Pitchfork

It used to be that Santa Claus and Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin were the only performers heckled by Philadelphia fans (hasta la vista, Veterans' Stadium). Well, now you can add Cracker/Camper Van Beethoven frontman David Lowery to the City of Brotherly Love's shitlist. On January 24th, 2003, at Philadelphia's TLA Club, a recently reunited Camper Van Beethoven were forced to cut their set short after Lowery reportedly became the victim of a mace-spraying attack.

Oddly enough, a handful of those in the Cracker/CVB fanclub community spread the rumor that Lowery short-circuited the set in order to get on the road and head to Washington, D.C., where the band was slated to play Saturday, the 25th. One fan, identified only as "Jonathan," posted this message on the Crackersoul Community Soundoff! webpage: "I saw nothing because nothing happened. I hung around outside the TLA because [I] wanted to talk to some 'inside' people. About 20 minutes after the show, a guy and a girl came out and said that this was a stunt to end the show. [Additionally], I was the last audience member to leave the place. [CVBers] Greg [Lisher] and Victor [Krummenacher] came out and were walking around. I introduced myself as a huge fan etc. and they were quite cool with me. They were not overly concerned about [Lowery] puking blood upstairs. So, don't sweat it Philly, we've been had by the Merry Pranksters." All of this, is of course, unconfirmed.

Responding to the rumors of a hoax, Lowery posted this message to the Soundoff! boards: "To stage right was another group of people (two guys and two girls?) [who were] very drunk. They seemed to be taking delight in being really obnoxious to everyone around them. One guy with dark hair and a green (?) shirt was really quite aggressive. As the show went on they got more and more drunk. At one point it appeared that some of his friends were trying to get him to mellow out. Clearly out of control he collided into people several times. There was a pretty constant commotion from this group of people [for] the entire second half of the show.

"At one point one person in this group threw a half full bottle of water at me. I didn't see who, but it clearly came from this group of people. This is also very clear on the video tape. At the end of the song one of the crew guys asks me if I want security to deal with these people. I declined...[Soon after] I noticed what I thought was some very acrid smoke. My eyes and nose began to water but it seemed to pass. We continued playing. After another few songs I began to notice that the sweat from my hair was very acrid and was burning my lips and parts of my face. I tried wiping at my face a couple times but after a while I realized I had something acrid on my hands or face and I was making matters worse. As we started 'Ambiguity Song' I finally recognized the sensation [as mace]."

Continued Lowery, "I was now quite uncomfortable, sneezing and not able to sing much of the words. I apologize for not finishing the show. But if it's any consolation we were only going to play 3 more songs anyway. I went upstairs and washed my face and hair out in the utility sink."

The attack took place a half-hour into the band's second set, following their two-hour main set, and a 27-minute intermission. A review of the concert and incident written up in Philadelphia's City Paper noted that the rowdier element of the crowd took umbrage with "CVB's tendency toward extended between-song banter, the [half-hour lapse] between sets and... Lowery's occasional noodling with the laptop, mixing samples and effects."

Lowery is set to take on those who posted the hoax claim, reminding them in his posted response that the Crackerforever newsgroup and the Soundoff! page "are public forums. If you knowingly and maliciously post false information on any of these lists, it is exactly the same as slandering and libeling someone in the radio television and press," and that "in Pennsylvania spraying someone with mace or pepper spray is a felony assault." He also said attempts to contact those persons who posted the claims of a hoax via email have been met with silence. With that out of the way, Camper Van Beethoven is set to head to the relative safety and civility of European concertgoers (with a few California dates thrown in for good measure). Tourdates:

02-03 Brussels, Belgium - AB Club @ Ancienne Belgique
02-04 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Melkweg
02-05 Paris, France - La Boule Noire
02-06 Cologne, Germany - Kantine
02-08 Malmo, Sweden - KB Club
02-09 Copenhagen, Denmark - Vega Musikkenshus
02-10 Aarhus, Denmark - Voxhall
02-11 Hamburg, Germany - Fabrik Hamburg
02-12 Berlin, Germany - Columbia Fritz
02-14 Dresden, Germany - Star Club
02-15 Stuttgart, Germany - Manukfaktur
02-16 Munich, Germany - Muffathalle
02-27 San Francisco, CA - Bimbo's 365 Club
02-28 Santa Cruz, CA - The Catalyst
03-03 Petaluma, CA - Mystic Theatre