Stolen gear
Submitted by dtomko on Tue, 2006-08-08 20:42.ROBBED
Since March, nearly a dozen local and national bands have had their gear taken in Philly.
Police have no suspects. The bands are trying to recover.
By Danny Adler and Joe Simek
Philly EDGE Correspondents
During the early morning hours of a Monday in June, Head keyboard player Tori Ryzner was going through her usual post-gig routine. After driving back from a late show in Long Island, Ryzner had parked her band’s van in a lot near her apartment in the Fishtown section of Philadelphia. Her plan was to walk her dog before going to Head’s rehearsal space to unload the group’s instruments and equipment.
When Ryzner returned to the parking lot, she discovered that the band’s van, along with $20,000 worth of gear, had been stolen.
“It was definitely a professional job,” Head’s lead singer Lexi Greene said when reflecting on the burglary a few weeks later. “The police suspect we had been watched for a long time.”
Police found the van abandoned along a strip of highway in North Philly. The windows, steering column, drive shaft and interior lights had all been ripped out. The band’s amps, guitars, keyboards and drums were all missing.
“The only thing they left was Tori’s keyboard stand, which was wedged behind the seat belt holder. I guess they must’ve thought it looked like a roll bar or a security bar or something because they didn’t take it. We were psyched. Yeah, $28,” Greene said with a laugh. “You know, it’s the little things.”
Police have not charged anyone in conjunction with the crime, and they have no suspects. The investigation is ongoing.
If there is any consolation for the five musicians in Head, it is that they are not alone. Six different bands have had vans and gear stolen in Philadelphia since March.
Richmond indie band Ambulette and San Francisco rockers Luce had their equipment stolen while each was staying at hotels near Philadelphia International Airport. Film School, another San Francisco-based band, lost everything after its show at The Fire (on Girard Avenue in the city) when its van was driven through a fence at a secured parking lot. Songwriters Rosie Thomas and Kyle Riabko (and their bands) both had similar experiences.
Last month, the Chicago Reader reported that Philadelphia police discovered horded gear during a raid. Officer Yolanda Dawkins of the Philadelphia Police Department’s Public Affairs Office checked with the city’s Major Crimes Department, who had no such event on file.
Reader reporter Bob Mehr responded via email that he believed the raid “took place in March, (and) was actually executed by suburban authorities, (but) the gear they found was not among the recent wave of thefts.”
Officer Dawkins confirmed that stolen musical gear is definitely an issue in Philadelphia and surrounding counties. She said there were four police reports filed in June by bands whose gear was stolen in the city. All the robberies happened in the early morning hours, after the shows were over and the bands had parked their vans for the night.
That, however, is where the similarities end.
Police say none of the robberies seem to have any obvious connection other than that musical gear was stolen in each theft. This is a diverse group of musicians from all over the country and city, playing at a variety of venues at different times during the week, all of whom have yet to reclaim any of the stolen equipment.
For musicians like the ones above, the key to any tangible success is often finding momentum and keeping it. It's an age-old formula: write, record, tour and repeat. So, there's nothing worse for a touring band than a momentum killer like being forced to change band names or having to replace a drummer.
Still, most musicians will tell you that those situations pale in comparison to having their gear stolen.
“[Our drummer] broke his hand about eight months ago and we missed three weeks worth of shows, so that really sucked,” Greene said. “But this sucks way worse.”
Since the theft occurred, Head has canceled four of its last six shows. The ones the band has played have all been local, and with borrowed equipment. Unlike the van repairs, the band’s gear was not covered by insurance.
Officer Dawkins could not comment on exactly how the Philadelphia Police Department goes about trying to retrieve the stolen goods.
“The first step in these particular cases is to get any and all identifying characteristics of the stolen equipment. From there, we make a report and disseminate it throughout area pawn shops and local music stores.”
Then it’s up to the music stores and pawn shops. Ideally, they’ll search their inventory for any items that they may have received that match the police report, and on a very good day, the band may see their equipment again. But by all accounts that is rare.
Although not a musician, Philly native Andrew Jastremski has started www.stolengear.org to "increase awareness about the equipment theft epidemic that has swept the Northeast and Northwest United States."
Jastremski’s Web site is still in its infancy, but it has already posted nearly a dozen significant thefts in major cities, with Philly leading the way. It can be heart-wrenching for a serious musician to see the Web site and its long lists of stolen gear. Some of the listed instruments are basically irreplaceable, like Ambulette’s 1959 Fender Jazzmaster guitar. Similar models sell for $2000-$3000 on Ebay.
An online auction site may be a more likely destination for some of the stolen merchandise. Officer Dawkins asserts that most robbers don’t necessarily sell the stolen goods locally. Most leads in the case don’t come from local dealers, and the investigation usually centers on the non-musical stolen element: the vehicle.
“Most of these bands and artists travel in vans. Since these cases generally involve someone breaking into an automobile, [these cases] get turned over to our Major Crimes Department,” Officer Dawkins says.
The Major Crimes Department directed Philly EDGE to Officer Linda Fell, who is in charge of dealing with pawn shops and second-hand stores. Officer Fell did not return a request for further information on Major Crimes’ procedures.
