decemberists gear stolen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I bet it was stolen by Bright Eyes loyalists as payback for that slam in Seattle Weekly. Those people are skinny but MEAN.

Wait, this happened in Seattle? (I DIDN'T DO IT! I HAVE AN ALIBI!)

Seriously though, this is quite fucked, to be obvious and blunt.

haha "indie autism"! like the Vines!?

http://www.seattleweekly.com/features/0511/050316_music_jukebox.php

OK, this happened in Portland...

Hello All,

At some time between 3 a.m. and 8 a.m., the band?fs gear trailer was stolen from outside a house in SE Portland, near the Aladdin Theatre. Heartbreakingly, it housed practically every piece of instrumentation belonging to the Decemberists.

So this is a sort of call to arms; I figure if we get the word out, maybe we all can collectively track it down.

The trailer in question is a WHITE 6?Πx 12?ΠWELLS CARGO trailer. There?fs a green ?eVT?f (as in Vermont) sticker on the side door, among other smaller stickers, a BRITISH FLAG sticker on the front, and a ?eNO ON 36?Πsticker on the left back door. The license number is U34 8717 (Oregon).

Any information you might have on this, please report to the Portland Police. If you do see it, by all means call 911.

i'll bet is the work... of.... pirates....

The Aladdin Theatre is really pretty.

"Search & Destroy" in A Life Aquatic. Complete waste of Iggy.

A public service.

If that happened to my band, I would go on Charles Bronson-style rampage

As a musician, I have a hard time imagining any lower form of crime than stealing instruments. And I am including baby-raping. At the music store I own, we have physically restrained people who came in with stolen gear until the cops showed up, just so that the scales of life could be balanced. On the plus side, most of these thefts are significant enough to merit felony grand theft, so the punishment usually is more than a slap on the wrist sort of thing...best of luck to the Decemberists on the trailer recovery.

Some on this board may debate whether the following is good news or not but:

Drug suspect linked to theft from band

04/08/2005

Associated Press

A 36-year-old suspected meth cook was arrested for allegedly stealing musical instruments from a Portland indie-folk band, police said.

Todd James Christie, who was wanted on an outstanding felony warrant for violating his probation, was booked on one count each of second-degree manufacture, possession and distribution of a controlled substance.

The Decemberists, the band, recovered most of their instruments worth thousands of dollars, which were stolen last month from the band's trailer, said Sgt. Brian Schmautz, a Portland Police Bureau spokesman.

I was kinda interested in this. Some musicians, especially classical ones, have a relationship with a specific instrument that makes it effectively irreplaceable.

Then there's the question of vintage or highly customized gear that could theoretically be replaced, but is actually kinda stupid to steal. I mean, there are only so many 196x Stratocasters with the serial number L12345 or whatever.

If you're going to steal musical equipment, you're better off stealing it from a teen garage rock band that equips itself with brand new Ibanezes or whatever, because you can probably sell it more quickly and with less chance of it being traced.

Yay! I'm not a huge Decemberists fan or anything, but when you look at the list of gear that was stolen, it's pretty heartbreaking.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has a story on band gear theft in general, with a Decemberists mention:

"Instrument theft can steal a musician's soul as well as livelihood"

(Yeah, I know, cheesy title)

I figured that the thief would have taken the gear across the river to Vancouver WA and pawned it there. A friend of mine who works at a music store says Washington pawn laws are less strict. Also, every music store in the Portland Metropolitan area had a list of the gear.

I like how the article says "The Decemberists, the band..." As opposed to the 19th century failed Russian revolutionaries? Are those guys still kicking around?

I like that they needed to explain that the Decemberists are a band but didn't need to explain what a meth cook is.

Anyway, I'm no fan either, but I'm glad it's (mostly) back. SO much of that stuff on the manifest actually seemed like it would be hard to sell.

And John, I've been a musician for more than 20 years, but I'm also a father and I'll tell you, I understand your anger, I really do - a couple of my friends have had gear stolen - but baby-raping would be far worse.

i knew he was using a rat pedal!

If the reporter was locally-based, or the article was for local release then the audience already knows what a meth cook is.

Man, having our gear stolen is my ultimate nightmare for my band...for us, I guess we might literally have to break up....No one would have the $$ to replace it, at least in the short term...it would be worse if you were a band that had a lot of really distinctive gear....