Get ready for four bands, one room and a shared stage. The Fargo Skateboarding venue doors will open at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday at 641 E. Lincoln Highway for the first concert students can catch this semester.
The bands Moonsyde, Confu?ion, Speed Babes and Manico Panico will all perform.
Nicolas Ramirez, the frontman of Manico Panico, described their sound as SoCal punk and surfer rock influenced by their Southern Californian roots.
Ramirez takes center stage with vocals and rhythm guitar accompanied by bassist Patrick Curran and drummer Mauricio Pereira.
Pereira has been playing with Ramirez since 2022, and Curran then joined the group in 2024.
All three members were born in Southern California and have a joint mission to bring SoCal punk to the Midwest. The group had their start doing shows in Waukegan, opening for heavy metal and black metal bands which created a stark contrast in sound.
“It kind of felt like we were, like, Ramones opening up for Black Sabbath,” Ramirez said.
Although they haven’t met many bands with a similar sound, Ramirez remarked that Speed Babe, who will also be playing at Fargo, comes close.
“Speed Babe that we’re going to be playing with, which I feel kind of have a very punk rock energy and kind of similar to what we play. But I can definitely pinpoint it’s not from like SoCal,” Ramirez said.
Most of Manic Panico’s lyricism is sad boy or romantic, according to Ramirez, but one song on the band’s set list stands out.
Written in a difficult period of Ramirez’s life, “Optimistic” is a fast-paced, high-energy punk song that stands out from the band’s catalog with its upbeat tone, reminding listeners to push past feelings of doom and focus on resilience.
For Ramirez, that message of resilience extends beyond the music.
“As I think of music, I’m like, ‘How can we get different types, different genres, different people talking together?’ And so for me it’s about the community,” Ramirez said.
Manico Panico can be found on Spotify and Apple Music. For updates on concerts at Fargo, see fargo.venue on Instagram.
