The Batlord

This question is mostly for the oldies who were actually there to see this time period. Alright, so we've all seen the kind of be-mulleted dunderheads that inspired Beavis and Butthead in documentaries like Heavy Metal Parking Lot. The kind that just make you cringe, knowing that their intellectual mediocrity has been preserved on film for all of mankind to deride. But these days those types seem to mostly populate the Juggalo movement, or maybe the deathcore scene. Metalheads just seem to be nerds more than anything else now. So, with whatever dynamic that existed back then seemingly gone I've never really known just how true the stereotypes were, and in what proportions. Would the vast majority of a crowd at a Slayer show in the mid to late eighties have been made up of morons? Fifty/fifty? Would I have been embarrassed to be seen with these people?

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Paul Smeenus

The worst part was the mid decade, even though Reign In Blood came out in '86 bands like Slauighter, Cinderella, Britney Fox, Great White, White Lion, Dokken, they were the mainstay of that scene and I stayed as far away as I could. The really good metal like Slayer was kinda lost on me until that hair stuff was dead and gone

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Stephen

I guess when metal peaked popularity-wise you could see a fair proportion of morons but the core metal-heads were probably always disenfranchised nerds. If I was walking down an eighties street with metal-heads on one side and skin-heads on the other I know which side of the street I would walk on.

Musicwhore A-Z

It's simple. Some of us weren't, some were. Unfortunately, movies like 'Heavy Metal Parking Lot' and 'The Decline Of Western Civilization Pt. 2' reiterate the stereotype that we were nothing but a bunch of lunkheads. I absolutely CRINGE when I see scenes from those films. In short order: there is just as much room in my music library for Cinderella and Poison as there is for Slayer and Testament. I prefer to call it HARD ROCK!

jackhammer

At least they had long hair then. Metal has always it's fair share of stupid bands, fans, imagery and crap albums. It will probably always be the most derided of genres whatever decade we are in but oddly enough it is one of the few genres with an amazing amount of longevity, innovation and loyalty. Many many bands have come and gone in the last 30 years in other genres but do they pack out arenas and festivals? do they balls.

It could be argued that the mulleted dunderheads of the 80's have been replaced by the short haired multi tattoo wielding whiny bitches of today. Hipsters will always be there.

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Necromancer

The only idiot metal heads I was aware of back in the eighty's were Beavis and Butthead.

FRED HALE SR.

I don't remember any nerds at Slayer shows. I remember fire pits and bloody faces. I remember people getting knocked the **** out. The type of guys at Slayer shows looked more like Bikers then Metal Heads. The difference being those guys that would kick you in the face, would pick you back up and say are you alright and then knock your ass over again. I would say they lacked brain power from a i'm high on meth and i'm gonna dive off this balcony type more then a i can't divide 30 x 2 mentality. I remember watching Tom Araya at Redlands and watching guys spit loogies on him over and over and over until his face was a ****ing spitball, but that was just pure love man. LOL Metalheads were pretty hard in So-Cal back then. I think you are referring to the hair metal scene, that was filled with prissy bitches and women. That **** was gone the moment Slayer came back to town. They started out in a lockout warehouse playing when I was 15 in Orange Ca. I went and got my nose busted and one of my teeth knocked out first night. I went the very next night so yeah I was a moron.

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" I slashed and burned thru my 15 minutes of fame."

Necromancer

I encountered some biker lookin' crazy motherfuckers too at a Judas Priest concert in Cleveland Ohio back in the 80s as well Fred.

Nothing like the nerd type, if you know what I mean.

FRED HALE SR.

It was the same for Metallica shows back then. Before the scene took off it was pretty hectic to hit metal shows. Thats why most people got high at the shows because they were worried they were gonna ****ing die that night. I mean that sincerely too, it was no joke. The most brutal show i've ever been to was Suicidal, but Metal shows were no joke and there were very few nerds to be found. Being a kid though the intimidation factor was a little high when a guy 6'6 320 comes rolling by with a haymaker.

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" I slashed and burned thru my 15 minutes of fame."

Necromancer

Legend Valley is an outdoor concert venue located in Thornville Ohio a couple miles from Buckeye Lake. Its notorious for fighting, shootings, stabbing, etc.
I actually knew a guy that stabbed another one 22 or 23 times at the concert in Legend Valley decades ago, I haven't seen him since, I think he's been in prison all this time for murder.
I didn't really know him very well anyway, just knew him from school.

It's amazing sometimes when you realize how dangerous it was at concerts back in the day. Especially when considering all the different drugs and alcohol involved.