rikkikow wrote:^ what a contrast between the two concerts you went to ~
I've only experienced Japanese concerts where the fans were top notch with never a problem. But it is San Francisco and San Francisco has some serious problems.
Punk rock shows can be weird, regardless of the location. I've been to some where the moshing and the crush toward the stage have been horrific, and I've been to some where the audience was perfectly civil. I've seen X (the L.A. punk legends, not X Japan) at both extremes. The front row was an absolute delight when I saw them at the Independent in S.F. last December, but when I saw them at Burger Boogaloo in 2017, being in the front row was like being crushed in a vise.
This was unquestionably the most extreme moshing I've ever experienced while seeing a Japanese act, though. Even Guitar Wolf's audience at Burger Boogaloo 2017 wasn't anything like this. There's this one doofus who's always slamming into people at Bay Area Shonen Knife shows, but he's the exception rather than the rule.