Music

Watch a mosh-loving pop-punk guitarist learn how to be metal

by Tyler Munro

As one of those bands who mix mid-paced pop punk with crunchy breakdowns, gang vocals and a lead singer who pronounces “all” as “owl,” A Day to Remember have always been awkwardly stuck in the middle of two scenes. Classified by their fans as “pop mosh,” their derivative blend of pop punk and metalcore has seen them billed awkwardly more often than not. This weekend, that took fruition when they played in Germany with Amon Amarth and Machine Head.

Instead of taking their detractors to heart, guitarist Neil Westfall took to the crowd to see what it would take to fit in amongst metalheads. The result is a hilarious video that walks the line between Jimmy Kimmel’s infamous Lie Witness News and that PBS bit with the reporter caught in a Power Trip mosh pit.

Most of all, it’s really fucking funny.

The common threads are obvious: beers, band tees and enthusiastic, unprovoked screaming. Through it all he learns to throw his horns up and ends up bonding with some bunny suited locals.