Ryan Massini with the band Mahoney

By Tiffany Goodwein

‘Adding insult to injury:’ Local band victimized by theft

Aug 22, 2020 | 8:26 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB- They are known in Medicine Hat for their music, but this past week the band Mahoney was hit with a sour note after much of their equipment was stolen.

The thieves stole about $25,000 worth of equipment. Everything from guitars, amplifiers, and cables from their van.

The band noticed the missing equipment on Thursday but the exact time the theft took place is unknown. But the band says there was a subtle hint early on in the week that something took place.

“On Monday morning I noticed that there was a chair under the van, and I figured Trent has just tossed the chair under the van just to keep it with the gear. It didn’t even occur to me that it was the thieves had pulled the chair out, tossed it under the van, to get to the other stuff.” Band member Ryan Massini said.

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The theft is another financial blow for the band who was impacted heavily by COVID-19, due to the closure of venues.

It’s kind of like adding insult to injury,” Band member Trent Roset said.

“To lose that income was a massive, massive blow especially this time of year, this is when we make our money, we play our weddings, we do our corporate events, we get to festivals and different things, this is when we make the bulk of our income and so we were hurting already and the idea that you know tens of thousands of dollars of equipment that we need in order to start generating funds disappears that makes it hard,” Roset added.

Roset and Massini have been playing together in Medicine Hat for 20 years, starting their band during their days as students at Medicine Hat College. Over the years the community has supported them and this incident according to the band was no exception, with people rallying together to provide money and equipment so the band can get back to playing music.

“It just makes us feel good about being a Medicine Hat band for life. Sometimes people ask us ‘ why don’t you guys move to Toronto or Vancouver or Montreal, and we love these cities, they are beautiful cities we have even lived in some, but it is not like being in a town that is there to back you up” Roset said.