On Wednesday morning, Detroit’s alternative rock band Sponge woke up to every touring musician’s nightmare.
Overnight, while the band members slept, their locked trailer parked outside the Holiday Inn in College Park was broken into. Six of the band’s instruments were stolen. Sponge, currently on tour with Candlebox, had played a show at the Fillmore Silver Spring on Tuesday night. The band’s publicist tells City Paper that the the stolen instruments include a vintage 1990s Orange Reverend Commando guitar, a black Reverend Signature Pete Anderson Eastsider S guitar, Reverend Warhawk Avocado guitar, Fender Stratocaster California Corona guitar, black Fender Jaguar bass, and a black Fender P bass. (The band’s publicist provided City Paper with photos of the stolen instruments).
With hits including “Plowed” and “Molly (16 Candles Down the Drain)” off their 1994 gold-certified debut album, Rotting Piñata, it might seem that losing a few instruments wouldn’t matter to the band. “A lot of people think that we’re in a popular band and we’ve got money to spare,” guitarist Andy Patalan told WTTG Fox 5 News. “We’re on a shoestring budget. We have zero crew guys. We’re doing this all by ourselves, driving 20 hours at a time sometimes, so we’d love to get them back.”
“This was not a crime of opportunity,” added lead singer Vinnie Dombroski. “Everything was locked up. Everything was secure. I guess the deal is ‘Beware the mean streets of College Park, Maryland.’” As Prince George’s County police continue to investigate the crime, the band has notified area pawn shops and Guitar Center locations to be on the lookout for the stolen gear in the event that someone tries to resell the instruments.
Anyone with information regarding the theft should email Bobafrog@aol.com. Any information leading to the safe return of these instruments (with no questions asked) will be rewarded $500, according to Sponge’s publicist. The show will go on: Sponge will continue to tour through the end of the month thanks to loaned instruments from their touring mates. The two acts are scheduled to play the Roxian Theatre in Pittsburgh tonight.
“Thieves tried to silence the music,” the band tells City Paper via email, “but due to the generosity from our tour mates in Candlebox and Reverend Guitars, we will play our shows and finish out the tour.”
