Tom A. Smith has gear including gifted guitars and “essential medication” stolen in London

Tom A. Smith has had gear, including gifted guitars and “essential medication” stolen in London.

• READ MORE: Inside the alarming rise of tour van thefts: “Why should new bands be more at threat of a robbery?”

The Sunderland artist was set to play a live session with his band on Radio X with John Kennedy last night (December 20), and later took to X/Twitter to share that his gear – including four guitars, various pedals, a MacBook Pro laptop, a cajon, a live amp and bags containing medication – had been stolen.

“Absolutely Devastated,” he wrote. “Tonight was supposed to be special. Playing a live session with my band on @RadioX with @JohnKennedy and someone/people have stolen everything from our van at London M1 services.

“I’ve had my beautiful guitar for 6 years and was a gift from my grandad. Don’t know what to do. Laptops and essential medication for a band member too. If anyone tries to sell you them please help.”

Absolutely Devastated. Tonight was supposed to be special. Playing a live session with my band on @RadioX with @JohnKennedy and someone/people have stolen everything from our van at London M1 services. I’ve had my beautiful guitar for 6 years and was a gift from my grandad. Don’t… pic.twitter.com/IDkDIsEcvH

— TOM A SMITH (@tomasmithmusic) December 20, 2024

He went on to reiterate that the equipment was all gifted, and urged people to get in touch if they saw any of it being sold, with his bass player Katie Anderson also taking to social media to share her shock. “Can’t believe it, no words quite cut it,” she wrote. “Bass was my 21st birthday gift from my Dad he had saved for and my prized possession.”

Several indie bands including Coastal Fire Dept, The Voyd and The Clause have offered their support, with the latter writing: “If you need to borrow any stuff give us a shout mate.”

NME’s investigation into the rise of gear theft nodded to a 2019 study carried out by Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, which used data provided by UK police forces and found that van thefts across the country had risen by nearly 50 per cent between 2015 and 2019, which equates to 32,056 over those four years or an average of 22 vehicles stolen per day.

Likewise, RAYE had her writing books stolen along with her car earlier this year, forcing her to tell fans her long-awaited second album wasn’t coming “any time soon”.

Meanwhile, Smith will be joining James on select dates of their 2025 UK tour, including gigs in Lincoln, Plymouth shows and Colchester – visit here to find tickets.