Rival Schools & the King Left @ Mercury Lounge, NYC - pics

« Cloud Cult @ Bowery Ballroom, NYC - pics & setlist | Main | Text of Light (Lee Ranaldo & Alan Licht), Demons (of Wolf Eyes) & Nancy Garcia @ Knitting Factory, NYC - pics »

Posted in music | pictures on November 13, 2008

Rival Schools & the King Left @ Mercury Lounge, NYC - pics

photos by Kurt Christensen

Rival Schools

After Maxwell's which was after Knitting Factory which was after Rebel which were all before Fun Fun Fun Fest, Rival Schools played a show at Irving Plaza followed by a show at Mercury Lounge the same night with Innaway and The King Left. Pictures from that one (11/6), below...

Rival Schools

Innaway...

Innaway

The King Left...

The King Left

Rival Schools...

Rival Schools

"Rival Schools came on to the hope of new material (which is true) and a familiarity that the crowd had with the old standards, anticipation of a long hiatus building and the band's age shining through. There's is an undeniable Quicksand imprint, and both have a somewhat unique 90s sheen to them (even though Rival Schools was bigger around 2001) with hoarse vocals but a "grungier" (hate to use it but I guess it's the simplest way to describe it) feel than some of the other bands of the time I think. There's a patience and a slower pace almost; save some election talk there was little banter between songs and they pushed through most of United By Fate, their only officially released LP to date and a couple covers. Songs like "Travel By Telephone" and "Used For Glue" came back suddenly, but the audience really kept their cool; it's as if "hey this is what I came for, that's totally cool, and I'm possibly a bit old to be moshing". The atmosphere was energetic but not overwhelming, as if the fans were a bit nostalgic and were a bit frozen in the wake of songs that they probably hadn't heard live in a while. The new songs pushed a bit more pop and conventional but sounded fresh and pretty tight. It was an economic show, expected and very professional and definitely satisfying." [Kings County Bop]

---

Recent Related Entries

Tags: Innaway, Mercury Lounge, Rival Schools, The King Left, Walter Schreifels

Posted on November 13, 2008 2:58 PM

Comments (21)

"hey this is what I came for, that's totally cool, and I'm possibly a bit old to be moshing"

that's not what the kids up front were saying or doing when rival schools closed with a cro-mags cover! get it straight man!

Posted by mike d | November 13, 2008 3:37 PM

Setlist?

Posted by Anonymous | November 13, 2008 3:51 PM

This was definitely a satisfying show having not ever had a chance to see them back when I was in college and listening to United by Fate.

Posted by CN | November 13, 2008 3:57 PM

rival schools were great. i loved the smiths cover of "how soon is now" and the sing-along during "undercovers on." the king left were great openers. their energy was awesome.

Posted by Anonymous | November 13, 2008 4:02 PM

i nabbed their setlist, will post it tonight when i get back home...

Posted by mike d | November 13, 2008 4:03 PM

I missed Innaway (which i've heard is for the best), but The King Left and Rival Schools blew me away.

Awesome photos.

Posted by Anonymous | November 13, 2008 4:11 PM

this was their setlist from Maxwells if I remember correctly:

Travel by Telephone
High Acetate
Everything Has Its Point
Good Things
My Echo
Big Waves (new song #1)
Arranged Marriages (new song #2)
Undercovers On
You Should Have Hung Out (new song #3)
Holding Sand
How Soon Is Now? (Smiths cover)
Used For Glue

Posted by JT | November 13, 2008 4:14 PM

i was expecting rival schools to blow me away, and they did. but the king left really floored me too. i just got tix to see them at mercury lounge in december with howlies.

Posted by mike | November 13, 2008 4:14 PM

United by Fate.
Reunited by Dollaz.

Not that i'm complaining.

Posted by Anonymous | November 13, 2008 4:19 PM

got to this show just before the king left went on - which was lucky for me b/c I got in while most of my friends didn't b/c it got so packed. also they turned out to be a pretty awesome band, so that was cool. and of course rival schools rocked it like usual!

btw great pics - the last one of the king left's lead singer looks awesome

Posted by Anonymous | November 13, 2008 4:32 PM

can't wait for the new rival schools record

Posted by Anonymous | November 13, 2008 4:44 PM

I still won't go unless they play some Quicksand songs. It's the reason anyone liked R.S. in the first place.

Posted by Anonymous | November 13, 2008 6:06 PM

I didn't make it to the show, but The King Left are great. Don't know why they're not more popular

Posted by Anonymous | November 13, 2008 6:56 PM

"I didn't make it to the show, but The King Left are great. Don't know why they're not more popular"

because they are just ok

Posted by Anonymous | November 13, 2008 7:21 PM

TKL FTW

Posted by Anonymous | November 13, 2008 8:54 PM

"because they are just ok"

as is rival schools.

Posted by Anonymous | November 13, 2008 9:32 PM

didn't walter start some god-awful band after rival schools that no one cared about, then disappear for a minute, only to resurface with GB and now rival schools?

it's kind of sad really.

i guess when you run out of progress you might as well milk your old cows until their tits run dry.

Posted by Anonymous | November 14, 2008 7:30 AM

7:30am - criticism by a no-talent internet message board poster is what is sad.

Posted by CN | November 14, 2008 8:08 AM

NY setlist???

Posted by Anonymous | November 14, 2008 9:18 AM

awesome show at mercury

Posted by Anonymous | November 14, 2008 12:20 PM

Fantastic show! One of the best I've seen all year.

Posted by Anonymous | November 15, 2008 10:55 PM