Band offers $10k reward for stolen trailer
A group of Waikato musicians has been dealt another post-Covid blow: all their band gear was stolen.
A white tandem trailer with more than $100,000 worth of The
Monroes’ equipment inside was taken from a storage facility on Te Rapa Straight, Hamilton between 5.40pm on Monday and
9am on Tuesday.
Now the band is offering a
$10,000 reward to get the gear back, saying it is useless to anyone else, but priceless to them.
Nicola Thomson, one of the founding members of the band, said the last year ‘‘affected us badly’’.
After having so many gigs cancelled in 2020, she and husband Brad Thomson, who was also in the band, had recently started to Airbnb their home to supplement their income.
They put all their musical gear in a trailer and left it at the storage facility but, two weeks later, it was all gone.
The gear was their livelihood, she said.
‘‘It’s like a double blow.
‘‘A lot of people were affected by Covid-19, but the music industry was affected a lot. We had overseas tours booked, and they were the first things to go. Then our events here got cancelled.’’
After a few gigs in December, they decided to store the gear. If they can’t get it back, it will shatter Thomson’s dream of performing her final shows before taking maternity leave in
March.
She is five months pregnant with her second child, having lost her baby ‘Teddy’ to a miscarriage in July.
A lot of the gear in the trailer is so rare that it would be recognised straight away if anyone tried to sell it or use it in public, Thomson said. The band members did not know how someone knew the gear was in the trailer, as the trailer itself wasn’t in great condition.
‘‘They can have the trailer if they want it, but we want the gear. A lot has been custom-made.
‘‘Even if you had all the money in the world you could not get back what you lost. Some guitars [in there] are one-of-a-kind.’’
A new DW Collectors series five-piece drum kit in gold glitter was in there, which is a 2020 piece.
‘‘The person who has taken this gear, there’s no value to them, they won’t know what to do with it. They can’t sell it.’’
Band member Layton Lillas also lost gear that was in the trailer.
The white trailer has a registration of K942W.