Pitchfork

Death Cab for Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard knows all about the sting of heartbreak. It is, after all, the basis for some-- okay, most-- of his lyrics. But the sting of a fucking scorpion? 'Tis a pain Ben became all too familiar with this week, as bassist Nick Harmer recounts in a post on his blog on the Death Cab for Cutie website. [Via Stereogum]. Just as the band was about to take the stage for their show in San Diego Wednesday night, Ben "changed into his show pants" and "felt something stick him twice in his thigh". The culprit? That little bugger you see up there. Ouch.

"Ben said that it felt like a wasp stung him," Harmer writes, "and it didn't hurt so bad, but it sure rattled all of us. We called the EMTs and they checked him out and thankfully he was fine and able to play the show, he said he had scorpion power in his veins. I'm still not convinced that he is 100% fine because nobody eliminated the possibility that it was a radioactive scorpion and that Ben will now develop super powers, so I'm keeping a close eye on him just in case."

He does kinda have that mild-mannered Peter Parker thing going on, doesn't he?

Death Cab went on to play the show without incident. However, it was man, not beast, that kept Death Cab off the stage last night at Los Angeles' Forum: tourmate Neil Young, specifically. Young opted to cancel the gig in a show of solidarity with a strike at the venue by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE). In a statement on the Death Cab MySpace blog, they write, "We understand and sympathize with Neil Young's choice to cancel his show tonight in Los Angeles. This tour has been an amazing experience for all of us so far and we stand with Neil's decision in solidarity." No word yet on just why dates early next week Kansas City and Omaha have been postponed.

In other Death Cab news, the band will reissue debut LP Something About Airplanes and offer up this year's Narrow Stairs on vinyl via their former label Barsuk on November 25, and have thrown several dates onto their post-European tour itinerary off in December since our last report.
DCFC:

11-01 Reno, NV - Reno Events Center #
11-04 Kansas City, MO - Sprint Center #
11-05 Omaha, NE - Qwest Center #
11-12 Belfast, Northern Ireland - St. George's Market *
11-13 Dublin, Ireland - Ambassador Theatre *
11-14 Edinburgh, Scotland - Corn Exchange *
11-15 Nottingham, England - Rock City *
11-16 Bristol, England - Colston Hall *
11-17 Sheffield, England - Carling Academy *
11-19 London, England - Alexandria Palace *
11-20 The Hague, Netherlands - Crossing Border Festival
11-21 Munich, Germany - Muffathalle *
11-22 Brussels, Belgium - Les Halles *
11-23 Paris, France - Bataclan *
11-24 Bielefeld, Germany - Ringlokschupen *
11-25 Berlin, Germany - Admiralpalast *
12-02 Milwaukee, WI - Eagles Ballroom
12-04 Baton Rouge, LA - Baton Rouge River Center
12-09 Seattle, WA - WaMu Theater
12-11 Oakland, CA - Oracle Arena ^

# with Neil Young, Everest
* with Frightened Rabbit
^ with Bloc Party, the Killers