Cancer Bats Launch GoFundMe After Gear and Merch Theft on U.S. Tour

It’s a tragic tale as old as time… a band sets off on tour, hoping to bring joy and fun to as many people they can, only to be ripped off by some lowlife assholes.

The Canadian fellas in Cancer Bats are dealing with this first hand right now. They’ve shared that they had literally everything stolen from them while touring through Indianapolis.

Cancer Bats is currently out opening for He Is Legend and, in a post on a new GoFundMe campaign, the band explained that, after their Indiana show on Monday night, they “woke up to the harsh reality that our van, trailer, merch and gear were all stolen from the hotel that we were staying at.”

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“Luckily, our van was recovered, but the thieves made off with all our equipment, merchandise, and some personal items,” the statement continued. “They even stole the catalytic converter off our van. Major bummer and only 4 days into a full month tour in the United States.”

The band went on to explain: “We have been a band touring all over the world for 20 yrs now. The fact that this is the first time this has happened to us is truly amazing. We have our health and shows to play and a van to get us there, and we are grateful for all of that.”

“But in this robbery, we lost a lot of equipment that we hold near and dear to our hearts. Equipment that helped write a lot of our songs. Stuff that has been customised by us over the years. Gear that is not easily replaceable.”

In addition to all their gear and transport, the Cancer Bats “also lost a large order of merchandise. We had ordered enough to make sure that we had plenty for all 27 shows we had on this tour. We only had played 4 so we had a lot of merch in that trailer. (luckily the LPs were in the van and for some reason the thieves didn’t want those bad boys. Total losers!)”

The Cancer Bats GodFundMe Has Already Met Its Goal

The band went on to add: “We know that these GoFundMe campaigns can be a little kooky and we don’t want to get more money than we need to replace our equipment. We do have some insurance that will help us out but we are unsure how much will be covered.”

“We are estimating replacing everything will cost us about $30,000 CAN Once this tour is over and we can replace all the stolen gear and find out what insurance will give us if there is left over money we plan to donate the remaining money to get good quality musical instruments to kids living in hard to reach northern communities in Canada.”

So far, they’ve already recouped more than they asked for through donations from generous and loyal fans, with the total currently sitting at $33,772 CAD. Check out the GoFundMe to see the list of stolen items.