New York (well, Nyack, NY) band Coheed and Cambria is getting some press today on account of their bassist robbing a Walgreens prior to their gig opening up for Soundgarden. This all went down yesterday at 1 p.m. prior to their show in Attleboro, Mass, when Michael Todd walked into the store, showed a pharmacist a cell phone note that said he had a bomb, and demanded Oxycontin. According to TMZ his plan nearly worked, he made off with six bottles of the painkiller and was whisked away by a cab.
Police tracked him down via a cab dispatcher, and found him at the Comcast Center, where he was presumably arriving for soundcheck, and to ingest massive quantities of the drug (which some call Oxycoffins). He was arrested, and is being held on $10,000 bail; he's been charged with armed robbery and unlawful possession of prescription narcotics.
The band has posted a statement to their fans via their website, saying Todd would be replaced by Wes Styles for the remaining tour dates, and that they "are surprised to say the least and will address the situation with Michael after the tour."
According to the #1 medical source on the web, Wikipedia, people experience "severe withdrawal symptoms if [they] discontinue oxycodone abruptly. Therefore therapy should be gradually discontinued rather than abruptly discontinued. People who use oxycodone in a hazardous or harmful fashion are at even higher risk of severe withdrawal symptoms as they tend to use higher than prescribed doses."
This is as good as an excuse as any to revisit Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun" video, which also pairs nicely with this weather we're having.
