Anyone ever had gear stolen at a venue?

[Jordan15]

Hey guys,

I'm getting ready to start playing shows, but I've been pretty sketched thinking about it.

I've heard of a few shows in the area where in these cases, gear was stolen from INSIDE the venue. Now obviously leaving stuff in a car is bad, but when it's in the venue, thats the sketchy part.

Basically, I'm a 1-man electronic producer, and I won't be able to have friends with me every show to pack gear to/from the car. Especially since I can't do everything in one trip.

Is anybody out there in the same boat as me? What do you do?

Even worse, people tend to leave their gear laying up on stage, which I guess is safe as only the bands should be up there, but when the shows over and things get all busy, who knows what could happen as from what I hear, the other musicians are the most likely culprits

Arg, I hate being paranoid.

[rainsinvelvet]

I've had gear stolen from inside the club (going out the un- attended back door, ect.)
Keeping everything in one pile somewhere where you can see it helps as well as having everything labelled with a band name/logo helps.
ERic

[NYMo]

Hi there,

About 25 years ago, my roadies caught some bogan trying to take my cased DX7 (which were the shit then !) from inside the gig to the main door.

It was only when I saw him (the roadies hadn't noticed) and yelled, that they grabbed him.
I grabbed my DX7 and the roadies grabbed him and took him out the back to *teach him a lesson*
I rushed out to stop them and asked the guy why he did it.
He just said he was pissed and it was a spur of the moment thing.

Anyways..I still have that DX 7 today and its still works great....but I nearly lost it

Cheers
John NYMO Nyman

[BigJunk]

My Gibson SG was stolen from the holding room of a former LA venue called "THE GIG".

I still miss it.

Junk

[Jordan15]

Originally Posted by NYMo

Hi there,

About 25 years ago, my roadies caught some bogan trying to take my cased DX7 (which were the shit then !) from inside the gig to the main door.

It was only when I saw him (the roadies hadn't noticed) and yelled, that they grabbed him.
I grabbed my DX7 and the roadies grabbed him and took him out the back to *teach him a lesson*
I rushed out to stop them and asked the guy why he did it.
He just said he was pissed and it was a spur of the moment thing.

Anyways..I still have that DX 7 today and its still works great....but I nearly lost it

Cheers
John NYMO Nyman

Haha damn, DX7 ARE the shit.

See I'm super sketched, because if I lost my SH-2 or Polysix (which has a non-corroded circuit board) I'd probably lose the will to live :(

Having my most prized posessions stolen are seriously the only things in the world that would literally give me the urge to curb stomp the thief with 6 other guys. I could care less if my TV/computer/whatever was stolen, but my music gear is everything to me.

EDIT: already it seems like thefts from holding rooms/inside venues themselves is way too common, it's disgusting. Having an obvious fully loaded van unattended is one thing, but having it stolen EVEN from right under your nose is crazy.

[chrisrnps]

Originally Posted by Jordan15

Basically, I'm a 1-man electronic producer, and I won't be able to have friends with me every show to pack gear to/from the car. Especially since I can't do everything in one trip.

How much gear are you carrying? Even if you have multiple keyboards or whatever, figure out a way to get cases for everything, and one of those convertible gear carts that can convert between a hand truck and flat rolling cart configuration, and set it up so that you CAN do everything in one trip. Have your name / band name stenciled on all the cases, rectangular (Anvil-style) cases that won't slip all over the place like the slippery rounded SKB cases, and come up with a way to stack everything on your gear cart and strap it all together with ratchet straps or those black rubber straps. Bring a black sheet that you can throw over the whole cart or the whole set-up rig so it's more obvious if somebody's rummaging around where they shouldn't be; between that and stacking/strapping everything together it'll buy you a few minutes of slowing down potential thieves and making them more noticeable. A case with a handle that somebody can "grab and go" inconspicuously is the most tempting, a strapped-together stack on a cart could make it practical for you to make one trip for load-in and load-out, and make it less easy for gear grabbers.

