Trips To The Wall

Trips To The Wall

Bruce Dickinson is right. Too often US rock crowds stand smugly with their arms collectively crossed quietly watching. I can often be one of those guys when I simply want to watch. However, that is not always the case ...

The Wall ... The pit ... Whatever you want to call it ... sometimes it is fun to go and try and hold ground and seriously rock out ... it doesn't happen that often any more, but sometimes I do like to go ...

I've been to the wall to see Jimmy Page playing with The Firm in Seattle in 1986 and was so close I could trip him. I could have touched his guitar. I didn't. And then the wall broke and things went crazy ...

I had my back clawed up by girls and got kneed by Poison guitarist CC DeVille when I cramped up at the wall and had to be pulled out of the pit by security and was set on the stage at a Poison show in Spokane in 1987...

I protected my then GF at the wall in Seattle in 1988 while watching Anthrax ...

My first trip to the wall was with my heavy coat on and I was soaked in sweat when I came out from watching Ynqwie in 1985 in Seattle ...

I have stood for smaller acts like Little Ed ...

I have stood for BOC twice, high fiving members and being dead center ...

At AC/DC I nearly got assaulted and in a scuffle and found my tee shirt ripped off from me in Tacoma in 19888 ...

I have moved close to the wall at Ozzfest ... 2nd stage only ... but not towards the middle ... and sold pit passes in 2007 when Ron won them for us ...

I often stand right at the edge of the moshing to get close enough like at Pearl Jam in 93 or Maiden in 88 ...

In 2000 I held my ground for Halford through Queensryche and Maiden in the Tacoma Dome and enjoyed a cool lemonade when the security let us buy them (they brought along a garbage can people tossed their empties into, it was shocking how that worked) ....

It had really been a while (for first time since 00 Maiden show) when last May 29, 2007 I went for and held ground throughout at Lacuna Coil at El Corazon ... and caught my first guitar pick and high fived Cristina twice ...

However, there are times when I still like to simply fold my arms and smugly enjoy the show ... sorry Bruce ...