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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

Innaway

Innaway

Innaway

The King Left…

The King Left

The King Left

The King Left

The King Left

The King Left

Rival Schools…

Rival Schools

Rival Schools

Rival Schools

Rival Schools

Rival Schools

Rival Schools

Rival Schools

Rival Schools

Rival Schools

Rival Schools

Rival Schools

Rival Schools

Rival Schools

Rival Schools

Rival Schools

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]