[kafka]

A friend of mine lost a bass from the stage during a gig. Someone grabbed it and walked out the front door. My friend stopped playing (but who notices when the bass player stops, right?), and shouted "stop that guy" into the mic. The bouncer just watched it go, and said it wasn't his problem.

[mikethedrummer]

I may have borrowed a few cables from venues that refused to pay us

On the contrary, one time we "found" a guitar after a show. We messaged the bands we played with and asked if they were missing anything and if they could specify what it was they were missing. The kid replied, super thankful that we didn't just run with it. It was a really really nice fender. He actually got one of his superfans to drive up to chicago and get it. I lold.

[amishsixstringe]

We play with a lot of gear on stage. Only a three piece, but we always keep one person by the van, one person by the gear in the venue, and one person running gear. We rotate, so when the person carrying gear unloads, the other person goes, and so on. Never had a problem after 5 years of touring with this band.

We found a guitar after a show once and got it back to the artist. Also, we got paid half of our guarantee once and borrowed a gum ball machine from the holding room. It only had 6 dollars in quarters inside, but we still have it. It's going in the sound lock of the new studio by the redbull fridge and PBR fridge.

Neil

[ampedrecording]

wear a backpack, and put all your small (and expensive) gear in it. I carry my computer and pedals with me at all times. And yea, just keep all the bigger stuff together in a pile. I try to keep everything ON STAGE at all times, so if something is missing, you know its one of the few people on the stage that night. Make sure everything is insured. And get a police report if something walks.

[Elvis Christ]

maybe you could get a bicycle chain with a lock, or just a bunch of chain and a padlock, and run it through the handles of your cases?
the only time i ever had gear stolen at a show (fortunately, a faux-leopard skin covered prop guitar) involved union loaders. i bet that guitar looked strange in whatever pawn shop it ended up in.
good luck.

[glenn Taylor]

New day same old problem. 30 years ago I remember having a teac 3340 4 track. Going to college in San Diego. singing in Choir christmas concert. took my deck to record the choir,but the soundman had his own. Any rate someone stole it right under my nose 20 feet away. It was the Same deck I would lock in the car if I went in a gas station 5 minutes. You let your guard down at the wrong time and pffffffff. it's gone.
This might sound crazy, but how much are pet trackers? $100 or so. They would go up to 1/2 mile. I know pretty crazy
GT.

[mattg082]

yep 3 sm57s i had for about 2 or so years.

always mark them! because when you go back looking the house usually has plenty and it's hard to claim what's yours!

word to the wise. ok back to making some music!

[Steffmo]

I remember about 30 years ago we had a weekend gig at room. End of the first night we shut down the gear and left it for the next night. We were happy not to have to move it.

We came in the next day...several critical pieces were gone. We asked the mamagement who said....."your roadies picked it up for so you could rehearse......."

then there was the time....

[dirker]

Way more gear is stolen from cars/vans parked near venues than from inside venues. Find a way, like a folding cart, to be able to transport everything at once if at all possible. Be super-friendly to the sound guy & the bouncers, make sure all your gear is clearly marked, and let the sound guy & bouncers know that no one else but you should touch your stuff. Small pieces are more likely to end up in someone's pocket or under their coat, so never leave those loose.

[dub3000]

get your gear insured. there are so many places someone could rip it off.

anything that isn't replaceable? don't let it out of your site, or bolt it to something very heavy.

had a bag of pedals taken at a gig. luckily nothing expensive, but insurance covered it in any case.

[dodgeaspen]

No problems yet.

[Jordan15]

Originally Posted by dub3000

get your gear insured. there are so many places someone could rip it off.

anything that isn't replaceable? don't let it out of your site, or bolt it to something very heavy.

had a bag of pedals taken at a gig. luckily nothing expensive, but insurance covered it in any case.

Yeah, I'll definately be insuring my stuff once I move out since it's about time. I'm so bloody scared of apartment theft too after all the stories.

Insurance gives me piece of mind, but it's still sucks if you lose some of your more harder to find gear (in my case vintage synths which are harder to replace than a guitar)

[dub3000]

Originally Posted by Jordan15

Yeah, I'll definately be insuring my stuff once I move out since it's about time. I'm so bloody scared of apartment theft too after all the stories.

