5. Avenged Sevenfold at the Woodlands Pavilion, 8/10/2014 Call us poseurs if you must, but there's simply no denying that the well-manicured hill at the Woodlands Pavilion is where some of the biggest and best mosh pits in Houston history have broken out. It's a million miles from the stage and kinda steep to boot, but that's never stopped metalheads from churning up thick clouds of dust up there.
Avenged Sevenfold singer M. Shadows paid tribute to the anarchy in the back this summer at the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival. "Every time we play here, there's some insane motherfuckers pitting up there," he said. ""So we're going to play one for you to get crazy to." As the band broke into "Bat Country," fanatics from all over the hill streamed into the pit, creating a terrifying spectacle on a scale that can't be found anywhere else in town.
4. D.R.I. at Scout Bar, 12/8/2014 Long before local hardcore expats D.R.I. had even taken the stage as Scout Bar, at least one blogger had already been completely flattened by a flying punk that he never saw. Things only went downhill from there. As D.R.I. deployed pulse-pounding thrasher after thrasher, the fearsome circle pit inside Scout Bar never slowed down, with moshers plucking stage-divers right out of the air and parading them around the floor on their shoulders as if they'd just won the Super Bowl.
3. Power Trip at Walters Downtown, 2/15/2014 For the third year in a row now, Dallas' Power Trip earns a spot on this list thanks to their mentally ill coterie of loyal Houston fans. The mere appearance of the Texas hardcore standard-bearers onstage at Walters during the Badass Weekend festival was enough to eliminate all sense and reason from the crowd as the band's devotees degenerated quickly into a violent mania. It's a good bet that Power Trip will be back in H-Town sometime soon, so go ahead and pencil them in for a spot on this list next year, too.
2. Philip H. Anselmo and the Illegals at Warehouse Live, 1/10/2014 It was really no surprise when former Pantera vocalist Phil Anselmo sold out the Warehouse Live studio with his new solo act. Not only is his work with the Texas metal icons deeply cherished by the majority of Texas headbangers, but the Illegals also feature the slick shreddings of well-known Houston guitar-slinger Marzi Montazeri.
The tightly-packed venue churned into a maelstrom the minute Phil appeared, but when the band busted out a trio of Pantera classics towards the end, the ecstatic moshing ascended to a new level -- one that would prove almost impossible to beat.
1. Cro-Mags at Walters Downtown, 7/10/2014 Nobody seemed quite able to remember the last time New York hardcore legends the Cro-Mags had been to Houston when they rolled into Walters this July, but it had clearly been way too long. Before the band could even plug in, out-of-control maniacs were already jumping off the stage, and they never quit.
The carnage was simply off the charts throughout the Cro-Mags' set, and the club was packed so full that there was nowhere to run. The brave souls up front absorbed body blows and boots to the head all night -- most of them giving as good as they got. But even the lucky wimps in back went home with their ears brutalized, courtesy of the Cro-Mags' indefatigable crunch.
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