The Word Alive Track Down Stolen Gear, Surprisingly Enjoy Friendly Return
From the department of the unexpected, The Word Alive have shared a story of a gear theft gone well while out on tour that ended in an odd way. According to singer Telle Smith, the band tracked down their gear and then had a friendly exchange with the men in possession before reclaiming the missing pieces.
Smith shared the story via Twitter, explaining, "Started off today by getting robbed. Then tracking them with Air Tags. Showed up, and this is how it went," with the singer showing smiles all around as they posed for pictures with the men in possession of their gear. "Thank god, @Philthelightguy had air tags you beautiful man."
Further elaborating on the incident in the responses to the original tweet, Smith stated, "We said we didn’t want any problems we just wanted our stuff back. They complimented my @ethika underwear. We said it’s all good, gave them some weed, some whiskey and $20 as a peace offering."
Atilla's Chris Fronzak got in on the conversation, commenting how insane the interaction was. Smith responded, "By the end they were trying to sign us to a label deal lol one dude said, 'we could use a rock band.'"
When one fan questioned the strategy of gifting those in possession of their gear for being so chill about giving it back, suggesting it might encourage them to steal more, Smith stated, "Or thinking, hey maybe we shouldn’t steal at all? Kindness and forgiveness can go a long way."
It should be noted that this interaction could have gone very differently. The band and their crew could have involved law enforcement, which might have altered the response of this interaction. But they also could have faced a less friendly response in which law enforcement would have been handy to have around.
"Just another day in the life of TWA," Smith later remarked.
That said, the vocalist did put in a plug for bands touring worrying about gear theft. "Instead of bringing bands candy on tour bring them air tags so when they get shit stolen they can get it back," said Smith. "More bands getting targeted than ever it seems so appreciate all the love."
The Word Alive are currently on tour with Starset and All Good Things in support of their Monomania album, with dates booked into mid-December. See their remaining stops and get ticketing info here.