manic sewing circle

I was out on the town last Friday with a few friends and we decided to drop by the Deal's Gone Bad show at Subterranean. While there, I was really surprised by the final opener, Manic Sewing Circle.

Not only did these guys play their instruments well and bang out some good ska, most of them were sporting black Xs ... not because they are straightedge, but because they are under 21. In fact, two of them are under 17. They started as 13 and 14 year olds, rocking out in a basement and have only recently obtained their own cars.

I think this is great. Most of today's classic ska bands are also yesterday's classic ska bands and often, the day before yesterday's classic ska bands hailing from the early 90s. Most ska bands have been playing for more than 20 years.

I'm certainly not criticizing experience and I definitely love Mustard Plug, Deal's Gone Bad, etc. as much as the next guy, but I think it's great that some kids have gotten together and made some really good music. They are really excited, really energetic, and brought out kids to the show who wouldn't have come otherwise. I talked to a few of them afterwards, bought a CD, and told them I thought it was awesome. They're going to be touring with Warped this summer, so they have dates all over the country playing on small stages before they head back to high school.

Nicely done.