“A lot of times I still feel like a kid. I guess we’re all kids…” Kevin Seconds said that at one point during the show, but he didn’t have to. Everything about 7 Seconds’ performance said it for him. Before they even got on stage, I noticed drummer Troy Mowatt limbering up for the set, jumping up and down like he couldn’t contain himself. Once they hit the stage, they unleashed with a fervor unmatched by any of the openers, some of whom were 15+ years their junior. Guitarist Bobby Adams tore into the songs with all the angst of…well, youth. Speaking of youth, I’d forgotten how good a bass player Steve Youth is. His lines were driving and intricate, especially for a hardcore band. Kevin Seconds was engaging, clearly excited to be playing, clearly having as good a time as any kid there. They did two or three from their latest, Take It Back, Take It On, Take It Over, and two from 2000’s Good to Go, but the rest of the hour-or-so set was devoted to the old stuff, mostly from the Crew and Walk Together, Rock Together along with one from 1989’s Soulforce Revolution (the self-described U2-era) and a cover of Sham 69’s “If the Kids Are United.” Typically, I wouldn’t be very impressed by a band who focuses on material from 20 years ago in lieu of an album that just came out, but looking around, I noticed that the youngest kids there knew the words better than I did. The stuff 7 Seconds did 20 years ago still resonates with kids who are outside of the mainstream and looking for someone else to validate their belief in being positive and straightedge. The fact that 7 Seconds could reach out to them, even now with the band in their late 30s/early 40s, meant that they can play the old stuff or the new and they’ll still be young until they die. And judging by the show, they’re not gonna be dying anytime soon!
