Brighton band caught up in riots during Paris gig

A Brighton band have described their shock after they had equipment stolen in Paris as rioters descended on the streets around the venue where they were playing a gig.

Joe Frampton, the drummer of Dutch Criminal Record, said the concert had already been moved from one venue they were scheduled to play in due to the risk of riots in the area.

When they arrived at Le Truskel for Saturday's performance, he said demonstrations were taking place, but the streets were "very peaceful". However, the situation rapidly changed.

"Then we got teargassed," he said. "So we had to let the people who were queuing outside in as quickly as possible."

The band took refuge in the venue with the audience, hoping the situation would calm down.

But when they returned to the van about an hour later, they noticed it had been broken into.

Joe said: "I was lucky, but some other members of the band had their bags stolen which contained laptops and passports.

"It was really, really gutting, and we had to make a call whether we were going to perform or not. But we decided that we were going to."

Dutch Criminal Record, who were formed by a group of friends in Chichester, are currently on tour in Europe.

They are due to play Utrecht and Tilburg in the Netherlands, and Hamburg, in Germany.

Joe said the the van is currently being "held together with duct tape" and emergency passports have been arranged so the band members can return home.

He added that after the gig the streets of Paris "felt post apocalyptic".

"It was definitely a once in a lifetime event," he said.

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