According to Allmusic.com, The Ramones ARE the first punk rock band - so who am I to argue. In 1983, I went to see The Ramones at a ballroom in the Convention Inn South on Calgary Trail (where, incidentally, on a far less memorable night, I would later have my High School Grad dinner - an initiation into the banal world of $30/plate rubber chicken meals in the company of people I'd rather not eat with). I remember two things in particular about this show. 1) I was proudly wearing my Clash 'Combat Rock' tour t-shirt acquired earlier in the year (more on that later); 2) Chi Pig, lead singer of Edmonton band S.N.F.U. tried to strangle me in the mosh pit. To this day, I'm not entirely sure what provoked him. However, I suspect it might have something to do with the fact that I was wearing my Clash t-shirt and obviously had no idea what I was doing in the mosh pit. As I subsequently learned, there is a particular etiquette to moshing. It's far less violent than it looks and there is (or was) a spirit of sweaty camaraderie involved. For example, if someone fell down you help them up, and it's really bad form to shove someone from behind. I supect I was all testosterone and flailing elbows that night and probably did need to be taught a lesson. It's a badge of honour that Mr. Chi Pig administered the lesson.Chi Pig is still the singer of S.N.F.U. and I suspect he still occasionally strangles young punks who get out of line in the pit. I, on the other hand, gave up moshing long ago, but I did go and see SNFU when they came to Ottawa in 2005. It was an all-ages show and I enjoyed it thoroughly... from the safety of the back wall of the club (the licensed bit).
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