On his group's unreleased song "Radon Home Test Kit," Bullet Parade singer Jeff Van Fossan laments, "I've found the underground is bound to let you down."

Truly. After being spoiled with bargain Thai food, cheap drafts during the UConn game and then cheese-smothered dollar dogs at Swift's, my companions and I were initially concerned about rousting in the rundown second basement of New York's Knitting Factory.

For one thing, it sounded like Korn was playing upstairs. Then there were the $3 Pabst Blue Ribbon cans. Cans!

But the Bullet Parade erased any doubts. Opening with a cover of The Smiths' "Shoplifters of the World Unite," the band delivered a fist-pumping scorcher of a set that ended after just five songs with the original, "Love Retard."

Onstage, Van Fossan thanked the State College fiends who had come such a long way to see the show, and afterward, guitarist Chuck Ramsey remarked, "It's so cool to see all these people from State College."

The New York crowd was equally welcoming to our dear brats from the Valley, as our cries for a "Dodge, Peon!" encore were swallowed by booming applause.

DJs, also transplanted from State College, made it feel almost like home with their familiar dance and Brit-pop turntable stylings, though one fixture of the show was missing: Bullet Parade drummer John Ravert. Filling in was State College musician Daryl Branford of Original Soul Project fame, and the beat was tight as ever.

Next up were The Shakedowns, peeling the paint off the walls even more with its breakneck set of blistering punk rock that culminated with guitarist J. Navarro hanging his Gibson around the shoulders of yours truly.

The sad fact is I cannot play guitar. But I had to do something, so after a few seconds gawking at the instrument in my hands, I gave that baby a few good Pete Townshend windmill strokes before returning it to its rightful owner.

And then, rather suddenly, daylight savings time caught up with us, as 3 a.m. became 4: closing time. It was a most inconvenient phenomenon to occur at a bar, really. But in spite of the cutoff, the bands had made the trip well worth it, and NYC Roustabout! was in fact a sweet, sweet plum. See you tonight.