January 19, 2007
Middle Distance Runner Equipment Stolen in NYC
On Wednesday night, Middle Distance Runner (one of DCist's favorite bands) played a successful show at Arlene's in Brooklyn with The Sketches, Fools & Horses, and Justin Jones. The show only happened by the grace of The Sketches and their borrowed equipment, because earlier that day MDR was greeted by a very unpleasant scene:
While parked in front of an elementary school in Brooklyn, sometime between 1:00pm and 5:00pm (the middle of the day), someone thought it would be nice to smash our van's side window, reach in and steal a bunch of our stuff. We lost 2 guitars, a bass, and all of our drum hardware. The drum hardware would be impossible to track down, and we are just considering that an immediate loss.The band is not cancelling this Saturday's show at the Black Cat. Between borrowing equipment and buying some new stuff, the show must go on. On that note, if you're in the D.C. area and have a hot tip on some unused guitars or basses, send an email to hi (at) middledistancerunner (dot) com. Ian Glinka, the band's bass player said, "We need to get back on our feet again... it's not going to be easy, either. The window for the van is going to end up costing us $700 alone. We're really in a bad spot right now."
And if you find yourself strolling around some pawn shops in Brooklyn and see any of the following, let MDR know.
-Fender Jazzmaster 1962 re-issue (sunburst w/ tortoise pick guard)
-Fender American Telecaster (sunburst w/ white pick guard)
-Fender 5-string Jazz Bass, HM model (white w/ paint chipping off near pickups)
-Drum hardware ... cymbals, stands, tambourine, cowbell, shaker, etc...
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Not to kick a band when they are down but A. you should know better than to leave all that equipment in a van parked ANYWHERE, let alone Brooklyn. B. You are supposed to have insurance which would cover a lot of these costs.
Kristen, can you give a viable alternative? Where else could they park if they're doing a show that night in the same area?
The type of insurance you speak of does not necessarily cover all expenses, not to mention that it's incredibly expensive to begin with. How many independent bands could afford any that?
"Stollen"?
Sucks to be the band. That's awful.
this article should go in the DCIST.com retired stories section. Indy bands getting their gear jacked from a van parked in up-and-coming neighborhood is no longer blogworthy...
yawn.
Kristen is right. I would never leave equipment unattended in a van, especially in Brooklyn. Someone should be with the van at all times or rent a motel room or find a friend's house where you can keep everything until showtime. It sucks that their stuff was robbed but if you leave candy unattended, some kid is gonna eat it!
In Kristen's defense, the insurance she speaks of is just plain old renter's insurance, and it's really, really cheap, and covers your belongings whether they're in your residence or in someone else's car.
As for the window, adding comprehensive coverage to your auto policy isn't all that pricey in the grand scheme either.
As for alternatives, whenever my band played NY and had to park overnight, we all ponied up for a garage.
All that said, I feel really badly for the band...you get attached to your gear, and that loss hurts in ways that even an insurance check is never going to really rectify. I know chances aren't good, but here's hoping they manage to recover some of it. Sorry, guys.
Yes, they were stupid for leaving the gear in the van, but sometimes it seems like there's no other choice. I'd hope a band as well-known as MDR would have friends in New York with whom they could've left the easily liftable lightweight stuff like guitars. Your stuff won't be 100% safe in a garage, either. Why do you think they have those zero liability for stolen/damaged property signs?
Now then, on to business... gotta contact these dudes to see if they want to use my sick Jazz bass.
Maybe they should have put lo-jack on all their stuff, hidden rabid pit-bulls in the van, and smeared doo-doo all over the guitars so no one would take it.
And, why play NYC at all. That place is just full of no-good-niks. Besides, there's no record labels based out of there anyways.
They are better off just staying at home and sleeping with their gear, just in case some young street hoodlums come by demanding all their stuff, in addition to the lunch money they regularly extract from the guys.
OH - PS - 80% of the band also got food poisoning! thanks NYC! jeez.
Call around on the broken window. Unless it's a BMW minivan it shouldn't be more than $350 to get it replaced. Live and learn.
doodoo feces? that's ignorant.
Someone stole their cowbell?! That just adds insult to injury.
dude, when my band the Heights plays out, we always hook a homeless dude up with half a big mac, a used issue of hustler, and a luke warm bumper of smooth tasting Colt 45. It works 50% of the time, every time.
Sucks. You all should consider cross-posting this on NewYorkist or whatever your sister site up there is called, increasing the chances that someone will spot their gear.
I would never leave equipment unattended in a van, especially in Brooklyn.
Yes, because this sort of thing never happens anywhere else.
.....or in U Street.
(kidding!)
