Streetlight Manifesto has announced the cancellation of at least the new four dates on their current tour due to staggering losses from a robbery.
The band had this to say:
Upon waking up this morning, we walked out into the hotel parking lot to find our van had been broken into and our trailer taken. The pieces of human shit behind this broke the lock off of the driver's side door, entered our tour van, and picked it clean of all of our possessions. They then managed to jimmy the vehicle into neutral, push it forward about twenty feet, break the lock off of our hitch and attach our trailer to their vehicle. Then they drove away. All of this happened in the hotel parking lot, just yards away from where we slept.Besides the priceless personal possessions we lost from the van, everything that enables us to be a band was contained in that trailer. All of our horns, guitars, drums, amps, microphones, rack gear, mic stands, every last bit of merchandise and cds, every sticker, patch , button with our logo on them, our banner, everything. In all, we were robbed of approximately 80 thousand dollars worth of gear, merch and personal possessions.
The band has been touring nearly non-stop this year, despite member changes and a family crisis.
The band released Everything Goes Numb in 2003 and the follow up, currently titled Keasbey Nights, is due out January 20th, 2006 on Victory.
Besides the priceless personal possessions we lost from the van, everything that enables us to be a band was contained in that trailer. All of our horns, guitars, drums, amps, microphones, rack gear, mic stands, every last bit of merchandise and cds, every sticker, patch , button with our logo on them, our banner, everything. In all, we were robbed of approximately 80 thousand dollars worth of gear, merch and personal possessions.
Words cannot begin to explain what we are feeling now. Anyone that's in a touring band knows that being on tour is like bringing your entire life with you in a van, and we were literally robbed of all that, everything that enables us to make music, the instruments we worked our asses off to purchase so we could dedicate our lives to this.
Right now we're reeling, yet trying to put the pieces back together. We've unfortunately had to cancel the next four shows (Jacksonville, Atlanta, Norfolk and Morgantown) as we head back home to cobble together some equipment for the last 3 shows of this tour (Washington D.C., our beloved homecoming show at the Starland Ballroom, and Long Island). We're deeply sorry for having to cancel the shows, but there's no way around it.
Right now, we're each practically broke due to this and missing costly equipment that we need to continue being in this band. After the Europe tour most of us will have to get real jobs to try to break even with the debt all this has incurred us.
Obviously, if you want to help us out, feel free. If you can take a road trip to one of the last three shows, please do. Any ticket sales and merch purchases will help us get back on our feet. We've been busting our asses on the road for months with no tour support from anyone and we've just been getting by, making rent and living our lives.
Thank you all for your past and continued support. Hopefully we will see you in the future, under happier circumstances