Exclusive Rival Schools Photos Pt II

Rival Schools photos part II. Looking back to 2000 ish. Rival Schools are one of the biggest highlights for me when they started gigging. Additionally Run for Cover Records is reissuing the landmark Rival LP United By Fate album. Take a peek here https://www.runforcoverrecords.com/

Rather than bore you with a bunch of drivel I’ll repost some relevant text from the first batch of photos. To get the full picture and text experience go to https://meatsheetfanzine.com/rival-schools-re-united-by-fate/

Before that though I must add something about each member. By now it is my hope that you know something about the vocalist Walter Schreifels. Walter has been writing and performing for easily three decades in many bands. In my opinion he is one of the best songwriters in his generation. I love his riffs and vocal melodies the most.

Distinctive, driving, and without doubt, melodic.

Second Sammy on drums. Sammy is as prolific as Walter only difference is he plays percussion vs strings. Together, pun intended YOT song reference, they make Rival Schools soar. Additionally he has kept the beat for too many bands to mention. Let’s just say that he is a cornerstone of New York Hardcore. His finesse on the kit stands out.

In other words, Sammy also hits hard but knows when to groove or smooth it out.

Next Cache on bass. Just kills it. Adding that second layer of groove and bottom to Mr. Siegler’s playing you have a rhythm section that is rarely found in hardcore and “post ” hardcore if you will.

Last but not least, Ian Love. Six strings that make Walter’s riffs hold more weight. Be it washes of reverb or just a doubling of the riff (Used For Glue and many others) Usually at the early gigs he is spotted with an array of effects and a violin sunburst Gibson semi or hollowbody. Ian, or someone, correct me if the guitar specs are wrong. So.. I hope you get to see them live and of course please enjoy my photos. They travel with me all these years. (not by telephone)

Here is some text from the original Rival Schools photo post. Check it out in full herehttps://meatsheetfanzine.com/rival-schools-re-united-by-fate/

“In a live professional gig setting, they were nothing short of incredible. Ian and Walter complimenting and playing off each other. Cache is a beast. Heavy sounding tone. Effortless looking but anything but easy. He can also play with bass behind his head. Seems like a cheap trick but if you can pull off such things and not miss a beat, why not do it?”

This gig is Mercury Lounge in Manhattan New York City. The golden shimmery curtain gives it away. I simply can’t remember the entire lineup of bands and my other minutia. It has been over 20 years.

However the energy Rival Schools puts out during this and the shows I’ve seen is simply electrifying. It is energetic and magical, each player contributing unique tonality to the performance.

One of the opening bands is J Majesty. This band shares gigs with Rival Schools right about the time before and shortly after United By Fate releases. If anyone knows what happened to their singer, that is, I’m curious to know what they went on to do. Internet search yielded little information. Also I think his name is Spanky and he played in Walking Concert. I distinctly remembering him singing part of the WC song “Hands Up”. Great tune that seems to reference the band Soulside. Anyways I hope you are as stoked about these Rival Schools photos as me and if you happen to have seen any of these early shows, all the better. If you didn’t there will be some shows in spring 2023.