If any of you went to see The Cloud Room at the Black Cat last night, you probably noticed that Film School, set to open for the band, wasn’t there. What would cause a band to miss a show at such short notice? Laryngitis? Broken fingers? In-fighting? Unfortunately, the fine fellows of Film School fell victim to a much more nefarious plot.

Two days after investing a hefty chunk of hard-earned change into a brand new van, Film School set off for Philadelphia. They did their homework and chose the Comfort Inn Philadelphia by virtue of its locked, well-lit, 24-hour security-guarded parking lot. Despite all of those precautions, a criminal managed to get to the van, break in, saw through the Club on the steering wheel, hot wire the van and drive it away through the fence. A witness called the police during the theft, and it’s currently being investigated. Their subsequent lack of transport, or, ya know, equipment, lead to last night’s cancellation. For a little salt in the wound, the band’s car insurance doesn’t cover theft.

Anybody that’s attended the Redskins/Eagles games the past couple of years, and witnessed the exponential increase in violence compared to other games, probably won’t find this to be much of a surprise — Philly starts with a P and that rhymes with T and that stands for trouble. Right here in blogger city. All NFC-East kidding aside, Film School could use all the help they can get right now. If you’ve got a soft spot in your heart for musicians trying to muddle through, make a donation on the PayPal site they’ve set up.