Cult rock legends, New Model Army celebrated the first weekend with their new bassist, Ceri Monger with a festival warm-up gig at Robin 2 in Bilston, Wolverhampton last Saturday 2nd June.
Unfortunately their van was broken into that night in the carpark outside the Walsall Holiday Inn Express, and a large number of items were stolen. With gear borrowed from other groups, the band still managed to perform at Strummercamp the following day.
This, the latest in a long line of set-backs for the band, comes only five months after the band’s studio was completely destroyed by fire. However it won’t disrupt their summer programme of festivals across mainland Europe, or their performance at Beautiful Days in the UK.
Singer Justin Sullivan says “Some of the items stolen had only just been re-purchased after the fire that destroyed our studio in December. Others had miraculously survived that inferno but we are still now without them. These are the tools of our trade and we do desperately need them back, so if anyone knows their whereabouts please do the right thing; it is a pretty huge haul of equipment to have suddenly appeared somewhere in the middle of the night. We’re not having too much luck at the moment but, if anything, this just makes us a stronger and more determined unit.”
Anyone with any information on the stolen equipment should either contact:
Walsall Police Station 0345 1135000 incident number 20WS/91324T/12,
Crimestoppers 0800 555 111 – you can do so anonymously and may be eligible for a reward or write directly to the band directly and in confidence at info@newmodelarmy.org.
The list of stolen items is as follows:
Guitars – all in new or nearly new, black un-marked flight cases
Gibson Les Paul Custom – red (serial number 2051429)
Gibson Les Paul – black (serial number 90362428)
Epiphone Riviera – red with tremelo arm (serial number R97C0572)
Lowden 025 acoustic guitar with pick-up (serial number 5131)
Lowden 025 acoustic guitar with pick-up (serial number 12288)
Gibson SG – black (serial number 8176566)
Fender Precision bass – black
Other instruments – all in new or nearly new flight cases
Evolution Keyboard (serial number MK361C – 222941)
Ampeg SVT 3 amplifier head
Fender Blues Junior guitar combo with American power supply (serial number B-181446)
Custom built pedal-board containing three way control unit for Blackstar combo amplifier, 2 x Boss digital delays, tremelo and tuner pedals and a Cry-baby wah pedal
Boss pedalboard containing Boss digital delay, bass overdrive, chorus, compression, and tuner pedals
Gator 2U case containing AKG guitar radio receiver (serial number AK3254-001272)
Other items
Heavy multi-guitar rack
Flight case containing tools for guitar repairs
Bag containing microphone stands/drum loom
Bag containing guitar cables, looms, power supplies, plectrums, capos, two guitar radio transmitters
