattern that would press and pull of the members of zone one. One event that I though was fascinating was during an In This Moment concert. Lead vocalist, Maria Brink, had the security guards escort her to the middle of zone two and clear a large circle around her. She then called all of the females (approximately twenty five went to her) in the concert hall to mosh around her for the duration of the next song. At the conclusion of the song she thanked all of the women around her and returned to the stage to finish off the set-list. This allowed the women that wouldn’t normally mosh out of fear of being crushed the opportunity to do so with other females who weren’t as likely to injure them.

 

            The bar comprised the majority of zone three, it offered a sanctuary from the rambunctious audience members. This zone was sectioned off so that the drinking could be monitored. It also had spaces for exhausted audience members to sit at and still enjoy the concert.