Crowd Surf

If you have been in or watched a rock concert, you've probably seen some crowd surfing, where someone (either performer or Get Through a Boring Performance While Sitting in the Audience member) is carried over the crowd by the hands of the audience. While crowd surfing is considered dangerous, it's something that people still find exciting enough to do, and most crowd surfers end up with nothing more than bruises. If you're going to surf the crowd at a concert, read this article to learn to do it as safely and as considerately as possible.

Steps

  1. Dress for it. If you know you're going to want to crowd surf, choose your clothes carefully. It'll help reduce the likelihood of injury to the audience. Less injury to the audience means less backlash towards you.
    • Wear soft shoes and tie them as tightly as possible. If you accidentally kick someone in the head, they might try to take at least one of your shoes (especially if you're wearing a hard shoe), so you should be prepared.
    • Don't wear anything with Replace Jean Zippers or studs. They can get caught in people's hair or scratch them on the face or hands.
    • Don't wear loose clothing, such as an unzipped jacket or a cap. They will be taken or dropped.
    • Keep the jewelry to an absolute minimum. Rings, bracelets, even tongue studs can cause damage to you or someone around you when you're trying to crowd surf, so leave them at home.
    • Give your wallet and phone to someone that you know and trust. This means someone that you didn't meet the day of the concert.
  2. Get up. This is probably the hardest thing you will have to do when trying to crowd surf, especially if you're a bit heavy. If the security is allowing you to get close enough, get up on stage and jump off into the crowd. Most of the time, this won't be allowed, though, so have a backup plan. If you are there with somebody else, ask them to pick you up. If you're not, ask someone nicely if they could give you a boost. You'll probably have to ask more than one person. See Tips.
  3. Lean back. Look before you dive to make sure the people you're going to land on actually see you. Tense up momentarily as you land on the crowd to make yourself easier to support. Put your feet up higher than the rest of your body to keep from kicking people, and keep the flailing to an absolute minimum. Put your arms out and elevate your head, just in case you fall. It'd be better to fall on your back and get bruised up than to fall on your head and end up with a concussion.
  4. Relax. This will be hard to do, considering you are putting your life in other people's hands (literally!), but it's all you can do. If you're screaming and kicking about, people will get angry at you, and will either steal something off of you, or, if you're being really annoying, actually strike you. You'll probably be in the air for about 5 seconds, but it'll probably be your 5 most exhilarating seconds at the concert.
  5. Cooperate. In most cases, you'll be carried to a barrier in front of the stage, where security officers will get you on your feet and send you back to the crowd. In some venues, or some specific artists can also demand this, crowd surfing is not allowed, so you may be kicked out of the place. If you see a lot of people (more than 2) crowd surfing, it is probably allowed, but always ask to any security person, or call the venue the day before to make sure you will be able to do it.

Tips

  • If you want to get down (because you are close to an empty spot in the crowd for example), bring in your legs and you will fall feet first.
  • If you come to a gap in the crowd while surfing, give the closest people in front of you a tap or let them know you are coming over them so they will be able to hold you up in time.
  • Don't have someone cup their hands and lift your foot so that you can get on top of the crowd. You'll fall blindly into the crowd, who may not see you coming. Instead, find two taller people, put one hand on each of their shoulders, and hoist yourself up. That'll give you a chance to survey the audience before surfing, and it'll also let others see what you're up to and brace themselves.
  • When you fall or get dropped don't pull on someones hair or clothes to make the fall less painful just let yourself fall and someone will boost you back up.
  • Always start to crowd surf in the opposite direction of the stage, so people see you coming and can give you a hand in time. If you surf towards the stage, the people will see you to late (because they're looking at the stage and won't be able to hear you) so most of the times when you're crowd surfing towards the stage, you will end up with your face in the dirt.
  • If you're a member of the audience and you'd rather not help someone crowd surf, especially if you're concerned about someone kicking you or falling on you, stick to the rear or the side edges of the crowd, where surfers don't generally go.
  • If the concert is over and the crowd isn't moving, don't try to crowd surf out. People will probably be less cooperative at this point.
  • If you are crowd surfing at a festival and you are up front near stage By crowd surfing you will be carried all the way back and you won't get your spot back.

Warnings

  • Female crowd surfers beware! Some members of the crowd may try to grope you, even though this is illegal in the US (as a form of sexual assault) and many other countries.
  • If you do not want to assist another concertgoer in crowd surfing but do want to enjoy the show from the pit or orchestra, be sure to look around you occasionally. It's painful to have someone's body dropped on you if you are unaware it's coming.
  • Remember, you can get injured (people have been paralyzed, maimed and disfigured), robbed or harassed when you're crowd surfing. Do it at your own risk.
  • Crowd surfing is actually illegal in some countries, so check the fine print of your concert or festival ticket. Getting fined or arrested for crowd surfing is not common, but if you get hurt while doing it, your chances of getting any kind of compensation are lowered because you were participating in an illegal activity. Some festivals will expel you from the grounds and cut your entrance pass.

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