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The latest band to have their gear get ripped off is Alaska’s Portugal. The Man in Chicago. This wasn’t just their gear though, it was basically everything but the band members themselves. A long, long list of their gear and serial numbers were posted as well as photos of the “red Ford 15 passenger 350 van with black trailer attached, Alaska license plates FJH244″ (see above). Yes, they had both their van and trailer stolen. Like I said, everything but the members. The van was stolen on Sunday afternoon following the band’s set in Grant Park as part of Lollapalooaza. (Via The A.V. Club)

In other disastrous concert news, on Saturday evening The Flaming Lips’ lighting rig fell down and struck audio equipment and instruments before their show in Tulsa at the Brady District Block Party. Strong winds began knocking over everything, leaving even frontman Wayne Coyne to assist in securing the band’s equipment. No injuries were reported, but Lip Steven Drozd had his guitar wrecked and according to a roadie $800,000 worth of equipment was affected. (Via NewsOK)

On the lighter but still very dark side, Mayhem bassist Necrobutcher will be exorcised by Bob Larson, an American radio and television evangelist. The exorcism will be filmed by NRK (Norway’s equivalent of the CBC), for a special program which will be aired in Norway in October. Necrobutcher (aka Jørn Stubberud) says,
“I’m just there for the fun of it. He’s gonna perform an exorcism on me on national TV. So it’s gonna be wild as fuck and, of course, I don’t expect to suddenly be free from some demons or whatever. I’m just there for the fun of it and for the hell of it.” (Via Blabbermouth)

Polaris Music Prize shortlister Austra will take their goth electro pop on the road this fall. Joining them along the way are friends Tasseomancy (formerly the Ghost Bees). The tour will feature a number of Canadian stops: Montreal, Guelph, Toronto, Vancouver, Kamloops, Edmonton, Calgary, Lethbridge, Saskatoon, Regina, Winnipeg and then back to Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa and Waterloo. (Via Exclaim!)

Nurses have announced a fall tour in support of their upcoming third album, Dracula. Indie pop act Dominant Legs will open the shows. Three Canadian dates are scheduled: Montreal’s Casa Del Popolo on October 18th, Toronto’s Drake Hotel on the 19th, and Vancouver’s Biltmore Cabaret on the 19th. (Via One Thirty BPM)

Tags: Austra, Dominant Legs, mayhem, Nurses, Portugal. The Man, Tasseomancy, The Flaming Lips

Posted on Monday, August 8th, 2011 at 5:23 pm by Cam and is filed under Blog, News, The Wedge.

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