As Cities Burn were touring to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of their debut album, Son, I Loved You at Your Darkest. Then drummer Aaron Lunsford had to leave the stage in the middle of their show in San Diego, CA because of a panic attack.

Lunsford wrote a lengthy update of the situation in a blog post titled, “PANIC! At The As Cities Burn Show:”

“This all came to a head in San Diego last week. My wife and two kids were at the show. We had spent the day at the beach with some of the dudes. I was exhausted. Mentally and emotionally. My daughter stood on the drum riser right next to me while I was playing. I didn’t realize at the time how fucking intense that was. Two worlds colliding type of thing. I know people on this tour that do not even speak to their family when they are on the road. It’s really difficult being away from your kids, and for some it’s just better to almost pretend they don’t exist so you can go out and effectively do your job. Effectively doing my job is precisely the opposite of what happened next.

After we played “84′ Sheepdog”, about to go into the “Son, I Loved You at Your Darkest” portion of our set, I ran off stage and to the bathroom. I thought I was sick to my stomach. And then the panic started to set in. At first it was like, “Hey shit happens” (no pun intended). Figured I would just get back out there with ease. But as I was off stage I started to realize what was happening. My chest started to feel heavy and my mind was taking over. I tried to walk back towards the stage, through the hallways of San Diego House of Blues. I stopped just before the stage and veered into a dressing room, hanging my head over a trash can. Matt Carter from Emery came in to try and talk to me. He prayed for me and calmed me down. Not enough though I guess.”

“Maybe I pushed too hard,” said Lunsford, “maybe I should have just let things be with As Cities Burn.” The tour finished up in Atlanta, GA, apparently without further incident.

(via Lambgoat)