Great show at the Uptown in Oakland last night. It was our first time there. We got to share the stage with two great, in-your-face punk rock bands: War of Aggression (Members of a band called United Defiance, with whom we played a bunch of east bay shows back in the day), and Bum-City Saints. Both Bands played their hearts out and were no BS, honest punk rock – just like like it. I’m sure we’ll be doing more with these guys!

We may not have had 500 people in the crowd last night, but we accomplished what we went there to do: connect with every single person in the room. We played the full bag of tricks — Matt jumped to the floor and got in people’s faces, we kept clapping until we got 100% of the room going, we shared the mic with the crowd, and we just kept rocking, screaming, and sweating until people believed us. It was fun, and how every Rivals show should be.

One of the things that I like most about playing in a band is walking into a club not knowing the bands, or some of the people that are there for the show, but by the end of the night, seeing most everyone smiling, hugging, sharing stories and making new friends. Last night was definitely one of those nights.

Thanks to Samantha, Nick, Todd (thx for the pic), Jen and Noless for making it a memorable night. We love ya.

-Z