Things started off on the wrong foot. My brief half-hour siesta snowballed into a three hour monster of a nap, and we missed the last bus that would have taken us to the venue as a result. So, we sadly ended up making the 2 mile trek from my dorm to The Basement on foot. Upon getting there, we found out that the opening two bands (the Blackout Pact and another whose name escapes me) had dropped off. I was indifferent as I'd never heard of them, but The Number 12... had already started to play when we entered. Although my dislike for scenester-type metalcore grows day by day, Number 12 (I will refer to them as such from now on) are one of the few decent bands in that over-populated genre. They played some songs off their most recent full length Nuclear.Sad.Nuclear', and some off their previous EP's. I must admit they displayed more skills than I had expected, and their two-vocalist approach worked pretty well (as it does for a few other bands, most notably the Blood Brothers). They closed their set with an interesting cover of the 80's classic 'My Sharona', complete with double-bass drumming. If not for the abundance of scenster high school kids in attendance (you know the deal... long straightened hair, tight girl-jeans, eye makeup etc), I would have enjoyed myself more. Don't get me wrong, I avoid judging a band by their image as much as I can, but when it's so integral to them and its fanbase, it is hard to ignore.

The Fall of Troy began to take the stage soon after, and that's when the real drama began. First off, the guitarist/vocalist seemed miffed from the outset. After the first song, the drummer messed up on the intro to the second song, so they restarted. Midway through the song, the guitarist/vocalist FLIPPED OFF the drummer. Most of us in the crowd were wondering what was going on. Our confusion was augmented by the band's storming off-stage after barely finishing that second song. After a chaotic few minutes, the guitarist/vocalist came onstage alone and did a solo song (which I later learned was a Weezer cover). The rhythm section finally walked back on to do one song, which the guitarist/vocalist dramatically announced would be their "last song as The Fall of Troy". Many thought it was a joke, but they really did end their set after that song. We were left staring blankly at each other as the gear was hauled off-stage.

(* At this point I must mention that during that short set, I witnessed one of the most brutal beatings I've ever seen... and it was a catfight. One girl ran up to this other girl who was standing next to me and started punching her violently. The victim was on the floor instantly, and the assailant girl proceeded to STOMP on her! All this happened in less than 10 seconds, and by the time we figured out what was going on and separated the two, the victim of the beating was nearly unconscious. The bouncer helped her out, and I think the cops were called. *)

As we exited the venue, I noticed the members of Number 12 hanging out together. I went up to them and asked about what had just happened, and they indicated that the band members had been feuding throughout the tour. It just happened that everything blew over onstage that night. I wondered about partial refunds for the $10 ticket (I mean, $10 for 1.5 bands?), but the box office was swamped and it was getting kind of late, so we just left, for the most part entirely disappointed (to say the least!). Thankfully we got a ride back to campus. The following day, I was informed that after the previous night's fiasco, the band had decided to stay together after all, and finish the tour. Oh, well. That's all I can say to that. 

(ED note: The Fall of Troy is reported to be planning on finishing the tour to be followed by a period of undetermined hiatus).

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