Multiple Rock Bands Robbed of Gear and Equipment
With Spring tour season kicking off, and a high level of excitement for all the rock shows, there have unfortunately also been a number of rock bands in only the past couple of weeks getting their gear, trailers, and vans robbed. Losing any kind of anything immediately before or during a tour can be devastating, and the only way that some of these bands have been able to pull together and hit the road has been with the quick and large support of not only their endorsement companies, but the support of their fans. Fit For A King for example, one of the bands robbed recently, pushed their merchandise sales after $10,000 worth of gear was stolen on February 18th, to help raise funds to replace what was stolen.
Fit For A King, currently on the "Carry the Flame Tour" (which kicked off Thursday, the 22nd in Cleveland, Ohio) found all of their guitars, basses, and an amp stolen from their trailer on February 18th, a mere day before they left for tour. The tour features After The Burial, Emmure, Fit For A King, Fit For An Autopsy, and Invent,Animate- and is sure to be an awesome live show. However while the band was preparing for this awesome monster of a tour, the break-in happened while the trailer was parked IN FRONT of a band members house (I repeat- IN FRONT. Not somewhere sketchy or random). For those interested in supporting the band, they are asking for fans to buy merch to raise funds for replacement gear. You can browse the merch here:
Only a few days later, it was announced that Islander (currently on tour with I Prevail) had their van robbed while eating at a Denny's Diner in Texas. See the Instagram post and statement by singer Mikey Carvajal here:
Also in Texas- Rock band Guttermouth had their van robbed at a tour stop in Houston, Texas February 18th. The band, currently on tour with Atom Age and Agent Orange, had the windows of their van smashed and belongings stolen. They set up a GoFundMe page to raise money at:
On top of all that, there are also reports that Malignancy had their tour bus broken into and robbed while kicking off their tour in the Netherlands on February 17th. Items reported stolen included a GoPro, iPads, hard drives, and even medication. Only a day before that, Kansas City-based band The Browning was robbed while in Italy, losing items from gear to laptops (with a reported total worth of over $10,000 stolen), and were forced to cancel their European tour. The band set up a GoFundme page to help raise money to replace items stolen, however it appears they did reach their goal for fundraising.
Talk about crappy! For anyone that's familiar with the tour lifestyle, it's exciting, rocking, and fun, but can be hard enough as it is, WITHOUT your stuff getting ripped off. Best of luck to these bands, and kudos to all the fans and companies that have stepped up to help them keep rocking!
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