Jesus...some of you guys truly are insensitive jerks. Sure, the band could have found a safer place to put their equipment (though, to be fair, it was stolen in BROAD DAYLIGHT). But that isn't really helping them now, is it? What's the point of sounding all smug and telling them what they should have done? They probably know what they should have done, but it's not going to make much of a difference now. Some of you are the same types that criticize people who get mugged for not knowing not go walking outside. It's just not a terribly useful opinion, now is it?
Ray Pruit, a "used" issue of Hustler. That's gross.
Donna Martin graduates!!!
"What's the point of sounding all smug and telling them what they should have done?"
Really DCist...Really?
Just for the record, though - Arlene's is on the Lower East Side, not Brooklyn. Get it right, folks.
I've never lived outside of a major metropolitan area, so I guess I am somewhat insensitive to people who do things that a native city dweller would insticually not do.
Insensitive perhaps, but I think it's important that people use some common sense while in a big city. That's just the harsh reality, like it or not. As I said before, it really sucks that their equipment got stolen and I hope they get it back. Now, never do something like that again!
Are they gonna have a big old donation box at the show so we can put in our two cents (or twenty bucks) there, too?
C'mon, which one of you hasn't gotten their window smashed or their bike stolen? It just SUCKS.
I can't tell you how many people I know whose gear has been stolen while they left their van for 2 seconds to take a leak, I agree it JUST SUCKS. I know bands from NYC who traveled to other "cities" and had their gear stolen, so it really has nothing to do with street smarts - unless you are capable of keeping an eye on EVERYTHING during load in load out, are able to find a parking space directly across from where ou are eating etc.
Hilariously or not, the last time my husband got something stolen (a bunch of pedals oddly enough) was also at Arlenes. I love MDR they came up here (Boston) and played a show for us last December and they were the nicest guys and so talented. I'm so sorry this happened to them, that said HELL YES I would drop twenty bucks in their "gear jar".
"Jesus...some of you guys truly are insensitive jerks. Sure, the band could have found a safer place to put their equipment (though, to be fair, it was stolen in BROAD DAYLIGHT). But that isn't really helping them now, is it?"
Actually it is. It's what will (hopefully) help them avoid another similar ocurrence in the future. Where are these guys from?. I mean REALLY, you gotta be from fookin' LAPLAND to leave equipment like that in plain view. No matter what part of NYC you're in.
The LEAST they coulda done was cover it up carefully with a tarp and then throw papers & similar crap over it like it's all just a heap o' trash.
C-A-M-O-U-F-L-A-G-E, my now non-musical friends ..
It's a jungle out there.
I love it when people tell others what they should've done after the fact... that's not jerky at all!
they suck anyway
i think that spqr sucks
hey everyone. this is ian from MDR -- I just saw this story and read all the comments. first thing i wanna say is THANK YOU to everyone to contacted us and supported us and helped us get instruments for our show last night at the black cat. we would have been really screwed if we didn't have instruments to play. we got contacted by so many people ... it made us REALLY proud to be involved in such a good scene here.
anyway, while i'm posting, i figured i'd clear up a couple things about what happened in Brooklyn:
-The show was at Arlene's in Manhattan. The van was broken into while parked around the corner from our manager's house in Brooklyn earlier in the day.
-The van we use is a friend's van, but he didn't want to file an insurance claim, so that's out of our hands... (we SHOULD have had insurance on the gear itself, but they also should have used different rivets in the world trade center)
-The van's windows are tinted, and it is pretty hard to see what's inside. Although ... in the middle of the day, you can still see in if you get really close.
We just still can't believe that it happened right in front of a school in broad daylight. It just makes you wonder "where/when IS it safe to park the van?"
People have suggested garages ... but we've heard a ton of people say your shit will just get stolen right out of there, too, so it really just feels unsafe everywhere.
a band from new york called the bamboo kids used to always keep their guitars and basses on them *AT ALL TIMES* before, after the show ... at parties, they would be partying with the guitar on their back. i used to think that was kind of weird, but now it makes perfect sense to me. if i grew up in that kind of an environment, i'm sure i'd be the same way.
In the end, we sure could have done things differently. When we first got to Brooklyn, we contemplated unloading everything into our manager's townhouse, but it was 5:30am and we were exhausted from playing the previous night in Baltimore and then driving all the way to new york after the show.
we'll do some things differently in the future, but more than anything, we'll have to keep our fingers crossed. some of this we will just never have a choice about.
our guitarist, allan, suggested getting a gun and sleeping in the van (which is clearly the best option), but the other 3 in the band disagreed, and allan and i got outvoted. allan and i are the "cool ones" in the band.
as for us "sucking," we know and we're working on a solution for that. we do appreciate the reminder, though.
if anyone wants to help us get enough $ to buy our gear back, please buy a cd on cdbaby or on download it on iTunes! We promise with each CD sold we will suck less!
CDBABY
iTunes
xoxo
mdr ian