Dears Bus Stolen Before Tour Begins

04/30/09 12:57pm

by Aaron Brophy (CHARTattack)

The Dears have had their tour bus stolen on the day that their tour was about to start.

The Montreal band woke up this morning, set to pack up and head to Toronto and then down to the States to begin their six-week tour, only to find out their tour bus was gone.

"What happened was the driver was on his way to pick us up for the first time to start the tour, so it's like 5:30 in the morning, and he's leaving his hotel, probably has a coffee in his hand, goes out to where the bus is parked in the lot, and all that's left is a pile of broken glass and the trailer... they didn't take the trailer," says lead singer Murray Lightburn from a rented van speeding towards Toronto.

"They actually took the time to unhook the trailer."

The good news for the band was that because they hadn't actually met up with the bus, all their belongings were safe.

"There was no gear in it. We're very, very lucky," says Lightburn. "We hadn't rendezvoused at that point. All the gear was with us. Everybody started showing up at 6-6:30 [a.m.] at my house, getting ready to load out, and Chris [McCarron, guitarist] shows up and goes, 'We've got big, BIG problems.'

"And I'm thinking, 'OK, his guitar's broken. That's nothing $200 and a trip to the guitar store can't fix.' I'm just kind of waking up and he's, like, 'The. Bus. Is. Stolen.'"

Naturally, the singer, who's far more the card than his gloomy reputation suggests, figured the practical jokes were starting early.

"I thought he was playing a prank," says Lightburn. "It took me a good 15 minutes before I started to believe him. But you can't even think that stuff up! It's unimaginable that somebody would just take a tour bus and drive it around town.

"Like, what are you going to do with it? You can't even park it anywhere. You can't even get it into a garage. Even it you wanted to scrap it, how would you do that? My mind is in microscopic pieces right now. I can see the comedy in it. I'm just a little concerned that we're going to be late showing up, but I think that we're going to be OK."

The band's Toronto show at The Mod Club tonight is set for an early start. Doors open at 7 p.m., openers Lioness will play at 7:45 p.m. and The Dears will be at 8:45 p.m.

Lightburn figures a proper soundcheck's probably out, but he's still confident the show will be solid, in part because of the returning prodigal son and ex-Thrush Hermit guitarist, Rob Benvie, who was with the band in 2002-03.

"It's Benvie's first show with us [this time around]," says Lightburn. "It's a completely different band, completely different set... It's going to be a spicy meatball."

And does Lightburn feel the grand theft autoing of their bus is a bad omen for the start of a tour?

"It's more the opposite," he says. "We're more, like, getting the bullshit out of the way. It's weird, every time we try to get on the road, it's like we have weird things happen."

The band are hoping to shed the rented van for a more theft-proof tour bus when they get to Toronto later today so they can make their show in Brooklyn, N.Y. on Friday.

Says Lightburn, "It's a really weird, fucked up way to start a tour. Your vehicle, before you even get on it, is stolen. But we're making our way. The show will go on... in one way or another."

Barring any other vehicular mishaps, you can see The Dears here:

April 30 Toronto, ON @ The Mod Club w/Lioness
May 1 Brooklyn, NY @ The Bell House w/Eulogies and Great Northern
May 2 Albany, NY @ Valentines Music Hall And Beer Joint w/Eulogies and Great Northern
May 4 New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom w/Eulogies and Great Northern
May 5 Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda's w/Eulogies and Great Northern
May 7 Washington, DC @ Black Cat w/Eulogies and Great Northern
May 8 Pittsburgh, PA @ Diesel Club Lounge w/Eulogies and Great Northern
May 9 Cleveland Heights, OH @ Grog Shop w/Eulogies and Great Northern
May 10 Columbus, OH @ Skully's Bar & Grille w/Eulogies and Great Northern
May 11 Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick w/Eulogies and Great Northern
May 13 Chicago, IL @ Lakeshore Theater w/Eulogies and Great Northern
May 14 Columbia, MO @ Mojo's w/Eulogies and Great Northern
May 16 Denton, TX @ Hailey's Club w/Eulogies and Great Northern
May 17 Houston, TX @ Warehouse w/Eulogies and Great Northern
May 18 Austin, TX @ The Parish Room w/Eulogies and Great Northern
May 21 Phoenix, AZ @ Rhythm Room w/Eulogies and Great Northern
May 22 San Diego, CA @ The Casbah w/Eulogies and Great Northern
May 23 Los Angeles, CA @ Echoplex w/Eulogies and Great Northern
May 24 San Francisco, CA @ The Independent w/Eulogies and Great Northern
May 26 Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge w/Eulogies and Great Northern
May 27 Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile w/Eulogies and Great Northern
May 29 Victoria, BC @ Sugar Nightclub w/Black Diamond Bay and Jets Overhead
May 30 Vancouver, BC @ Richard's On Richards w/Black Diamond Bay and Jets Overhead
May 31 Kelowna, BC @ Habitat w/Black Diamond Bay and Jets Overhead
June 2 Calgary, AB @ Theatre Junction at The Grand w/Black Diamond Bay and Jets Overhead
June 3 Edmonton, AB @ The Starlite Room w/Black Diamond Bay and Jets Overhead
June 4 Saskatoon, SK @ Amigos Cantina w/Black Diamond Bay and Jets Overhead
June 5 Regina, SK @ The Distrikt w/Black Diamond Bay and Jets Overhead
June 6 Winnipeg, MB @ West End Cultural Centre w/Black Diamond Bay and Jets Overhead