Posted on 06/05/2025 2:14:32 PM PDT by V_TWIN
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Authorities have made an arrest in the theft of two irreplaceable instruments owned by members of the rock band Heart that were stolen from a venue in New Jersey last weekend.
Atlantic City police say surveillance video initially led them to a 57-year-old Pleasantville man. He was later seen on video walking through various parts of the city, trying to sell the instruments, and he eventually sold one while the other remains unaccounted for, police said, declining further comment. The man has been charged with burglary and theft.
The band was set to kick off the An Evening With Heart tour at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City on Saturday, and its gear had been set up there the day prior to the show. Among the items stolen were a custom-built, purple sparkle baritone Telecaster guitar with a hand-painted headstock made for band member Nancy Wilson, and a vintage 1966 Gibson EM-50 mandolin that band member Paul Moak has played for over 25 years.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
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Thank you very much and God bless you.
They are big libs. Their stuff should be shared with the less fortunate.
What a coincidence, I picked up one just like that for $20 the other day!
57-year-old Pleasantville man?
Naw...
After helping out some friends in the late 1980’s we loaded up their van after their performance (at The Chanel in Boston, now gone) and they went back inside. Their van got stolen, equipment and all.
Ever since then after I loaded up my drums I left. If I stayed in the club to support other bands after my set my drums stayed with me.
-SB
If the Pleasantville man would’ve stolen Anne’s buffet plate, he would’ve pulled back a bloody stump.
Libs or not, Nancy Wilson knows her guitars. Terrible for that to happen. Heart created some fine radio music maybe 30 years ago. The band got a little careless by setting the stage and leaving their instruments behind the night before their performance .
The name of the thief is being concealed for whatever reason.
They want to steal my Gibson D-28? Them’s fightin’ words. Maybe one day I’ll be good enough to be worthy of playin’ it... at my age I doubt it though.
“The name of the thief is being concealed for whatever reason”
I’m guessing because it’s an ongoing investigation and they’re still trying to find one of the instruments.
I’m also guessing they got the mandolin back but the Strat would be real easy to move.....I bet that idiot didn’t get more than $500 for it.
Gibson D-28? 🤔
In a documentary of BB King’s career he was asked about his beloved and famous Gibson guitar Lucille, the Gibson ES-345 made for him
He said actually there have been more than one Lucilles, partly because on some occasions he would be in a room with friends or being interviewed and in the next room someone he knew and had access, stole his valuable guitar. Gone when King returned for the guitar.
This man found one of the stolen guitars in a pawn shop.
https://www.premierguitar.com/b-b-kings-stolen-lucille-found-and-returned
Another story:
“He gave the Pope one of his “Lucilles” as a “symbol of respect.” “For me, it was a very emotional experience. Being close to him is like approaching a source of spiritual energy. I gave him my guitar as a sign of respect,” said King, as reported by El País.”
Sorry to hear about this and glad an arrest was made and hope they recover it all. These idiots that steal this stuff don’t always realize that often the instruments are easily identifiable which makes them harder to fence.
Thank God! But please, don’t feel that you need to hurry with deporting invaders.
As I recall, the Sex Pistols’ Steve Jones stole some gear from the Ziggy Stardust tour.
True story. Early 1979, I was a senior in HS but had just turned 18. My two best friends, Judy and Cindy, were huge fans of the band STYX. I liked their music OK but my friend Cindy who was a year behind me in school and only 16 years old was “in love with Tommy Shaw”.
My mother hated rock music and would never have allowed me to go to a rock concert, but I wanted to go and told her some lies about spending the night for a slumber party at Cindy’s which was kind of true and fortunately the concert as on a Saturday night and Cindy’s older sister was going to drive us to the Baltimore Civic Center and pick us back up after the concert.
I felt bad about lying to my mother and lying to Cindy’s mother about my mother being OK with this. Fortunately, Cindy’s mom didn’t call my mom to check.
I also never told my mom about how I had saved up allowance and babysitting money and how the 3 of us went to a downtown department store several weeks earlier (think I told my mom we were going to the library) that had a Ticket Master counter and after standing in line for hours scored some great tickets. I mean center section about 10 rows back!!! But I did tell my older brother just in case I needed him to, well, save me from our mother’s rath if I got caught or to bail me out….
A few days before the concert Cindy decided she wanted to take flowers, not to the concert, but personally to Tommy Shaw on the morning of the concert by taking a MTA bus downtown to the Civic Center that morning and trying to get in.
Judy said, “no way” about going along and I tried to talk Cindy out of it saying this was a “bad - a very bad idea”. But Cindy was going to go even if it meant going alone, so I went with her, mostly to keep her out of trouble and, sure, a bit out of curiosity.
We stopped at a florist and Cindy bought roses and then we took 2 MTA buses across town to the Civic Center. After walking around trying to find an open door we finally found one and walked right in in.
As we walked around (by now it was early afternoon) we found ourselves backstage and watched the roadies as they were setting up the stage and doing sound checks.
Then some sort of security guy came up and asked us what we were doing here and Cindy told him, “I have flowers to give to Tommy Shaw” and the next thing we knew he was escorting us to the band’s dressing room and left us there. Left two teenage girls in the band’s dressing room.
The dressing room was empty of people but all their stage costumes and many of their instruments where there, I presume some very expensive guitars, some of what looked like personal luggage, and a platter of snacks, champaign and other alcoholic drinks and IIRC a platter with a big mirror on it that I, being older and wiser than Cindy having watched some movies that my mother probably wouldn’t also have approved of, had an inking of what that was for.
Cindy had this great idea of waiting for the band, perhaps even hiding in the closet and coming out to surprise them, but I told her how this was a bad, a very bad, an especially bad, an epically bad idea this was (as I had read an article either in Rolling Stone or some mag my mother that my mother wouldn’t have approved of, about the sad life of “groupies”, I convinced her to leave the flowers with a note “from a fan” and we left.
And the concert? It was great, I was so glad I went and that I didn’t get caught by my mother and that I did not end up a groupie or steal any of the band’s guitars.
Joe? Joe? Joe Biden; is that really you?
My sister, who is a huge Tommy fan, would drag me down to all their concerts, from Los Angeles, up and down the west coast, to Vegas, and at the House of Blues events, we'd have to go super early so we could stand at the stage right below Tommy (yes, that's how much my sis loves Tommy).
We both have quite a collection of guitar picks from Tommy and JY.
My sister has always wanted to meet Tommy, but unfortunately, he is not as accessible as the rest of the group. We'd even buy the meet-and-greet VIP tickets, but Tommy and JY never showed up to those.
Irreplaceable instruments? The pawn shop is full of them.
- Charles DE Gaule
Wow! It sounds like you and your friend had a fantastic adventure. You were young enough to pursue a good time and old enough to avoid certain social guard rails. Apparently, your Mom never found out about any of it. You sure can keep a secret!
You were right though, you and your friend hiding in the Dressing Room, then ‘popping out’ when the After Party was in full swing would not have been wise. Neither of you girls were quite ready for the whole enchilada!
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