Belle and Sebastian were almost forced to cancel a US show this week after failing to realise that they had left their drummer stranded in a different state.
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The Scottish band had been travelling to St Paul, Minnesota overnight on Monday (August 14) for their gig in the city on Tuesday night (August 15) when the incident occurred.
“Shit, we left Richard in North Dakota. Anyone want to be a hero and get him to St Paul, Minnesota somehow. The gig hangs in the balance,” frontman Stuart Murdoch tweeted upon realising their mistake.
Shit, we left Richard in North Dakota. Anyone want to be a hero and get him to St Paul, Minnesota somehow. The gig hangs in the balance..?
— stuart murdoch (@nee_massey) August 15, 2017
Speaking to The Current, Murdoch explained that the band had last seen their drummer Richard Colburn when they stopped at a Walmart in Dickinson, North Dakota on Monday night, with the rest of the band not noticing that he hadn’t returned before their tour bus departed. While his bandmates went to sleep on the bus, Colburn was left without a phone or ID, armed only with a credit card.
“The thing is, he was probably thinking that somebody was going to notice, but the trouble is everybody went to bed,” Murdoch said.
“I mean, there used to be a system,” the singer added. “But because we all have mobile phones these days, everybody’s got a little bit blasé about it. It used to be that it was the pass on the passenger seat — you used to leave a pass for the last person, and that’s how the driver knew.”
Colburn eventually checked himself into a hotel while the band worked out how to get him to Minnesota in time for the gig.
“With a band our size… it’s like herding cats,” Murdoch joked. “So it’s maybe not surprising that something like this happened.”
According to Pioneer Press, the band eventually found a volunteer to drive Colburn to Bismarck, where he could then get a flight to Minneapolis.
“Thanks for your help folks. We have Richard on a plane now, so everything is ok. He’s in his pyjamas, sitting with a mimosa,” Murdoch tweeted during late Tuesday afternoon.
Thanks for your help folks. We have Richard on a plane now, so everything is ok. He's in his pyjamas, sitting with a mimosa ??
— stuart murdoch (@nee_massey) August 15, 2017
Colburn eventually made it in time for the show and the band took to Twitter to determine which songs would be most apt to incorporate into their setlist.
None of us will ever dare get off the bus again https://t.co/3S7f3164Hz
— belle & sebastian (@bellesglasgow) August 16, 2017
Beans just suggested we play I Know Where The Drummer Goes tonight. Richard thinks Travelling Light could work. ?
— belle & sebastian (@bellesglasgow) August 16, 2017
A Drummer Wasting
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Drummer
The State I Am In (North Dakota)Oh how we laugh…
— belle & sebastian (@bellesglasgow) August 16, 2017
Murdoch has also since taken to Twitter to stress how the group have learned from the mistake and now have a new system in place to ensure nobody gets left behind again.
A new sign appeared on our bus. Should be ok now..? pic.twitter.com/mrGvBgq5ca
— stuart murdoch (@nee_massey) August 16, 2017
One big happy bus! X pic.twitter.com/Bu1KPearoz
— stuart murdoch (@nee_massey) August 16, 2017
Belle and Sebastian have three more dates left of their US tour, playing shows in Chicago, Louisville and Omaha later this week.