mexi mosh rifa

It was a freeze frame of a chaotic moment held in time. With this picture I was able to glimpse into whom my boyfriend was at that time in his life. I thought I pretty much had him figured out (don't we all), but I was relatively surprised by the image captured in that photograph; he had quite a wild side. His hair was bleached blond and buzz cut, a brash contrast to his currently long, flowing, jet black locks. Actually, his features are so dark that his hair wasn't even blond, it was more like a fusion of yellow and orange. He was at a concert, body flung atop a group of onlookers. Crowd surfing was something I always contemplated, but never dared to do. Those who opt the risk of being thrown/dropped/violated by a group of strangers for mere thrills are very particular in my book. In this moment I discovered that my boyfriend was one of these people, as he seemed to be loving every minute of it, with his body surrendered to the crowd and his facial expression priceless. His wide eyes were bright and his tongue hung completely out of his mouth, while his fists pumped in the air.

So this picture was taken at a concert in Tijuana a few years back. I've never attended a concert in Tijuana and I had no idea how rowdy things could get. However, I got a taste of the Tijuana concert scene when I saw Cafe Tacuba, from which I've derived that Mexicans can mosh harder than the Whities can.

I'm not unfamiliar with the mosh pit. I got my mosh pit cherry popped in 1996, when I attended a Soundgarden concert. I was a wee 16 year old, with no idea of how a general admission concert worked. Rocket From the Crypt opened up for Soundgarden, and they are such a high energy band that the moment they stepped on stage, all hell broke loose. I remember being flung left, then right, then being smothered and consumed by a merciless audience of metal-heads. I had no choice but to get out of there and view the show from afar. That or be stomped into a state of cardiac arrest.

Nowadays things are different and I've learned to claw my way to the front. What I love about the mosh pit is that although it's male dominated, it's pretty much fair game whether you are male or female. Division of gender and its stereotypical roles is out the window; whether you are a guy or girl, if you don't watch yourself you will get pummeled. It is literally a "survival of the fittest" environment. My physical features do limit me to a certain capacity of course. I'm not stupid enough to start fighting with guys in the audience, but if I have to, I can hold my own. For example, once a guy kicked me in the head while crowd surfing, so in the process of helping pass him forward, I grabbed his balls and squeezed them as hard as I could for as long as I could. He wasn't pleased but he never kicked me again.

So I thought I had been in some pretty rough crowds at concerts before I saw Cafe Tacuba, but I was blown away after this one. Everything prior was child's play. Let me just say that after this concert I lost one toe nail and one finger nail. Usually you lose a shoe or something, but me, I lost attachments to my appendages. My toe nail completely fell off, due to a stampede of boys and girls doing a hoe down on my foot. This audience was relentless and merciless. Some guy actually grabbed a hold of my pony tail and starting yanking me around as he pleased. I had to wrestle my way out of his kung-foo grip. For the first time in my concert going experience, the entire floor in front of the stage was a massive mosh pit, not just the usual centrally located smallish circle. That's probably because Cafe Tacuba both rocks and kicks much ass live. They kept it real and played their old as well as their new stuff, which I always appreciate. The lead singer even stage dived into the audience, which is always a treat. After all these years of touring, Cafeta still has that energy and appreciation for their fans, which was stupendous to watch. The intensity with which the audience responded to their performance further fueled the intensity with which they played; reciprocity is great indeed. Imagine an entire audience of people simultaneously jumping up and down, pushing, dancing, swaying to and fro, for a period of 2+ hours. It was just plain fantastic.

So in retrospect, I found myself feeling very much like I had been there with my old boyfriend at that TJ rock concert captured in his picture. Now I know what a hard core rock show is really like. I would've predicted that a Spanish rock show would have been filled with socialites wearing button down shirts, fancy shoes and gallons of cologne, but I was proven wrong yet again. I never knew the paisas could rock so hard. Never underestimate the minority, because they will usually out do you.