In 2002, Mike Toth, who then worked at A-Z Music in Morrisville, had all of his musical equipment stolen from his apartment directly above the store. After filing a police report, Toth felt that his equipment was treated like a missing wallet.
“The only way you’ll get that stuff back is if you look for it yourself. There’s only so much the cops can do. The rest is up to you,” Toth said.
He and a few friends banded together—they called local pawn shops throughout the area, described their gear and asked if anyone had seen anything matching the descriptions come through the stores.
“Usually, these pawn shops will immediately give up the gear or call the cops immediately if they have what you claim was stolen. They don’t want to get in trouble for selling stolen stuff, you know,” Toth said.
Unfortunately for Toth, his efforts were fruitless. His gear was long gone. No one had seen it. He was forced to concede. His guitars and amps were gone and it was time to start from scratch.
A walk through the aisle of your local instrument retailer will prove that music equipment is not cheap. Often bands will have to spend months worth of show money on new equipment. The rising cost of everything from studio rent to gas often leaves full-time musicians strapped for cash. Obviously, gear theft can be devastating for them.
Greene and her bandmates are just now starting to buy new instruments.
“It does make you want to bury your head in the sand and kind of quit,” Head’s Greene said. “But it’s the only thing I thing I’ve ever done well, and it’s the only thing I’ve really ever wanted. It makes me happy to play music and I feel like it’s a stumble, but I’m not going to let it kill us.”
Music stores, too, can only do so much. Karl Hus, owner of the Tinicum Guitar Barn, an all-used and vintage guitar shop in Ottsville, takes all the measures he can to ensure that the gear that he buys from his customers is not stolen. On all of his receipts, he collects the seller’s name, address, phone number, etc. This way, he has his sellers on file if he were to ever hear anything from the police.
“But I never hear from the police, though. They don’t call. I get a lot of calls from people saying, ‘Hey, can you keep your eyes open for so and so?’ I’ll keep my eyes open for it, but I’ve never had anything come back like that,” Hus said.
Same with Guitar Center, as a visit to the Langhorne location of the music retailer indicates. A person bringing in a used piece of equipment to sell at Guitar Center is forced to fill out paperwork—name, address, phone, equipment being sold, serial numbers, etc. Then the store gets the seller’s fingerprints and makes a copy of their driver’s license and keeps it on file. The measures are designed to make trafficking stolen gear less likely for the store.
Officer Dawkins would not comment on retailer policies. She asserted that the best defense against robberies is for bands to prevent them by keeping a close eye on their goods.
If there is never a resolution, no one is caught, and no equipment is recovered, what kind of effect will this string of robberies have on the Philly music scene?
Laura Wilson, talent buyer for World Café Live, the venue Rosie Thomas played before her gear was stolen, doesn’t seem too concerned.
“Sure, it doesn’t present Philadelphia in the best light, but I don’t think it will have a dramatic effect on bookings,” Wilson said. “Our close proximity to New York City and the size of the market will always ensure that most bands make a stop in the city.”
It’s a sentiment echoed by Luce guitarist Dylan Brock: “I don’t want to say it casts a bad light on what is one of the greatest music towns in America; I just think it makes touring bands realize they can’t stay in Philadelphia. Spending the night in the area is not something I’d do again. But you’re talking about one of the most beautiful places in America and one of my favorite places to play.”
Greene and Brock suggested both touring and local bands be more cautious in Philadelphia now, taking whatever steps necessary to protect themselves, such as writing down serial numbers for equipment and insuring higher-priced items. Beyond that, normal car theft prevention is key.
“Anything I would say to a band to help them is get a [ignition] kill switch, a Club and LoJack,” Greene said. “A kill switch would have really helped us.”
Brock warned against the suggestion that touring bands should have someone sleep in their vans at night.
“What became a theft could have become a homicide,” he said.
Finding a secured or well-lit parking lot is usually an effective deterrent, and some venues like World Cafe Live even supply parking for bands.
“We do recommend hotels to artists that have secured lots and we have three University of Pennsylvania lots available every night for complimentary parking that are well located and well lit,” Wilson said.
For the victimized bands, all of this is a lesson learned the hard way. Now, there’s only the arduous task of raising enough money to buy back equipment and start again.
Like most of the bands that have had gear stolen, Head is collecting online donations through its website, www.headrocks.com. There is also a benefit concert planned for August 13 at Grape Street Philadelphia featuring Pepper’s Ghost, Jealousy Curve, Pawnshop Roses and Fooling April, among others.
“The support from everybody in Philadelphia has really helped,” Greene said. “If we hadn’t gotten the support we have had from Grape Street, WMMR and all the musicians, I don’t know if we could have continued. But thank God. In situations like this, you find out who your friends are. It’s nice to know you have some.”
If you go:
Head Benefit Show with Pepper’s Ghost, Jealousy Curve, Pawnshop Roses and Fooling April
Sun. Aug. 13
Grape Street Philadelphia
4100 Main St., Manayunk
If you have any information on any stolen band gear, call the Major Crimes Department of the Philadelphia Police Department at 215.685.9130.
