One week before they were to hit the road for their first post-quarantine tour building on a strong local buzz, Twin Cities rock trio the Gully Boys had their van stolen with most of their music gear in it.
"Please keep your eyes out for a 1996 silver Ford Fontana," the band posted at the start of a long — and now widely shared – Twitter thread about the heist.
The theft happened overnight Saturday-Sunday near the corner of 33rd St. and 17th Av. S. in south Minneapolis, where the punky, melodic indie-rockers had been booked to perform at a rally for mayoral candidate Sheila Nezhad in nearby Powderhorn Park.
Many thousands of dollars' worth of equipment was stolen, including guitars, drums and amps, plus band merchandise that was to be sold at shows. Their tweets list all the gear in the hope that other musicians will keep an eye out for it. The van, with Minnesota license plate 230-XDG, has a noticeable dent on the front of the passenger side.
As of Monday afternoon, Gully Boys' members said they had yet to hear from police or anyone with any solid information. They were not certain whether they could go ahead with their eight-city tour, set to begin Friday in Chicago, with sizable gigs in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Nashville.
"No leads other than someone may have spotted a man carrying Nat's bass out of its case sitting at the bus stop on 24th and Nicollet," drummer Nadirah McGill said via email, referring to bassist Natalie Klemond.
Gully Boys follow a long line of Twin Cities indie acts to suffer similar thefts over the past decade-plus. Others have included Dessa, DJ Keezy, Dave Simonett's Dead Man Winter and Sims of Doomtree.
After his van and gear were stolen while on tour in 2016, Sims said, "It happens all the time, but bands don't really have much alternative. You could unload all your gear into your hotel room every night, but then you need another hotel room to hold everything."
Like Sims, the members of Gully Boys are taking solace in the widespread sharing of their stolen items and other assistance from the Twin Cities music community: "We can't express enough how supported we feel in moments like this," they said in a later tweet. But they remain uncertain about if and how to get their show on the road.
"We have folks willing to loan us gear for the tour but still need wheels," McGill said. "It's really [messed] up."
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