The members of a Winnipeg rock band touring through Montreal are living through a musician’s worst nightmare after having their equipment stolen. The gear is worth as much as $85,000.
Royal Canoe took to their Facebook page, asking for help tracking down the missing gear, which includes keyboards, guitars, basses, amplifiers, effects pedals, mixing boards and drums.
The band spent Sunday night at a hotel in Laval after playing the Halifax Pop Explosion and were on their way to Toronto to play some radio shows.
When they woke up Monday morning, they looked out their hotel room window and the trailer they had just purchased two weeks ago was gone.
“It had a hitch lock and we were in a well lit hotel parking lot, thieves must had tools to cut the metal. Feeling all sorts of emotions right now. Please share to help!” said the band in their post.
The white Agassiz trailer had Manitoba plates reading Z063G.
Most of the gear was insured, but some items, including band t-shirts and vinyl records, were not.
They say the outpouring of support from fans and fellow musicians has been overwhelming.
“Right now we're trying to rent as much as we can so that we can afford it because we don't have $85,000 lying around. But we think that we can rent quite a bit and borrow. A lot of other bands have been messaging us saying, ‘Hey I have this’ or posting on message boards about the more rare keyboards that we need,” said Matt Schellengerg. “But we're really hoping to not have to cancel shows.”
Police are investigating. The band has a show in Montreal on Saturday.
It’s not the first time a band has been the victim of theft in Montreal. Local rockers April Wine have twice reported their gear being stolen and legendary proto-punk Iggy Pop had a truck filled with tens of thousands of dollars worth of equipment stolen from outside a hotel in 2008.
