Las Vegas Weekly

[Noise]

Stripped of their gear

With help from friends, The Stript looks to bounce back from theft

Since forming in late 2006 with the expressed goal of injecting a heavy dose of classic rock, ’80s hair metal and Sunset Strip glam-punk into the local music scene, The Stript has toured the country, recorded in the Palms Studio and released a self-titled EP. But on the morning of May 30, their high-volume histrionics were silenced when the white Chevy passenger van containing nearly all their equipment was stolen.

“It was parked at my grandma’s house, where my brother [drummer Bryan Lorenzo] lives,” recalls vocalist Mikey Lorenzo. “He wakes up to go get his hair cut, walks outside, and the van’s gone.”

Nearly 20 items—including guitarist Brian Lerner’s irreplaceable original 1970s Les Paul—have gone missing, and, though the van was ultimately discovered, in some disarray, in North Las Vegas, the equipment has yet to turn up.

“We didn’t have any leads. The only thing we know is they might have been construction workers, because there were a bunch of power tools and expensive stuff left in there,” Lorenzo recalls. “It’s a big thing, because that van was what we used to go on tour with. It was more of a problem than equipment, because equipment you can get. A van’s a vehicle, you know? So that’s getting fixed, and we’ll get our van back, but as far as equipment, we’ll have to buy that all ourselves.”

But help is on the way. On June 29, Jillian’s will host a marathon benefit show to help the five members of The Stript—the Lorenzo brothers, Lerner, bassist Steve Grisanti and new lead guitarist Maro Chow—an event organized by a collective of musicians who approached Jillian’s manager Joanna Vitale with the idea. And on behalf of his band, Lorenzo couldn’t be more grateful. “It’s something that could happen to any band,” he warns. “If it happened to someone else we would step up, too. As a band, your equipment is your life ... We have a show July 12 at Jillian’s, so hopefully by then we’ll have all the equipment we need.”

The Stript benefit show featuring Fletch, Hang ’em High, Serene, Lydia Vance, Love It or Leave It, Searchlight, Amarionette, Ministry of Love, Save the Hero. June 29, 5 p.m., $10. Jillian’s, 759-0450.