ToD Guitar Hero Arrested, Released on New Year's Eve
01/05/2009 -- by merlin
kevin allen smashes plastic guitarsAUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Soft-spoken and normally restrained ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead lead guitarist Kevin Allen was detained by Austin police late Wednesday evening after he caused several thousand dollars worth of damage while playing the popular video game Guitar Hero at a downtown bar.
Austin police were called to an incident late on New Year's Eve at 7th Street's Beauty Bar after a patron, later identified as Allen, smashed a television with a gaming accessory and threw the console at a passing car outside the bar. Eyewitness accounts tell the story of a frustrated, perhaps intoxicated Allen, repeatedly striking a large plasma screen television with a small plastic guitar until the unit fell to the floor from its lofty position on the wall. "The television just quite exploded," recalled one stunned onlooker. "I've never seen anything like it. Three or four times might have been enough to take it out, but he kept pounding after it had hit the floor." Another shaken Beauty Bar patron had a hard time understanding Allen's intentions. "I mean, I get the guy and his band smash their equipment after gigs and stuff, but I don't really see the point to smashing a little plastic guitar."
Multi-talented Trail of Dead member, friend, Beauty Bar owner, and licensed intermediary Jason Reece refused to press charges against Allen and tried to provide an insight into the blowup. "I've known Kevin for years and he's one of the most competitive people I know," Reece declared. "He was trying to prove to one of the guys in the Sword that he could do that crazy DragonForce song 100% on expert and he messed up during the long solo. You know, the totally over the top, masturbatory three minute solo towards the end. I can relate, man. The game has an effect on people. I guess he just got a little frustrated and decided he didn't want to play anymore."
Allen was released later in the evening on his own recognizance after Austin police determined he no longer posed a substantial threat.