Rival Schools finally played the first New York show they officially announced a couple months back at the Mercury Lounge last Thursday. It was their second set of the night, as they opened up for Bad Brains at Irving Plaza show earlier in the evening. The band played a great set of the classics from their debut album as well as previewing some of the new tracks like “Arranged Marriages” and “Big Wave.” They also rocked a cover of “How Soon Is Now?,” which they dedicated to our new President elect, Barack Obama.

The set closed with “Used For Glue,” which caused the crowd to get a bit rowdy, which only escalated when the band decided to play just one more song, a cover of the Cro-Mags’ “We Gotta Know.” Hardcore dancing at a Rival Schools show started for a small portion of the crowd in front of the stage, causing one guy near me to get punched in the face. Covered in blood after the set the dude muttered in disbelief, “a bloody nose at a Rival schools show, really?!”

Opening the night was Innaway and The King Left. Unfortunately, I only caught the last few minutes of Innaway, but the King Left put on a stellar show with their angular guitar riffs, thundering drums fused with the occasionally spacey/shoe-gazey build ups. They will be headlining Mercury Lounge with Howlies on Dec. 4th, a show we highly recommend.

More photos after the jump.

Innaway

The King Left

Rival Schools

Tags: Innaway, Rival Schools, The King Left, photos //