Last Saturday saw System Of A Down headline Chicago’s Riot Fest, which we’ll agree is a huge deal. Some of the fans however, got a little carried away to say the least.
SOAD’s set was stopped repeatedly by festival security as the mosh pit rapidly spiraled out of control. Multiple fans were being crushed and some sustained serious injuries. Mosh pits are all well and good if you look out for each other, and follow the unofficial ‘code of conduct’, but we guess these fans didn’t get that memo. One such fan, Stephen Schneider released a statement regarding his ordeal in the pits:
“I fell over during System of a Down, then someone fell on top of me so I couldn’t breathe…Then once they got up, someone else fell on top of me. It was never ending. At one point I had someone on top of my back, and someone either sitting or standing on my head, pushing my face down into mud. I couldn’t breathe the entire time, but then any breath I could take I was close to inhaling muddy water. It was the scariest thing in my entire life cause I had no idea how long I’d be trapped for. Apparently System of a Down had to stop playing so paramedics could get me out, I was unconscious at that point so I have no memory of it. Both of my eyes are blood red from passing out due to lack of air + someone crushing my head + screaming for my life.”
Sounds like pretty scary shit, don’t you agree? And this dude is an aspiring wrestler so it’s not like he can’t hold his own. You can check out some fan footage of the crowd below. Just remember guys look out for each other okay. We might be called MOSH, but we don’t want any of you getting hurt.
