While supporting PUP on tour in Europe, Pom Pom Squad had their van broken into and gear stolen. Mia Berrin and co. have launched a GoFundMe in hopes of raising enough money to replace the stolen equipment and get back on the road for their North American dates with Bartees Strange, which are scheduled to kick off next week.
In the description of the campaign, Berrin shared a full list of the stolen items and detailed the incident, which took place on Tuesday (November 1) afternoon in Rho, Italy, while they dropped off some stuff at the Airbnb where they were staying.
"By the time we'd gotten out, our van's driver-side window was smashed and all of our gear had been taken out of the trunk," the bandleader wrote. "Several personal items were also stolen, including Mia's backpack and one of her suitcases, which contained almost all of her personal belongings, including her wallet, laptop, meds, a Nintendo Switch, and more."
She continued:
With the help of two strategically placed AirTags, we were able to find a dumpster where Mia's suitcase had been almost entirely emptied out. The other AirTag that was attached to her guitar case had been thrown into a drain. We've filed police reports, but the fact of the matter is we are likely not going to get our stuff back. It is a tremendous financial and emotional loss. These are items that we acquired over the course of years — some things even close to a decade — plus hundreds in actual cash from merch sales and venue payouts. There are several custom-made items gone like Mia's stage costumes and in-ear monitors, Alex's guitar, and priceless personal items like Mia's and our tour manager Ryn's journals. Journals, dude?
We have been called crazy for how meticulous we are with loading everything out of the van every night. We don't care if it's pouring rain, 4 A.M, everybody sick, whatever. We never wanted to make this type of post and were determined to never let it happen. We left the van unattended in a completely full, well-lit parking lot for an Airbnb in a gated apartment complex for 45 minutes. That was enough time for some people to do a smash-and-grab and leave us unable to finish the remaining shows with PUP and forced to scramble in order to prepare for our upcoming dates with Bartees Strange.
As of this writing, the fundraiser has surpassed its goal of $35,000 USD, accumulating over $37K over 18 hours. Hopefully this means we can expect to see them play with Bartees at Toronto's Horseshoe Tavern on November 11 and Montreal's Le Studio TD on November 12, as well as next month at Vancouver's Fox Cabaret on December 10.
Check out the campaign below.
With touring already unaffordable, musicians are still having to deal with expensive road hazards like break-ins. Recently, the OBGMs had their van similarly damaged and gear stolen in Vancouver.
In the description of the campaign, Berrin shared a full list of the stolen items and detailed the incident, which took place on Tuesday (November 1) afternoon in Rho, Italy, while they dropped off some stuff at the Airbnb where they were staying.
"By the time we'd gotten out, our van's driver-side window was smashed and all of our gear had been taken out of the trunk," the bandleader wrote. "Several personal items were also stolen, including Mia's backpack and one of her suitcases, which contained almost all of her personal belongings, including her wallet, laptop, meds, a Nintendo Switch, and more."
She continued:
With the help of two strategically placed AirTags, we were able to find a dumpster where Mia's suitcase had been almost entirely emptied out. The other AirTag that was attached to her guitar case had been thrown into a drain. We've filed police reports, but the fact of the matter is we are likely not going to get our stuff back. It is a tremendous financial and emotional loss. These are items that we acquired over the course of years — some things even close to a decade — plus hundreds in actual cash from merch sales and venue payouts. There are several custom-made items gone like Mia's stage costumes and in-ear monitors, Alex's guitar, and priceless personal items like Mia's and our tour manager Ryn's journals. Journals, dude?
We have been called crazy for how meticulous we are with loading everything out of the van every night. We don't care if it's pouring rain, 4 A.M, everybody sick, whatever. We never wanted to make this type of post and were determined to never let it happen. We left the van unattended in a completely full, well-lit parking lot for an Airbnb in a gated apartment complex for 45 minutes. That was enough time for some people to do a smash-and-grab and leave us unable to finish the remaining shows with PUP and forced to scramble in order to prepare for our upcoming dates with Bartees Strange.
As of this writing, the fundraiser has surpassed its goal of $35,000 USD, accumulating over $37K over 18 hours. Hopefully this means we can expect to see them play with Bartees at Toronto's Horseshoe Tavern on November 11 and Montreal's Le Studio TD on November 12, as well as next month at Vancouver's Fox Cabaret on December 10.
Check out the campaign below.
With touring already unaffordable, musicians are still having to deal with expensive road hazards like break-ins. Recently, the OBGMs had their van similarly damaged and gear stolen in Vancouver.
