Advice for Bands With Trailers
jamie on February 27th, 2008
Another band recently had it’s touring van/trailer broken into, and lost all or most of their gear. This is a recurring phenomenom that breaks my heart every time I read about it happening to another act. Back when there was this really cool music venue in town called the 585, the door guy came up with a great idea for bands that travel with a trailer… one which he’ll share with everyone now.
The problem is simple, bands put their gear in the trailer after loading out and may return to the venue to chat to fans, have a drink, or perhaps the trailer is parked outside the hotel while a band rests. Either way, it’s a big, obvious, easy target for any theif. Just break the lock, load as much equipment as you can into another vehicle and get away before anyone pays any attention. Just like your home or car, and alarm greatly decreases the amount of time a thief has before someone notices. “But most trailers don’t come with alarms…” Correct. Most homes don’t come with them either- they’re installed later. Same deal with your trailer, bands.
Many websites now offer simple, remote activated, battery-powered alarms. Look at the products on safetyandsecuritycenter.com- they have them with keypads or wireless remote, door triggers and motion sensors. Take this simple device:
If this were mounted at the back of a trailer, it would certainly draw some attention to the crooks trying to haul off gear from inside. And it’s only $60! Hopefully, you get the idea. SO, if you are in a band, or know a band touring with a trailer, just go out and get something like this. You don’t have to wait until you can order online- they’re available at Home Depot and most hardware stores.
And, if you’re a fan of Atlanta’s own Winston Audio, you can help them out by donating to their “all our gear got stolen” fund or by buying a CD or merch from them by visiting their myspace page.
