Late on Saturday night, as the 1 a.m. bar closing approaches, Old Port streets fill with drunken people. Many are happy, laughing at their own inebriation and shouting loudly to friends or just to the chilly night air. I'm so wrecked. A block away, a young woman kneels, seemingly unable to walk, even as she shares laughter with a girlfriend. Many of the women milling along Fore Street are dressed in skimpy tops and no jackets despite the cold.
Some men hover between raucous celebration and testosterone-laden hostility.
It's camaraderie punctuated by profanity and challenges. Alcohol subdues people's inhibitions, leading them to be impulsive, without much thought for consequences. One person was injured at a recent performance by the group Blood for Blood, where Tim Smith, owner of Taylor Made Security, was providing security. Smith said the young man got a nosebleed and apparently failed to follow mosh-pit etiquette to get cleaned up. When he repeatedly returned to the pit, others attacked him.