Stage diving is the act of leaping from a
concert
A concert, often known informally as a gig or show, is a live performance of music in front of an audience. The performance may be carried by a single musician, in which case it is sometimes called a recital, or by a musical ensemble such as an ...
stage onto the crowd below, which occasionally causes serious injuries. It is often the precursor to
crowd surfing.
Long before the word was invented, public stagediving took place during the first Dutch concert by
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...
at the
Kurhaus of Scheveningen on August 8, 1964.
Many musicians have made stage diving a part of their stage act.
Jim Morrison
James Douglas Morrison (December 8, 1943 – July 3, 1971) was an American singer, songwriter, and poet who was the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band the Doors. Due to his charismatic persona, poetic lyrics, distinctive vo ...
was an early performer known for having jumped into the crowd at several concerts.
Iggy Pop
James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter, actor and radio broadcaster. He was the vocalist and lyricist of proto-punk band the Stooges, who were formed in 1 ...
is often credited with popularising stage diving in popular
rock music
Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdo ...
. Initially seen as confrontational and extreme, stage diving has become common at
hardcore punk
Hardcore punk (commonly abbreviated to hardcore or hXc) is a punk rock music genre#subtypes, subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots ...
and
thrash metal
Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, ...
performances.
Risks and incidents
Stage diving has occasionally caused serious injuries. One example is when
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and human rights activist. He came to prominence as the original frontman of the rock band Genesis. He left the band in 1975 and launched a solo career wit ...
of
Genesis
Genesis may refer to:
Religion
* Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of humankind
* Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Bo ...
at the Friars club in
Aylesbury
Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery and the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre, Waterside Theatre. It is located in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wycombe and Milt ...
on 19 June 1971 stage dove during the end of their song "
The Knife", landing on his foot and
breaking his ankle.
On 20 August 2010, Charles Haddon, the lead singer of English synthpop band
Où Est Le Swimming Pool, died by suicide after a performance at
Pukkelpop, Belgium, by jumping from a telecommunications mast in the backstage artists' parking area. Haddon was reported to have been distressed after he feared he had seriously injured a young girl earlier after a stagedive.
In February 2014, federal judge
Jan E. DuBois ruled that
Fishbone
Fishbone is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1979, the band plays a fusion of ska, punk, funk, metal, reggae, and soul. AllMusic has described the group as "one of the most distinctive and eclectic alternative ...
had to pay $1.4 million to a woman who broke her skull and
collarbone during a 2010 concert in Philadelphia when
Angelo Moore stage-dove and landed on top of her.
Another fatal stage diving incident occurred in May 2014 in New York City during a performance of the metalcore band
Miss May I. Although the fan was able to walk away after falling from the stage, the concert was cut short after he fainted. He later died at the hospital.
See also
*
Crowd surfing
*
Headbanging
*
List of dances
This is the main list of dances. It is a non-categorized, index list of specific dances. It may also include dances which could either be considered specific dances or a family of related dances. For example, ballet, ballroom dance and folk dance c ...
*
Moshing
Moshing (also known as slam dancing or simply slamming) is an extreme style of dancing in which participants push or slam into each other. Taking place in an area called the mosh pit (or simply the pit), it is typically performed to aggressive s ...
*
Trust fall
References
External links
"Is Jumping on Someone's Head OK? Musicians Weigh In on the Great Stagedive Debate"at
''Vice''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stage Diving
Punk
Heavy metal subculture
Rock music
Syllabus-free dance
de:Crowdsurfing#Stagediving