RIVAL SCHOOLS with HOSTAGE CALM - 10.24 @ Great Scott, Allston

Sometimes when you go to a show, you don't want to worry about catching every detail and writing every observation to memory. Sometimes, you just want a beer.

So in my buzzed state at the show, here is what I recorded about Rival Schools:

Poor guy [vocalist Walter Schreifels]; He not only leads the way with chord and riff progressions, as well as stage presence and composure, but his bassist [Cache Tolman] couldn't even keep up with his shifts. I mean, how many singers of a four-piece do you know lead in guitar solos? He's carrying the band, and let's give thanks to that.

Side note to bassists: a five-string bass will not conceal your musical inabilities. A five-string bass is essentially a testosterone-steroid-juiced guitar, and it doesn't impress the ladies. So if you can't make use of your instrument (and by instrument, I mean bass) and you're playing two-tone choruses with just a different two-tone backdrop in the verses, you're essentially playing a deeper guitar that adds nothing to the band. Sorry I'm not sorry for that revelation.

[Moving on from the bassist rant:]

In terms of setlist, two biggest singles played smack in the middle of the set takes me back to the London office. Live tuning just before a song is like an orchestra pit's soundcheck -- it always get's me amped for the next song. And by the end of the set the drummer is playing these breakdown on snares so huge that I don't even want to pause to note it on my notepad; it has everybody's eyes glazed over and locked on stage, the chemical reactions in their brain churning in sync because the song has so much force it carries you with it.

So, if that didn't make any sense to you, here's a sober version of that analysis:

The set was long and sweet; major singles were played towards the beginning while the end was saved for the ranting musicianship that Rival Schools can only show off on a live stage. Typical of shows at Great Scott, the band was a bit out-of-sync with each other, and the most red-handed culprit was the bassist. He was two-tone for nearly the entirety of the set, and I may or may not have been seeing double but if he was playing a five-string bass it didn't help his cause. Regardless, Rival Schools pulled through thanks to their frontman, and it's a show worth seeing especially for fans who can fill in the missing musical gaps with their memory of already-familiar songs.

Hostage Calm are always fun to see, as long as you're there for energy and not precision. 'Donna Lee' got everyone to shut up, and Chris did the vocalize-support service in favor of gay rights. It's about marrying who you love, not about marrying who the state tells you you should, as he says.