‘Spirit of the Beehive’ is an indie rock band out of Philadelphia. They came to Seattle last Thursday as part of their latest tour, performing at ‘The Crocodile’.
“Probably the best one of the tour so far, ironically,” says band member, Zack Schwartz, about the concert.
But only hours later, their tour took a turn for the worse. The band was staying at a hotel near SeaTac airport, with their instruments and equipment locked in a van and trailer in the parking lot. Around four in the morning, surveillance video outside their hotel, shows thieves break in, then drive off with the van and trailer.
“The gear alone it was about $65,000 worth of equipment that we lost. All of our merch is in there- about $10,000 worth of merch. And then the van itself,” says band member Corey Wichlin.
Things that made their concerts possible were all stolen in minutes. Wichlin says years of writing and planning went into the tour.
“After the shock wore off, we all got very emotional,” says Wichlin.
They contacted law enforcement, who was able to track down their trailer. However, it was mostly empty. As for the van, deputies tracked the van to a South Seattle impound lot. But before Wichlin or Schwartz could go to the lot and get the van back, it had been stolen from the impound lot.