Insurance gives me piece of mind, but it's still sucks if you lose some of your more harder to find gear (in my case vintage synths which are harder to replace than a guitar)

i have a weird 60's handmade guitar that isn't exactly easily replaceable... for stuff like that, lurk near it while yr at the gig, take it with you if you're locking up the rest of the gear, and at the very least have good photos and serial numbers written down in case it shows up on ebay or something. and again, worst case you could maybe get a bike chain or kensington lock to bolt it to furniture.

[Elliot Kelly]

It was like 5 years ago. I was the singer in a rock/pop band and we were hired to play at one of those MTV Sweet Fifteen parties here in my country. Everyone in the band drank to much after the show and we left the instruments alone in an room. They had also hired a mexican mariachi group to play at the end of the night, and guess what, those mariachis took one of our guitars and never gave it back.

I have another one, it was with the same band in a club about 3 years ago. We were sharing stage with another band the same night, and it happened that the guitarist of the other band and I had the same guitar case, so at the end of the night our roadies took the wrong cases and of course, wrong guitars. I had a 1974 Ibanez SG, but when I opened that case in the after party I found that now I had a new Squier Stratocaster. I immediately called our manager and he recovered my guitar (I gave the Squire back too).

My advice: NEVER, EVER lend instruments, gear, cables, picks, whatever to people you don't know, and ALWAYS put some type of mark on your cases/gig bags.

[T_R_S]

Yes I had a bag on my stuff stolen (Camera, laptop battery charger, adaptors, cables, extra passes, etc.) from underneath the FOH console in Portland, Oregon.

[ray_subsonic]

Originally Posted by kafka

A friend of mine lost a bass from the stage during a gig. Someone grabbed it and walked out the front door. My friend stopped playing (but who notices when the bass player stops, right?), and shouted "stop that guy" into the mic. The bouncer just watched it go, and said it wasn't his problem.

This is just plain ****in unbelievable in this day and age. Seriously, some of the club bouncers I encountered in The USA were just mind-boggling in these instances. Dude, my guess is he was in on it.

1. A similar thing happened at a small club show in Miami, with a band I was touring with. A punter calmly picked up an unsecured guitar case and walks out the front-door. I was at FOH, but witnessed the whole caper. I asked the bouncers to come out with me. Nada. Zip .. Like I don't exist.

Fine, So I followed this kid down the street; snatched the guitar and bolted back into the club. Next thing, the bouncers are all up in MY face inside the club. This situation got really heavy till some people intervened .. Everything about the bouncers was just sketchy .. Real cliched Tony Romano types .. Grrr !!! But the guitar was saved ..

2. Ozomatli show in Sydney .. Crazy party at the end of show (as Ozo shows often become ..). But the backstage security got lax. Some slimy little ****** slipped in and out of backstage with their TM's brand new MacBook Pro. That was a really bad vibe to be around ...

However you don't want to be paranoid .. Just be alert, vigilant, and security-concious ... Follow the tips above ..

[dbbubba]

An old friend saved my '68 Les Paul Custom as the assistants to a name act left the club after they played on our production.
It only had DANNY BROWN stenciled on the case!
Because of bad vibes I would rather not mention who the name act was because he's still around, but we fixed his ass the next night.

He's dead now, so I can mention how Buddy Miles' bass player stole my friend's Acoustic 360 bass head after we rented it to them.
On the same night Buddy threw up on the seat of the same friend's Hammond C3.
Buddy Miles and band went to Little Rock, Arkansas the next night and my friend's dad had the police meet them when they arrived.
We drove to Little Rock and got the amp head.

Watched a guy walk up on stage and go out the back door with a guy named Van Wilkes' '68 Les Paul Custom.
The same guy who owned the C3 and Acoustic 360 saw the guy go out the door and gave chase.
He never caught the guy and that GTR was gone, gone, gone.

Doing the corporate events that we do I see lot's of gear go missing from road cases.
If you report it to hotel or convention center security you will usually get a check for replacement costs.
I am a real bastard when ANYTHING from my show goes missing.
I ALWAYS get compensated and I am NOT nice about how I go about dealing with it.

