“Get down!” a woman can be heard saying, alerting the band’s manager in the parking lot. “Somebody ring the police!” Offscreen voices encourage people to stay inside for their safety, and two men run past into a vehicle that drummer Al Greenwood and vocalist Alex Rice later described to The Standard as a “getaway car.”

Amazingly, the band members lost none of their musical equipment, allowing the seven-date tour to move forward. But personal items — devices, documents, and journals — were stolen.

“Different people lost different stuff,” Rice said from Sacramento ahead of sound check. “Luckily, I had my passport on me, but a lot of people lost their passports. All of our laptops, cameras, Kindles. But I guess at the end of the day, we’re just reflecting on how lucky we are to all be safe.”

The van’s windows were smashed, but the band quickly obtained a replacement after reporting the incident to police.

The episode may never have occurred had the band’s initial flight not been canceled, forcing them to rebook and arrive at SFO late Monday night.

The Standard has reached out to the Vallejo Police Department but did not receive a response by publication time.

The band members said it wasn’t so much the crime that left them shaken as the shock over a daytime armed robbery. Gun-related crimes are practically unheard of in Britain. “The odd bit for us, cause I guess we were all in shock, is that in the U.K. at least, you don’t see guns,” Greenwood said. “If someone pulls a gun out, you’ve got a SWAT team there in five minutes, and the whole street’s closed down for a week.” 

Bright Antenna, Sports Team’s label, is based in Mill Valley, so the band has been to the Bay Area several times. The incident hasn’t soured the musicians on California, they insist, noting that they are enjoying Mexican food and the sunshine at a time of year when it’s gloomy in the U.K.

“We fly back on the 16th,” Rice said. “So hopefully we’ll all make it home for Christmas.”