Not only am I shocked but severely pissed off as well. Next time someone labels me as straightedge at the amazing discovery [/irony] that I do not enjoy alcohol, cigarettes (and the like) as well as most kinds of meat, maybe I should launch this story at them? The blissful state of subcultural classication... Give me any one of these suckers and I'll beat the crap out of them. I know that is about the least sensible thing I could write, but right now in this state of mind it feels right.

Thanks for posting this, Toozey. My thoughts go out to that unlucky fellow and his family. Up to this point I've scoffed at people who have criticised Six Feet Under for 'mingling' with hardcore bands, but maybe there is some sense to it after all?

I had a go at one of my friends for saying he was going straight edge for this reason, he isn't into hardcore bands and I dont think he should be classed with those guys as he isn't an idiot.

i don't think it's a case of whether the guys who beat this guy up are straightedge or not - they're basically mindless thugs using an X as a sign of some kind of solidarity. safety in numbers and all that and taking it out of context.

what i find scary about what's described here is that by wearing X's on their hands, and identifying with a straightedge image, these thugs are saying they're a bunch of 'clear headed' kids. ironic, ey. what clear headed person would see fit to kick some guys head in with a bunch of their mates - especially after paying for a ticket?

they're obviosly not there for the music. while i've never seen anything on the scale described, i have seen people more interested in starting a fight in a moshpit than moshing to the band - you kind of come to expect it at gigs. you get idiots in every walk of life and at every kind of gig you go to - hell - you get idiots at the supermarket more intent in finding an argument while queuing than finding the pet food aisle.

if someone with long hair and an inverted cross round their necks kicked in some guy at a gig with 6 others, would that mean that all people of that appearance represent people into black? no - it would mean that they were a bunch of fucking twats.

straightedgers piss me off, but mainly because GENERALLY they like to preach what's good for us all - which they deem to be 'their' way. i don't necessarily think ridding yourself of toxins is particularly good when coupled with the type of mindset you usually find amongst most straightedgers - which is that they have unlocked some kind of secret goodness within themselves which they tag with an X so that they can be sure who to associate with when they're out. BUT, that doesn't mean that all straightedgers are violent little idiots.

you get moshpits at death metal gigs where a bunch of smartarses (usually with their tops off dripping in 2 week old sweat the heat has rekindled) think it's some kind of a sign of their trueness to a band to demonstrate how tough they are.

while moshpits aren't and have never been nice peaceful places to mill around in swaying to the musical entertainment on offer - i've never been surprised when i've got caught in some kind of cross fire when i've passed through - just realised i'm standing in the wrong place - you wouldn't expect to get violently beaten up. i bet the guy fell into one of those kids accidentally and it was used as an excuse to be violent. you see people overreact when that happens loads, you just don't see it go that far.

it's terrible and it's totally out of order, but it has nothing to do with any type of music scene (if we thought that then we might as well support the view that judas priest led those guys to suicide through their music) it's to do with people being idiotic lowlifes.

rant over.