The Dears' tourbus stolen on eve of US jaunt

The Dears: considering hitch-hiking, probably
The Dears: considering hitch-hiking, probably

It's been a good half year since Feeder and Kill Hannah's tourbus fire dramas, so it's probably time for another. Canadian indie rockers The Dears have had their tourbus stolen…

The '45-footer' was the victim of a heist in Montreal, near the hotel (the Comfort Inn Hotel, Pointe-Claire) were the driver was staying. Helpful Canadians can keep an eye out for the bus, apparently identifiable by a smashed window.

The Stooges

Unbelievably, this operation marks Montreal's second in very recent history. Last year, a truck-full of gear belonging to Iggy Pop and The Stooges went missing. Lost items included Mike Watt's 1963 Gibson EB-3 bass, two of the late Ron Asheton's Reverend electrics, two Marshall Vintage Modern amplifiers, four Marshall 4x12 cabinets, an Eden bass backline and a silver sparkle Gretsch drum kit.

Luckily for The Dears, their tourbus was empty. Last night's Toronto gig went ahead as planned, but (quite understandably) alternative transport is being sought for the remainder of the tour.

The bus

Here's the bus details: Prevost model, Series 60, license plate: V957YW. Local authorities should be contacted with any information.

Tom Porter worked on MusicRadar from its mid-2007 launch date to 2011, covering a range of music and music making topics, across features, gear news, reviews, interviews and more. A regular NAMM-goer back in the day, Tom now resides permanently in Los Angeles, where he's doing rather well at the Internet Movie Database (IMDB).