Mumford And Sons are currently on tour in Australia, coinciding with the huge response from their new record breaking release Babel, the UK quartet have been welcomed to Australia in an inhospitable fashion this weekend, with thieves helping themselves to some of the nu-folkies’ stage equipment.
The first leg of the UK group’s Australian tour was marked with anguish as audio equipment, including on-stage monitors used by band members to communicate, was taken from backstage at their tour opener at Perth’s Belvoir Amphitheater on October 13.
In a report from FasterLouder, the band has made it clear it does not want to involve police in the matter, however, tour manager Giles Woodhead quickly appealed to the social network, posting the following on the folk outfit’s Facebook page:
“Thanks to everyone who came to the show last night, we’re happy to have kicked off this tour! Unfortunately, someone broke into our backstage and stole some pretty important things. Crucially – our monitoring devices so we can hear ourselves on stage. We’re not going to get the police involved, and we understand it might seemed like a good idea at the time, but the things are worthless to anyone else but us. If anyone wants to come forward or has any information please send a message to [email protected].”
Mumford And Son will be hoping they can share the blessing that members of iconic 90s grunge group Sonic Youth recently received, when they were finally re-united with gear that had previously been stolen in late 1999.
In a similar event, Australian hip-hop identity Illy also had his fair share of bad luck at Perth’s Capital venue earlier this year, when an intruder managed to pinch the contents of several bags and pants pockets, resulting in a backstage cavity search. The rapper explained, “I go backstage and go to get my wallet out of my backpack, and there is nothing there except my Velocity card. The wallet is gone. I start skitzing it, and slowly other people start realising their shit is missing too.”
Unlike Mumford And Sons however, Illy was insistent on obtaining police assistance in apprehending the suspect, finally adding, “Don’t fucking steal shit. Don’t be a piece of shit. If you don’t want to get a cavity search, don’t steal our shit at gigs.”
Hopefully Mumford And Sons won’t go to the same extreme measures on their current tour, as they pitstop at all major cities across the country.
In addition to the usual international hosting venues, the toe tappin’, knee slappin’ folkies will be performing in the regional town of Dungog, located in the Hunter Valley, NSW, as a part of their unique Gentlemen Of The Road tour.
The mini-festival, curated by the band and featuring a hand-picked number of Australian acts the likes of Sarah Blasko, Matt Corby and Husky.
While the band are lamenting the loss of their gear, they may take solace in the fact that their recently released second studio album, Babel, has been smashing records not only in the charts – where they received the biggest debut sales week of the year, shifting approximately 600,000 units in one week; but also becoming the most streamed album on Spotify.
Even here in Australia, Babel been the biggest release for Spotify AU since its launch this May, with 1 in 10 users having listened to the album – or at least one of its cuts – in their listening sessions.
