Burning of Rome gave a surprise show at U-31 on Friday, February 26, for former bandmate Tracy Morris. The band’s energetic stage presence, however, was allegedly met by hostility from club security.

“They went all out,” says BoR fan Rachel Tisnado. “Joe [guitar] was running around and sitting at booths where people were having bottle service. It was pretty crazy. At one point, about four or five songs in, Adam [front man] got up on the keyboard and managed to hit the disco ball. It wasn’t damaged or anything. But the security guards grabbed Adam and dragged him out the back door. Adam just kept singing with the mike cord wrapped around his neck. I went out back. Adam had a bloody lip, and Joe had a big mark on his neck. These big, burly guys just kicked the shit out of them. Adam and Joe are tiny guys. It definitely wasn’t worth beating them up over.”

Another audience member, Kolina Koleva, also thought the reaction to be overkill: “Any damage [the band] might have done was to their own equipment.”

“Cops came,” Tisnado continues. “The band was told that they couldn’t go back in or they would be arrested. So my friend and I were running back and forth, giving the band their equipment.”

Front man Adam Traub writes via email: “The whole demonstration by U-31 security was unnecessary. We did the same set at the Casbah a few weeks earlier and security shook our hands and helped us out with our gear. At U-31 they put me in a choke hold and kicked me in the face.”

“They were out of control,” says U-31 manager Steve Billings. “Promoter Gabe Vega told me he thought they had a little too much to drink before the show. The band was cussing at people who were leaving the bar and started spitting on the crowd. The singer tried to rip the disco ball off the ceiling. It’s maybe ten feet in the air, and if he succeeded in pulling the ball down, it probably would have killed somebody. The guitarist tried to spear one of the security guards with his guitar. One guy says he got kicked in his face. He didn’t get kicked in the face. There was no blood. The singer actually apologized to the security guys after the show. It was an incredibly unfortunate situation…on both sides.”