An worldwide rock band’s first U.S. tour is a second to be celebrated, an indication that years of exhausting work have paid off. But only a few days into their American debut, the members of Forests, an emo rock band from Singapore, endured one other ceremony of passage for some musicians touring the United States once they stopped for the night time at a California lodge.

When they returned to their rental van a couple of hours later, they realized they’d been robbed.

“In Singapore I kind of made a joke about it, like, oh, you know, your band is only legit if your stuff got stolen,” stated Darell Laser, 36, the bassist. “Then it really happened.”

Forests and the Oklahoma band they have been touring with, Ben Quad, are hardly the first musicians to be robbed whereas on tour in America. (In 1999, Sonic Youth famously lost an entire truck’s worth of gear to a thief, additionally in California.) But the expertise was nonetheless a shock for a band from a rustic as protected as Singapore.

“It was the worst luck ever,” stated Chris Martinez, 29, a Forests fan from San Diego who found the band years in the past on a enterprise journey to Singapore.

The theft prompted an outpouring of concern from each bands’ followers, and greater than $9,000 in donations allowed them to purchase alternative devices. They didn’t miss a present, and so they ended their tour in excessive spirits with a sold-out live performance at a bar in Queens on Tuesday.

“They seem to have moved past it,” stated Mr. Martinez, who donated $200 to the bands’ crowdfunding marketing campaign after studying of the theft. “Keeping a positive attitude and trying not to let it bring them down.”

The May 1 theft made for a surreal early leg of a cross-country tour — entitled “Get in losers, we’re going to Walmart” — that Forests had spent months planning and years trying ahead to. It occurred a couple of days after their tour started in Seattle and some hours after their gig in Oakland.

When the drained musicians from the 2 bands straggled right into a Hampton Inn in Hayward, Calif., at about 1:30 a.m., they left their gear within the 15-passenger rental van they have been sharing for the tour. They parked subsequent to a safety digicam as a precaution, nevertheless it didn’t assist: When they returned to the car parking zone after 11 a.m., they observed that a few of their guitars, a bass, pedals, clothes and a field with money from merchandise gross sales had been stolen.

The theft was the most recent in an space of California the place property crimes like shoplifting and automobile break-ins are on the rise. The lodge administration informed the bands that its safety footage didn’t present a theft. A location tag on one instrument appeared to indicate that the stolen gear had been taken to an Oakland condo constructing, however the police stated there was no straightforward solution to get it again.

“The cops told us, ‘Hey, there’s nothing we can do unless it ends up in a pawnshop,’” stated Edgar Viveros, 27, Ben Quad’s lead guitarist. The pawnshops they referred to as stated that it had not.

Instead of canceling the tour, the bands determined to play on with borrowed gear. They additionally arrange a crowdfunding web page and have been shocked to see how shortly donations rolled in — $6,000 in about 4 hours.

The theft was “kinda heartbreaking,” Imre Griga, 23, a fan in Columbia, Mo., who attended three of the bands’ tour dates this month, stated in an e mail. “I think the entire community felt Forests deserved much better for their first tour in America.”

Within a couple of days, members of each bands have been taking part in with new devices. They went slightly longer with out the pedal board that Ben Quad sometimes makes use of to play samples, just like the theme from an “Austin Powers” film, between units. But a alternative for that, too, was ultimately discovered.

Back dwelling in Singapore, the story of the theft, and the fan assist, made headlines. Some readers commented about their very own experiences of getting robbed within the United States. Others puzzled how the three members of Forests, who all have day jobs and tour on their holidays, might have been so naïve.

For Forests, it was not their first worldwide tour: They have carried out throughout the Asia-Pacific area through the years. But on their first tour of America, they beloved watching the panorama — deserts, timber, snowy mountains — whip previous the van’s home windows.

They additionally stored a listing of “crazy things” they’d seen, like individuals combating in comfort shops, or the girl in Seattle who threw her baggage down three flights of stairs in a subway station. The band’s drummer, Niki Koh, 31, stated he significantly loved visiting a retailer that bought weapons, knives and searching gear — “ everything that we won’t find in Singapore.”

“It’s culture shock,” he said, speaking in a video interview from Kansas City. “But at the same time, it’s very interesting.”