If you ever thought that country and heavy metal concerts are nothing alike, you’re pretty spot-on about one thing — there aren’t usually mosh pits at a country show.

But there was a time not too long ago where John Rich from Big & Rich decided to take the plunge and watch an Avenged Sevenfold concert from a pretty unexpected angle… the mosh pit.

Zacky Vengeance, from Avenged Sevenfold, was a guest on Taste of Country Nights where we got to talking about a Nashville show that the band played back in 2009.

That’s where he dropped the dime about Rich. “We’ve hung out with John Rich a lot. In the early days he’d come out to the concert and I literally saw that guy in one of our mosh pits.”

After Vengeance kind of blew past that statement, I had him hit the brakes and tell me more about that night.

“It was incredible. He came out to our show at Bridgestone [Arena] and he wasn’t there to stand on the stage or get special treatment. I saw that guy pushing his way through the f–king crowd.”

“It was as real as it gets, seeing someone like John [Rich] pushing his way through the mosh pit to see a heavy metal concert,” he remembers. “I was like ‘Alright, these guys get it and this is the real deal.'”

What is a Mosh Pit?

A mosh pit is an open area near the stage at a rock, punk, or metal concert where fans physically push, bump, and jump into each other as the music plays.

It’s energetic, chaotic, and meant to be fun, although it looks like people fighting.

Vengeance continued gushing about the country audience and it’s artists.

“The country world is the real deal and something that I respect because it’s the southern rock and roll stories, it’s completely legitimate,” he says.

Vengeance has released a couple of songs that will be on a debut solo album that is a side project for him, which will be releasing later this year. That album will come out under his real name, Zachary Baker.

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He wants all Avenged Sevenfold fans to know that this is not a cash grab. This is passion and what he has always wanted to try. He is not quitting his day job and leaving the band, andhis band fully supports his side project.

Take a look at how Rich lives.