MONTREAL - Montreal band the Dears says the show will go on, even though their rented tour bus was stolen just as they were to begin a North American tour.
The indie favourites woke Thursday to learn that their rented bus had been taken in the early morning hours from a hotel parking lot.
Luckily, the bus was empty and had yet to be filled with the band's equipment. An empty trailer that had been attached to the bus was left behind, said lead singer Murray Lightburn.
''It's really not that big a deal,'' Lightburn said. ''It could have been so much worse.''
Lightburn said their driver had been staying at the hotel and when he went to pick up the bus, found nothing but broken glass.
Lightburn added that there was nothing about the vehicle to indicate it was to be used by a band gearing up to tour.
''It's just so odd that a whole 45-foot vehicle with a broken window would just disappear completely into thin air,'' Lightburn said Thursday as the band left the city by way of a hastily rented van.
''I can't even imagine where they would park that thing - there's not many garages that you can bring something like that to.''
Lightburn said the Dears would maintain plans to kick off a six-week trip with a gig in Toronto on Thursday night. They head to various dates in New York state after that.
''I'm a little bit freaked out but we're also going into the States when they're talking about Level 5 swine flu alert,'' Lightburn said.
''This is just a really bizarre tour. First it was called the Swine Flu Tour, now it's called the Bus Theft Tour. What next? The suspense is killing me.''
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