Stolen Gear

I know these guys.  They're from CT and were doing a two-week tour in the Southeast. 
 
They lost ALL of their gear:
 
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=2896360&blogId=538568375 
 
What a nightmare.

God that's awful.  Hope they recover it.  I hate thieves more than anything.

Why do people suck so much?

When I was a kid, my uncle and his band got all their stuff ripped off when they were in a restaurant after a late-night gig. I never forgot that. Years later when I started playing out,  I always made sure we could see the vehicles from where we were seated if we went to eat afterwards.

Hi,

Friend of mine (Tom Paine -- you can search him o the net -- now in Spokane), about the same time I came to Portland/Vancouver, he and his band were also coming this way and I stayed in their house on Couch St for a couple o fmonths.

It was at that time that someone in one of Portland's places stole his drum set ... over 5K in debt and a beautiful Ludwig set that had more toms than Carl Palmer's set ... and Tom knew how to play them too!

On that day, Tom quit playing drums! He was too good a singer anyway!

A long, long time ago, I remember when I had a Vox Super Beatle. Saved every dime to afford one at the time. Had this unique MRB (MidRangeBoost) button that gave it a distinct sound. Loved the amp and took care of it. Then had a bad streak where someone stole the head. To this day I wonder where it ended up. Probably ended up with someone who abused it and eventually ended up in the garbage. I would still have the head today if this never happened. Yeah. Some people out there really do suck!

Camouflage will not work.  The thieves followed the band from the gig so they know what the trailer looks like and where it's parked.  Those type of operations are almost always targeted.   

Best solution is remote alarms, take turns guarding during the critical hours after arriving at the motel because you are being watched, a non-standard hitch that's imposible for some redneck to just happen to have on the back of his pickup, leave town before turning in, park right out front in view of the reception desk, leave trailer attached to vehicle and integrate the alarms, dogs, solicited local security help via the local music stores and security companies. .. and best of all INSURANCE. 

Our drummers car got stolen one night at a gig. It was a big old Buick and I think some kids just took it for a joy ride. I found it purely by accident a week later 3 blocks away from where it was stolen in a 7-11 parking lot. The windows were down but the keys weren't in it, so whoever stole it must have been nearby.

He had some spare heads and cymbals in the trunk but they were gone.

Gigging (and growing up) in NYC has taught me a lot about people and crime.
These cretins usually wait for the band to leave and then follow them home. A lot of bands don't unload the gear till the next afternoon when they wake up. Big mistake.

As if that's not bad enough, I have caught people trying to clip gear right off the bandstand or the mix booth!!
Usually stuff like mics, transformers, sound level meter etc but one drunk SOB tried to walk off with a $20k Les Paul once.
He just picked it up and started staggering toward the door until the guitarist confronted him.

I'm convinced if an SOB could fit our EAW monitors up his/her a$$, they would be gone as well.

My advice is insure high and insure often.