British band robbed at GUNPOINT whereas on tour within the US: ‘Shocking how resigned everybody appeared to be to it’
The British indie band Sports Team says it was held up at gunpoint while on tour in Vallejo, California, during a stop at a Starbucks-gas station location Tuesday morning.
‘Just been robbed at gun point 10 minutes into the US tour,’ the band said in a statement to more than 69,000 combined followers on Instagram and X/Twitter.
The band filled in the details of the violent exchange, which happened when it ‘stopped for coffee’ while headed from San Francisco, where it played Monday, to Sacramento, where it’s playing Tuesday.
The band said that a man ran into the location they were at ‘saying some guys are smashing into a van,’ at which point they ‘ran out to try to stop it and find masked guys ransacking the van,’ which had a smashed passenger window.
The Cambridge-formed, London-based band said after it began ‘yelling’ at the robbers, who in turn pulled ‘out a gun’ to ward them off.
In a clip of the incident adjacent to the statement, filmed from inside the station, the band’s tour manager was seen confronting a robber, who pulled out a firearm.
The British indie band Sports Team says it was held up at gunpoint while on tour in Vallejo, California, during a stop at a Starbucks-gas station location Tuesday morning
In a clip of the incident adjacent to the statement, filmed from inside the station, the band’s tour manager was seen confronting a robber, who pulled out a firearm
Drummer Alex Greenwood told the BBC Tuesday, ‘Somebody opened the door and was like, does anybody have a white Sprinter van? Because you’re being robbed right now. So we all ran out, shouting.
‘Lauren, our tour manager, was slightly ahead of me, and somebody else ran past us in the opposite direction, and said, “Careful, he’s holding something.”‘
Greenwood continued, ‘I really thought I was about to watch someone get shot, because it took a while for our tour manager to realize. In the video, you can hear me screaming at her to get down.’
The band said in its social media statement the robbers stole ‘a lot of personal gear’ but ‘didn’t get the instruments,’ as they would be able to play their show at the Goldfield Trading Post in Sacramento.
‘They can take our Nintendo Switches but they can never take our ability to play rock songs about motorways,’ the band said.
The band said that the ‘police response was [to] “submit an online report,” as they were surprised to see the tolerance toward the criminal act.
‘In all seriousness pretty shocking how resigned everyone seemed to be to it,’ the band said. ‘”It happens.” 9am at some petrol station Starbucks. Wild.’
Lead singer Alex Rice told the BBC, ‘Obviously, if someone pulls a gun, you run for cover. But the thing that struck me about it was the resignation. The people around us weren’t very panicked at all. It seemed like a very everyday occurrence.’
The English band is currently touring the West Coast of the US
Drummer Alex Greenwood shared a selfie from Sacramento to indicate the band had arrived in California’s capital city without further incident
The group received supportive responses from fans on social media after the harrowing incident
Rice added: ‘We’re gonna keep playing. We’ve got nothing against the Bay Area. We think it’s great here – but it’s sad that it’s kind of got to this sort of place with gun violence.’
Greenwood later shared a selfie from Sacramento to indicate the band had arrived in California’s capital city without further incident. She wrote, ‘Thanks for all the lovely messages, we are safe and fine and the show will go on.’
The group received supportive responses from fans on social media after the harrowing incident.
‘I’m glad you’re all okay and will continue with the tour. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger!!’ said one fan.
Another said, ‘That sucks. Sorry. Hard to know if you’re in a good area, I’m sure you have an idea how to tell but if you see bars on windows then you know, not so good area. Good luck and stay safe.’
One fan said that the incident was a microcosm of the troubles the U.S. faces with crime, saying, ‘It’s so normal to them, insane country;’ while another fan suggested band members ‘should’ve got in someone else’s car and ran the c*** over.’
The musical ensemble has had a pair of Top 10 albums in the UK, the BBC reported.