We have had about $8K of handheld and belt pack RF mics disappear from road cases at hotels.

The real classic was when I traveled to L.A. a few years back with a rack full of thousands of dollars worth of RF mic receivers.
We had checked it as baggage and hand carried it to the T.S.A. people, but somehow it didn't make our flight.
Fortunately, ALL American Airlines flights into Burbank originate at DFW, so the rack was most likely on the next flight.
Being that I am Platinum status on AA helps things move along, but they were only somewhat concerned about this missing stuff.
They told me that they would call us and deliver it to the hotel once it arrived, so we left.

We stopped to eat lunch in North Hollywood and because we were so close I decided to go back to the airport and see if the rack was there yet.
If you have ever flown into Burbank/Bob Hope Airport on American Airlines you know that there is one baggage carousel at the end of the terminal where everything arrives.
When I pulled up to the curb I could see inside the terminal building and there on the carousel, all by itself, was the rack full of EXPENSIVE RF receivers going round and round.
I walked in, picked it up and carried it out to the rental car.

The next day AA called us and asked if the case had been delivered yet.
We said, "no."
Mean? Yes. Lying? No, because it HAD NOT been delivered.
We picked it up ourselves.
Someone called later and we explained everything, but we did get some form of compensation for the screw up.

All I can say is: Cover your rig.

[solo-bration]

Originally Posted by amishsixstringe

We play with a lot of gear on stage. Only a three piece, but we always keep one person by the van, one person by the gear in the venue, and one person running gear. We rotate, so when the person carrying gear unloads, the other person goes, and so on. Never had a problem after 5 years of touring with this band.

Neil

This ^. During load-out, don't leave the van for another trip until the next bandmate shows up. In shady neighborhoods too: buddy-system.

[rainsinvelvet]

Yup, played in a 3 piece and we always left someone at the van as we traded off trips loading in and out. Many times in scketchy areas especially at 1am on a weekend.

[synthoid]

It's a constant headache. You SHOULD be paranoid. You will certainly lose some gear performing live before all is said and done, no matter what kind of precautions you take.

Like the others, my suggestion is to hire someone (or get a friend) to stay with the gear the whole evening, so that it's never unattended. There's always some amount of gear that stays backstage while you're performing, and some moment when you have to walk away from it for a while to talk to someone or go to the bathroom or whatever. It's so much better if there's someone responsible for guarding it the whole evening so you can relax and perform.

-synthoid

[sameal]

when i rode a bicycle, i carried a big thick metal dog leash you attach to those spikes in the ground, looped it through every part on my bicycle i could and locked it. (obviously, minus the spike in the ground.)

you could do the same with your gear, get everything in several cases and loop the chain through all of it, so if they were gonna try and steal anything they would either need to steal all of it, or get a decent pair of lock cutters, which 99% of the time, a gig thief wont have handy.

it'll act as a deterrent for most i would think. too much work. thieves like it quick and easy. if you could get multiple lengths and lock them all together with several locks it would be even harder.

a big pain in the ass sure, but i bet you'd feel safer running up to the bar for a drink.


if i could do this, wrap my gear in barbed wire and have a grenade that needed to be defused with a secret code i would.

[vernier]

Sixties Rickenbacker 12 string got lifted from one of our concerts (long time ago). Gotta watch the guitars.

[tapehiss]

I can't blame anyone but myself, because I loved using drink cards after a show. I was at the Holocene in Portland and they have these wonderful fresh-leaf ginger mojito's. I got beyond that point of caring and left a whole case of drum hardware in my car...... vintage Slingerland gear from the 60's, all calculated at a value of $1.8K...

I forgot to lock the doors, and some thief in the night carted off a HUGE SKB caster case, weighing in at at least 200 lb's, dragging it down the street.

Lucky bastard !!!!

[sameal]

this is when i envy those laptop dudes. very smart.

just performing with a laptop and a interface maybe. all in a backpack on your back while your up at the bar getting shitty.

no vintage synth's for anyone to steal, no guitars, basses, amps.

just your band in a box on your back, drink in hand.