I'd guess it'd depend on your venue. It's all Standing Room Only (SRO) at Tower City Amphitheater, which is in Cleveland, but there are small sections roped off to serve as makeshift bars, so it might be the same at other places. Generally, there are very small pits around the smaller stages, but the pits around the two main stages can become really big, because the bands generally ask the crowds to go nuts, especially if it's the end of the night. When I went this past summer, the pit for As I Lay Dying took up the whole center of the crowd, but the people around the edges were pretty much just standing there, without the pit knocking them around or anything like that. All you have to do is keep your eyes open. If you see a lot of dudes with their shirts off, or really huge dudes, there's a good change they'll mosh, haha.
And obviously, heavier bands means bigger mosh pits, as I've seen it. The Story Of the Year one was massive, circle mosh pit and all.
Yeah. Dan (from Story of the Year) really, really knows how to get crowds pumped up. The pit this past year was insane. My friend's ex-girlfriend actually broke her toe during it. But that's only because she's stupid and wasn't wearing shoes.
kinda funny and not funny at the same time, but i saw a girl get knocked out and taken away in an ambulance when a crowd surfer hit her in wait for it..... Relient K.... LOL, even if its not an agressive band, warped tour can be filled with assholes. People went to see relient k just to mess with everyone after some hardcore band finished playing. But really, just stay smart. If you get in the center, your gonna get crowdsurfers coming at you and mosh pits breaking out. Like people said, usually giant dudes in a bunch means somehting bigs gonna happen. Its kinda annoying when your really enjoing a band and you have to be really weary about whats going on around you, but at the same time, ive been at the other end of it where you dont really care for the band but wanna get pumped up to them by moshing. Just keep your heads up, stay to the outside of the crowd, you can usually find somewhere farther to sit if you want, and if your venue is actually at an ampethere, like ours is at the virginia beach ampether, some of the bands will actually play on the stage so there is seating for those seats. Really its one of the greatest social experiences ever regardless of if you love the music or not.
Thanks Willstar/barnes/Shadey! I'll keep that in mind when I decide whether to go or not. Sounds pretty cool, though. I'll have to see what lineup V Fest gets this year and then decide. By the way, what age would you suggest being the minimum to go to these festivals? I've never been to any before. Actually, i've only been to one concert, Weezer a couple of months ago.
It really doesn't matter how old you are. I've seen unsupervised kids who looked as young as eight or nine running around, and I've also seen dudes who could've easily been in their 60s. My first concert wasn't until I was 17, so I'm not sure how "mature" someone should be before going to a show. I had friends who weren't allowed to go to shows—with friends or not—until they were 18. You seem reasonably fair-minded so I don't see your age being a problem.
I'm very jealous. I'd like to see most of those bands. I'm going to go to warped one day I swear.. Least we have soundwave!
I agree. I've gone three times, and all three times, I've gone with five or more people, or met up with more people at the venue. Good times, for sure. But it's definitely a good idea to go in a group.