When funny girl Khaela Maricich (a.k.a. the Blow) began her last song of the night, she insisted the show was now a dance party. Despite her desperate motioning for onlookers to come get their freak on, however, the Sunday-night crowd at Theater Off Jackson remained in their seats. But before the song was over, Matthew Clark and Jason Gertsen finally approached the floor to play the part of Khaela's sexy go-go dancers.
Granted, I've always been terrible at judging ages, but while I watched the two bust a move I guessed they were between 18 and 20 years old--appropriate ages for this column. So, after the wonderful Mirah, the night's headliner, I caught up with the boys.
"I'm 25," responded Matthew, when I inquired about their ages. "And I just turned 21," said Jason.
Whoops! But instead of calling the whole thing off and hunting down a younger all-ages fan, I took advantage of Matthew and Jason's knowledge. After all, they've seen both ends of the spectrum.
"I go to both all-ages and bar shows," said Jason. "Though the bands that play all-ages shows are usually better."
Matthew laughed. "I like all-ages shows better because there's not the 'Seattle scene' [or] the 'Pine Street scene' there."
While they may be fans of all-ages music and shows, they both agreed the community isn't perfect--no thanks to the restricting Teen Dance Ordinance (yeah, that thing again) and lack of city support.
"It just seems ridiculous when you realize how long [the TDO] has been going on," said Jason. "There are so many kids who make the scene thrive, and it's clear that these people aren't here to get fucked up. They just want to enjoy themselves."
"Most of these bands are young anyway, and they can't play to kids their own age? That doesn't make any sense at all. I think it's frustrating," added Jason.
"It's ridiculous that there needs to be one place that people under 21 can go," stated Jason. "I know that before I was 21 I was totally into the indie music, and totally into what was going on. I remember sitting in front of the Crocodile listening to bands because I couldn't go to the show. The separation needs to be abolished."
I'll second that.
