Rain, rain,
Go away.
The Chop’s coming out to rock today.
That’s right Baltimore… our lazy weekend of Mad-Men watching, rum drinking, new drapery installing, brunch-munching domesticity is over. Its Monday night and we’re ready to rock again! And you know it’s not just any show if its good enough to get Roommate off the couch and away from that Wii Lego Star Wars game.
Of course, they didn’t have Wii in 2001, and that’s where we’re going tonight… all the way back to 2001 to see Rival Schools at the Ottobar.
Rival Schools plays the Ottobar tonight. 9 pm.
Now, the Chop can clearly remember seeing Rival Schools for the first time at the old Ottobar on Davis Street in 2001, and having our mind blown in short order. You can see for yourself what they sounded like back then over at [Shiny Grey Monotone], where we’ve already professed our love. We still say United By Fate is right up there among the best records of the last decade.
For the unfamiliar, Rival Schools are bona fide hardcore/indie royalty. Frontman Walter Schreifels also fronted Quicksand, and he and drummer Sammy Siegler have a combined resume that includes names like Youth of Today, Judge, Gorilla Biscuits, CIV, Iceburn, Project X and more. (A lot more.)
The best thing about tonight’s show though? This is not a bunch of aging has-beens who couldn’t succeed at anything else doing a lame-ass”reunion” tour “for the fans” and choking everyone with phony nostalgia. No, this is a group of talented musicians simply picking up where their too-brief run ended in 2002. They’ve been working sporadically since ’08, and tonight’s show is one of a series of only four east coast club dates, in which you can expect to hear most of your favorites from the record, a few songs that were not released, and who knows what else… new stuff? Covers?
Only one way to find out. See you there.