Phosphorescent played their trippy, rootsy rock underneath the sunset out on Pier 54 last night, part of the Riverrocks free concert series. Lead singer/songwriter Matthew Houck, with his curly hair and beard, looked like a scruffy Matthew McConaughey as he tore through an hour-plus set that left everyone feeling pretty good about the onset of summer.
Unfortunately, the band woke up this morning to a very non-summery vibe: their rental van and all their gear had been stolen. According to their manager:
Last night, Phosphorescent's rental van -along with all of their equipment – was stolen from outside a residence in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Last night's show was the first night of their scheduled six-weeks US Tour. Among the stolen items was Matthew Houck's custom, irreplaceable 1955 Gibson ES-125 guitar, vintage amplifiers, and a vintage pedal steel with losses totaling around $40,000. If anyone has ANY information or leads on what might have happened, or if you see any of this gear in pawn shops, on Craigslist, etc, please call the NY Police Department, Vector Management, or anyone you think might be able to help recover this gear. The van rental company is insured – they are covered for their van and are therefore not greatly concerned with recovering it. Phosphorescent DOES care though, greatly, about recovering any of this gear possible, and figuring out how to rally up and make this US Tour happen. Anything anyone can do to help would be simply amazing. We have set up a Paypal account for anyone wishing to donate funds to help replace gear – anything helps. We will be sending updates about the upcoming tour dates ASAP. Thanks in advance for any goodwill and assistance and thank you for your support over the years.
Paypal donations can be made here:https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=U3W83W68KFTXW
Anyone with any info, please contact the authorities. More pics below and on Flickr.