When an artist has made the effort to travel out of their way to perform somewhere, and the people attending the club have paid good money to get in to see their idol, you might not expect that the artist could then fall prey to (sometimes not so) petty crime at the hands of someone in the crowd. Baggage handlers you probably expect to swipe the odd faceless record case passing through, but fans stealing from the artist they have just shelled out a bucketload to see? What bad manners that would be!

But clubs are different to your usual gig-type venue: often the DJ booth is right in the thick of it, and thieving scum are seemingly everywhere, even in the happy-clappy good-times everyone-is-your-best-friend world of dance music. Possessions seem to go walkabout almost as a matter of course for your average international touring DJ: this week’s unfortunate victim is Magda, whose laptop bag was stolen from the DJ booth of the club in Erfurt (Germany) where she was playing.

“On Saturday night, my laptop bag was stolen from Centrum Club in Erfurt. We as djs and artists dedicate our entire energy and spirit to what we do. We work very hard to present music in our own special way. There is no better feeling than knowing that you and the people on the dancefloor are completely connected and knowing that we can share that feeling of excitement from hearing a new special track. In the end, we are not there to play for ourselves but for the people who support us and our music. I am deeply sad and disappointed to know that something like this could happen, especially in the dj booth, the one place where things should be safe. I feel like I have been stripped of the one thing that is closest to my heart. We are all in this together and we must respect each other, otherwise there is no point.

Magda”

Poor old Matthew Dear meanwhile recently had his hard drive stolen in the middle of a set at a club in Brooklyn! How wrong can you get?! But if anyone who happens to read this does know anything about Magda and Matthew Dear’s missing items, I am sure that their DJ agency Clonk would love to hear from you…

Our own cuddly Border Comrades haven’t been spared either: a green jumper belonging to James vanished from a club in Ludwigshafen in Germany, whilst a Fairmont and Holden twin-billing in Newcastle (UK) saw some lucky crowd members score multiple CDs from James’ own CD wallet as well as Jakes’s American Apparel windcheater. Stealing from cuties like James and Jake – how could you? Isn’t that a bit like kicking a kitten?

But I am sure that Jake still holds out a vague glimmer of hope that one day he might be reunited with his beloved signature leather jacket which took its leave last year at a club in Berlin. You can buy new American Apparel stuff any day, but that special vintage leather comfort blanket which has moulded to your own shape and even smells of you isn’t so easily replaceable. Here is a picture of Jake wearing the precious for posterity – I just hope it doesn’t bring back too many sad memories for poor Jake!!