'It felt like we were in a weird TV show': B.C. rock band's gear stolen on the road in Washington

B.C. rock band's gear stolen A Vancouver band says it had $30,000 worth of gear stolen, including its tour van while in Washington.

A B.C. rock band is trying to recover and replace the expensive equipment it needs to make music after their van, and everything inside it, was stolen while on their first American tour.

Connor Brooks, drummer and singer in Chase the Bear, told CTV News his group woke up in a Seattle suburb Sunday at the end of a two-week U.S. tour and were about to clean up the van before driving home to Vancouver—when they realized it was gone.

“We just thought it was a joke or something; it just seemed surreal,” he said Monday. “It felt like we were in a weird TV show or something, but not a very good one.”

Ironically, the Vancouver-based band that started in Fort St. John recently released a single called “Shi*t Show,” he added.

Inside the van—dubbed Baloo—were guitars, amps, a drum kit, a keyboard, band merch, cash and personal items. The band estimates the value of everything stolen to be about $30,000.

The van didn’t have the band’s name on it in an effort to avoid thieves. “We’ve been pretty safe about it aside from, you know, leaving the gear in the van overnight,” Brooks said.

One of the guitar was hand-made from a rare piece of wood, another was a valuable Gibson Les Paul, which a band member sold all of his other guitars to buy, Brooks said.

A couple days later, the van was found in Kent, Washington, which had some of the band’s belongings still inside—including Brooks’ Ludwig kick drum from the 70s.

Still unaccounted for are the guitars, bass, amps, snare drum, keyboard and other music equipment, which the band says makes up the bulk of the value of what was taken, around $25,000. Brooks says he’s heard from bands in a similar predicament, who say a stolen van will often be found but the valuables won’t.

Chase the Bear has set up a GoFundMe to help recuperate the cost of replacing their gear, and have raised just over $8,000 as of Thursday.

Brooks says they’ll cancel the fundraiser and issue refunds in the event the band gets its stuff back.

In the meantime, Chase the Bear is gearing up for two more U.S. shows next month, and the drummer says they’ll have to rent or borrow instruments.

“It is what it is, we’re just trying to think positively,” he said. “The show must go on, can’t stop the bear, as we like to say in our band.”