Brian Lopez and his XIXA band were flabbergasted when they discovered their rental van had been broken into and all their equipment stolen in Italy last week.
But thanks to the generosity of fans in Tucson and beyond, XIXA — Lopez, Gabriel Sullivan, Jason Urman, Efren Cruz Chavez, Winston Watson and Hikit Corbel — was showered with donations that helped them pay for new equipment and salvage the final two weeks of their "Bloodline Tour 2017 ptIV." The tour wraps up Saturday, Aug. 5, in France.
"People all over the world have helped us out. It's crazy," Lopez said early Wednesday morning via Facebook message.
The band started its European tour at Germany's Transit Festival in mid-July.
In a Facebook posting early Tuesday Tucson time, Lopez thanked fans for their generosity and recounted what happened in Italy. Here is an abridged version of that post; click here for the full text.
"As some of you may know, our van was broken into during a day off in Torino, Italia, last week. The thieves made off with Jason's laptop, keyboards, our merchandise case (seriously, who would steal $2k in XIXA t-shirts!?) our stage clothes, as well as my entire pedalboard — which contained about $2,500 worth of guitar pedals that I use specifically for this band. ... They got through the thick wooden barrier covering the rear window pane by using a heavy metal sewage grate from the street. A violent, amateur robbery, at best. They left all the heavy amps ... but my pedal case was probably the first thing they saw, in a bright pink suitcase practically shouting "take this!" ... When I saw my case was gone, I felt nauseous. Then angry. REALLY angry.
" ... And as I sat there, paralyzed in disbelief, unable to concentrate, let alone finish my list for the police report, Gabriel had the idea to ask YOU for help. It was desperate. But so were we. He made a Facebook post explaining the dire situation; that we needed to replace a minimal amount of the stolen gear to finish the tour. He put our first album, 'Live at the Dust Ballroom' up for sale on our old Chicha Dust Bandcamp site, with a 'pay what you want' option. Obviously this was a desperate plea from some severely desperate musicians...we had no idea what we were doing...just needed to figure out a way to make it through the next 2 weeks.
"We posted to our XIXA facebook page, all the band shared. Others saw and shared. And within just a couple minutes, donations came in...then a few more...and then a few more. Within an hour of said post, Jason, Gabriel and myself had arrived at the Scavino Music Store in Torino, desperately scavenging for the minimum amount of gear that could get us through the next 2 weeks. Pushing our band credit card to the brink, where it usually resides anyhow. No other choice. Meanwhile, PayPal emails kept popping up: "$10,$15, $25...$50" !??? Some were even more. We looked at each other in that music store and we realized what was happening: Our family, friends, and fans, were SAVING OUR ASSES, in real-time.
"We were able to gather enough gear in that music store (seriously, Scavino Music in Torino has some amazing new and used gear for super reasonable prices...). After hearing of our situation, Scavino even gave us a little 'pity' discount. God bless those folks.
"I got back to the hotel lobby, distressed, with a cluster muck of new and used pedals ... as emails kept trickling in, one after another: '$15...$25...$100!' Is this for real??? As I finished putting the board together, I realized we were gong to be okay. People were reacting to our post, and they genuinely wanted to help. I've literally never seen anything like it. It blew me away ... still does.
"You see, the world is full of villains and heroes. Those who steal and those who give back. I tend to fixate on the brightly colored former, while the latter is often overlooked, hidden in an imperceptible cloud of grey. I feel like I'm not alone in this sentiment...cynicism takes a approximately a millisecond to accomplish. And a lifetime to break from.
"... You can certainly expect some personal emails of gratitude once I get home and can sift through the inbox. But for now, I hope this broad, but sincere 'Thank You' will do."
