What do the beach and outdoor concerts have in common? Very little, other than the promise of sunburn and excessive crowds. That’s why when I accidently happened upon a photo of a professional surfer and a crowd surfer striking a nearly identical pose, I laughed. And then I looked for more. Surfers of waves and surfers of crowds actually have more parallels in terms of posture than one might expect.
An amped fan at the Falls Festival in Marion Bay, Australia, resembles a surfer wiping out in Tarifa, Spain.
Photos by Kristian Dowling/Getty Images; Jorge Guerrero/AFP/Getty Images.
This crowd surfer at the Live Earth concert seems to be having better luck than this dude on a short board in Cadiz, Spain.
Photos by Gaye Gerard/Getty Images; Jorge Guerrero/AFP/Getty Images.
At Coachella it’s security that poses a risk to your surfing buzz. At the Shark Island Challenge in Sydney, it’s the Great Whites.
Photos by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Coachella; Matt King/Getty Images.
Singer Pete Doherty at the Music Against Fascism event in Trafalgar Square, London, in 2005. A surfer falls from his board in Mougas, Spain, in May 2012.
Photos by Bruno Vincent/Getty Images; Miguel Riopa/AFP/Getty Images.
Which is dirtier, the sewage-laced waters off Huntington Beach, Calif., or the sea of groupies’ hands at this Barcelona show?
Photos by David McNew/Getty Images; Martin Deutsch.
Champion surfer Kelly Slater (right) has few rivals on the waves. But on a sea of hands? A crowd surfer grabs some air at the Homebake Music Festival in Sydney.
Photos by Patrick Riviere/Getty Images; Bruce Bennett/Getty Images.
