Pitchfork: Camper Van Beethoven Lose Gear (Again), Plan Tour

Camper Van Beethoven Lose Gear (Again), Plan Tour

From the bad karma department: since reuniting last year, Camper Van Beethoven can't seem to hold on to its gear. Last fall, virtually all the band's equipment was stolen while touring in Montreal, Canada, and now, alas, it has happened once again-- although this time, Canadians aren't to blame. On January 18, while on tour in Dallas, Texas, CVB received word at one in the morning that their gear was missing. The robbery occurred at a Comfort Suites hotel, where the band's trailer was parked against a wall to prevent just such an occurrence-- this time, the thieves cut through the wall of the trailer to get at the gear inside. There was, supposedly, even a security guard keeping watch at the hotel, but apparently he was either comatose or absent at the time of the robbery. The thieves, along with the stolen goods, are still at large. Just for the record, that's equipment-stealing assholes: 2 / Camper Van Beethoven: 0.

The current tour, however, is still under way by means of gear both begged and borrowed from various sources. A $1000 reward is offered to anyone who can return the gear or give information that leads to the discovery of the missing equipment. A list of all the stolen equipment is below; if anyone has information on these stolen items, please notify the band at www.campervanbeethoven.com/gearstolen.

01 Ibanez Jet King Cream colored in soft case
02 Gibson Blues Hawk red in Gibson case
03 Ibanez acoustic electric in Ibanez hard case
04 Music Man rd 112 amp
05 Ampeg SVT Bass amp in flight case
06 Old Casio Tone keyboard in soft case
07 Matchless Super Chief amp head in flight case
08 Chandler straticaster white in black with "SKB freedom" hard case
09 White Fender Precision Bass in Fender hard case, 1962 reissue
10 Fender Squire stratocaster in grey Ibanez Jet King case
11 Fender Squire telecaster in soft case
12 Fender Squire stratocaster in soft case
13 Roland keyboard in plastic shell case
14 Green flight case with unknown contents (possibly keyboard rack units)
15 Flight case with misc cables, three Sennhieser 425 mics, two Sennhieser 604 mics, three Boss TU12 tuners, Boss Tremolo foot pedal, bass line splitter and line selector pedal
16 Flight case with Sony Digital 8 camera, power supply, Digidesign Mbox, misc computer cables, and a audio audiophile four channel firewire audio interfaces
17 Ibanez classical electric in Ibanez hard case
18 Yellow Dobro with plastic finish in hard case
19 Roland sp808 sampler in blue flight for turntables with the words "Kid Destroy" written on it

Meanwhile, your best method of support is probably to just go see the band on their current tour, assuming you're not also planning on stealing their stuff. The remaining dates:

02-17 Sacramento, CA - TBA
02-18 Santa Cruz, CA - The Catalyst
02-19 Los Angeles, CA - House of Blues
02-20 San Juan Capistrano, CA - The Coach House *
02-22 Phoenix, AZ - The Mason Jar *
02-24 San Diego, CA - The Casbah *
02-25 Pioneertown, CA - Pioneertown Palace *
03-04 Athens, Greece - Rodon Club
03-09 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso
03-10 Groningen, Netherlands - Vera
03-11 Brussels, Belgium - Botanique
03-12 Antwerp, Belgium - Petrol
03-16 Stockholm, Sweden - Debaser

* with Cracker