MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota — The Minneapolis band "Gully Boys" is getting ready to go on tour but without their van and gear.
A thief/thieves stole the trio's van with all their equipment inside of it over the weekend. The van showed up Tuesday but was totaled, while Gully Boys' gear is still missing.
"It's just really, really upsetting," said Nadirah McGill, Gully Boys' drummer/backing vocals.
According to McGill, Gully Boys played on Saturday for a Get Out the Vote rally for Minneapolis mayoral candidate Sheila Nezhad at Powderhorn Park. They used all of their gear for the event.
After the event, McGill said they parked the van outside their home in south Minneapolis.
"We were just really worn out and decided we can wait until the morning, that'll be fine. I locked the doors and it had blinds on it, so I shut the blinds so you couldn't even see in it," McGill recalled.
Some time between Saturday around 11:30 p.m. to 11 a.m. on Sunday, a thief or thieves stole the 1996 silver Ford Econoline that was parked near the corner of 33rd Street and 17th Avenue.
"Everything that we own, down to the mics, mic stands, cables was all in the van and the van was stolen," McGill said. "All we have to our name right now is one single guitar capo."
McGill estimates it's about $10,000 worth of equipment.
"There's a lot of sentimental value. All of our amps are just covered in stickers from bands that we've played with over the years and we've been collecting that gear and fine tuning it to work for our sound. It really is like a timeline of Gully Boys because we have grown up with this gear and have learned to play our songs on this gear," McGill said.
On Tuesday, McGill said they discovered that the thief/thieves broke a side window to get into the van and then hot wired it. It was found on 36th Avenue and Queen Avenue in north Minneapolis with lawn care equipment inside of it. McGill said the van would cost more money than it's worth to fix. All of the equipment is still missing.
"I had just gotten a 1970s Ludwig Red Vistalite kit that I had been searching for; I got it in December. So that was the first time I had played it live was at the rally and to have it get stolen is just very soul crushing. That was like my dream kit," McGill said.
With support from the community, including fellow bands, Gully Boys still plans to leave on time for their two-week tour starting Friday. The Minneapolis band "Author" is loaning Gully Boys their tour van and others are lending their gear. It's Gully Boys' first tour since before the pandemic.
"There's a lot of people looking out for us and lot of people have our back so we do feel really supported in this time," McGill said. "It's just kind of soul crushing to get stolen and a big violation of privacy, it feels like."
McGill said they have filed a police report.
Stolen gear:
Fender Rumble bass amp
Orange Fender mustang bass
Fender champion guitar amp
BEIGE Fender Duo Sonic
1970s 3 piece Red Ludwig Vistalite kit
Generic Gold Brass 14inch Snare
Bag full of cymbals
Hardware bag
DW 5000 kick pedal
MXR M87 Bass Compressor Effect Pedal
Electro-Harmonix Bass Big Muff D'Addario CT-20 Chromatic Tuner Pedal
Way Huge WHE205 Saucy Box Overdrive
EarthQuaker Devices Ghost Echo V3 Reverb Pedal
MXR M290 Phase 95 Phaser Pedal
TC Electronic Polytune 3 Chromatic Pedal Tuner