Emory & Henry College / Abingdon, VA

I would be setting world records on the amount of crystal meth I'd be taking in if I lived in this area. Kudos to you suspender-wearing no-chins, for I couldn't do it. I love the country but not when it's also coated in places like Logan's and Outback-- ruins the landscape. I'd prefer a bunch of country and nothing than country and rednecks who think they are still living the country life. This is where weird sexual fetishes are born and civilization ceased creating culture. I feel I have stepped in light brown stuff that has more personality in the smear I make with the patterns on my shoes than this whole town had. I think I saw enough nature freaks with boots and colored tights for one weekend, too. Someone needs to filter this area's internet access.

Blarsis

Okay, so since some of you are asking some questions regarding why this is even here; Arsis is a metal band from the U.S. that some of my friends and I listened to obsessively for years. I considered them one of the best bands in recent years, and I considered their debut, "A Celebration Of Guilt," from 2004 to be a masterpiece. The singer and songwriter behind the band, James (Jim) Malone saw Battlemaster play in Richmond and formed a man-crush on Battlemaster drummer Alex Tomlin. Over the course of a few years, while Alex garnered respect and got his name out there, including touring with Atlanta, Georgia's Withered (a truly excellent band) in Europe opening for Mastodon, Jim and Alex kept in touch. Jim got on Alex's case enough about drumming for Arsis that it happened in the early summer of 2008. Many were afraid of what this would do to Battlemaster, and many were also happy and supportive of his decision to try out in Arsis. One tour later, Alex came back an angry lad. No money from a swindling man-baby named Jim Malone. They'd only played 4 or so dates of a 2-week tour. He had to pay for his fare from New York to Virginia and ended up with about 20 bucks by the time he got back into town.
I'm sure this happens to many excited musicians, getting a chance to play in a big-time band, especially one you respect. Then you find out it's not glamorous at all, and even if you went in with low expectations, you come out with even lower levels of respect for the band. When us here in Richmond heard about the treatment of our hometown buddy Alex by Jim, it made us angry. I'm not going to get into details about everything we heard, but the gist is that Jim Malone is a swindler and a hack, and upon hearing how pissed Alex was after the tour, none of us are really able to listen to Arsis again. At this point it's not even a forced boycott, we just have no desire anymore.

Bands: Take care of your fans, the end.