Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

"Cholo goth" duo gets ripped off at Riot Fest in Chicago

Stolen Prayers

What Prayers’ Rafa Reyes thought was “legit” ended in theft. - Image by The Chicagoist
What Prayers’ Rafa Reyes thought was “legit” ended in theft.

“We are mostly a San Diego/L.A./New York band,” says Rafa Reyes, half of cholo goth duo Prayers. The release of their Young Gods album took them on a 14-city, three-week tour, which ended September 11 at Chicago’s Riot Festival. Each day of the three-day fest drew about 45,000. “I was amazed how many people knew our lyrics,” Rafa says of their first Chicago show. “I jumped into the crowd at the end of the set.”

Video:

Prayers...

...and the cholo-goth life

...and the cholo-goth life

Security was tight. “Just to get inside you had to go show documented proof you were supposed to be there,” Reyes tells the Reader. “We said, ‘Wow, this place is legit.’ They had a security guard stand by our van the whole time.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

But when the band went back to their hotel that night, they discovered video equipment had been jacked from their van before they left the festival.

Oxnard-based videographer Jordan Rios said he lost a laptop, his camera, three lenses, and various lights. He says the uninsured loss, approximately $3000, was not the worst part. “I did a Go-fund me to get my equipment back. To be honest, I have enough money to get new equipment now. But I quit my job to go on tour with them to make a documentary. I got the whole tour. That [footage] is gone forever.... We went back the next day to talk to them. Come to find out the same security guard who watched our van didn’t show up for work [on Saturday].”

Rios says there was no police report filed. “I just got tired of the bullshit and left.... We spoke to a cop who happened to be there. He asked us if we filed a police report. He said if we did they wouldn’t get around to it for a month later. When we told him we were from California he laughed and told us we were pretty much fucked.”

Past Event

Prayers

  • Thursday, October 29, 2015, 8 p.m.
  • Irenic, 3090 Polk Avenue, San Diego
  • $20

Prayers tour manager Steve Martinez remembers that security guard stationed by their van. “He was there smoking weed the whole time with his little homies.” He said he saw staffers for his security company getting hired the day of the event. “They were hiring people off the streets of Chicago that day for their security force. They were hiring tweakers, biker gangs, strippers, right off the street.”

Prayers manager Nick Oehlers says he did not know yet how the matter would be resolved. “It had to be an inside job,” says Reyes. “Hopefully they can make this thing right. This shouldn’t happen.”

The Prayers appear October 29 at the Irenic.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Syrian treat maker Hakmi Sweets makes Dubai chocolate bars

Look for the counter shop inside a Mediterranean grill in El Cajon
What Prayers’ Rafa Reyes thought was “legit” ended in theft. - Image by The Chicagoist
What Prayers’ Rafa Reyes thought was “legit” ended in theft.

“We are mostly a San Diego/L.A./New York band,” says Rafa Reyes, half of cholo goth duo Prayers. The release of their Young Gods album took them on a 14-city, three-week tour, which ended September 11 at Chicago’s Riot Festival. Each day of the three-day fest drew about 45,000. “I was amazed how many people knew our lyrics,” Rafa says of their first Chicago show. “I jumped into the crowd at the end of the set.”

Video:

Prayers...

...and the cholo-goth life

...and the cholo-goth life

Security was tight. “Just to get inside you had to go show documented proof you were supposed to be there,” Reyes tells the Reader. “We said, ‘Wow, this place is legit.’ They had a security guard stand by our van the whole time.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

But when the band went back to their hotel that night, they discovered video equipment had been jacked from their van before they left the festival.

Oxnard-based videographer Jordan Rios said he lost a laptop, his camera, three lenses, and various lights. He says the uninsured loss, approximately $3000, was not the worst part. “I did a Go-fund me to get my equipment back. To be honest, I have enough money to get new equipment now. But I quit my job to go on tour with them to make a documentary. I got the whole tour. That [footage] is gone forever.... We went back the next day to talk to them. Come to find out the same security guard who watched our van didn’t show up for work [on Saturday].”

Rios says there was no police report filed. “I just got tired of the bullshit and left.... We spoke to a cop who happened to be there. He asked us if we filed a police report. He said if we did they wouldn’t get around to it for a month later. When we told him we were from California he laughed and told us we were pretty much fucked.”

Past Event

Prayers

  • Thursday, October 29, 2015, 8 p.m.
  • Irenic, 3090 Polk Avenue, San Diego
  • $20

Prayers tour manager Steve Martinez remembers that security guard stationed by their van. “He was there smoking weed the whole time with his little homies.” He said he saw staffers for his security company getting hired the day of the event. “They were hiring people off the streets of Chicago that day for their security force. They were hiring tweakers, biker gangs, strippers, right off the street.”

Prayers manager Nick Oehlers says he did not know yet how the matter would be resolved. “It had to be an inside job,” says Reyes. “Hopefully they can make this thing right. This shouldn’t happen.”

The Prayers appear October 29 at the Irenic.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Drinking Sudden Death on All Saint’s Day in Quixote’s church-themed interior

Seeking solace, spiritual and otherwise
Next Article

Tigers In Cairo owes its existence to Craigslist

But it owes its name to a Cure tune and a tattoo
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader