Gibbard Stung By Scorpion

The last thing anyone would expect to come crawling out of Ben Gibbard's pants is a scorpion, but that's just what happened at Death Cab For Cutie's show in San Diego on Thursday night. To make matters worse, the scorpion had already stung Gibbard twice.

In a blog entry on the band's official website, bassist Nick Harmer wrote that Gibbard was changing into a new pair of pants just before Death Cab went on stage when Gibbard "felt something stick him twice in his thigh." After pulling his pants off, a scorpion ran out.

"I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried, file this under 'things that really happen on rock tours,'" Harmer wrote. "Ben's okay, if not a little shaken, but we were worried for awhile because the scorpion was a little guy and when it comes to the wonderful world of scorpions, the smaller the deadlier."

Harmer also wrote that Gibbard apparently "said that it felt like a wasp stung him and it didn't hurt so bad, but it sure rattled all of us." Emergency services were called, and they determined Gibbard was fine. The show went on as scheduled.

"He said he had scorpion power in his veins," wrote Harmer, who's a noted superhero comic book fan. "I'm still not convinced that he is 100% fine because nobody eliminated the possibility that it was a radioactive scorpion and that Ben will now develop super powers, so I'm keeping a close eye on him just in case."

Ooh, scary. But it would have been even scarier if Scorpions guitarist Rudolf Schenker had scurried out of Gibbard's trousers.