mike watt... i love you and i hope you find your gear

Kyle gave me the startling news last night that while touring in Canada, Iggy and the Stooges, including Mike Watt on bass, had all their gear stolen. Now, if I had all of my gear stolen, while it might be a financial disaster to me, not much in my collection could not be replaced, unlike Mike and the rest of the Stooges'. I am almost positive they have close to non-replaceable gear. Old guitars and amps that they have been playing on for years, and I am positive that while my collection includes a couple of Epiphones, their collections include their more expensive cousin, the Gibsons, but this is not my intended point of this blog post.
I actually met Mike Watt a couple of years ago. On his non-stop touring he played in Lubbock... at the Blue Light, and he actually stayed at my friend Heath's house! I, unfortunately, knew not much of the awesomeness of Mike Watt at the time. The thing that I remember is hanging out in Heath's living room with him after the show, and he had this huge image of John Coltrane on the wallpaper of his laptop (mac laptop, by the way) and he kept saying "Look at those eyes, look at those eyes, they say everything". While I am sure that I had no impression on his life, he has had a huge impression on mine.
While I was reading the news about his gear for myself on Pitchfork yesterday morning, they had a link to this magazine that features Mike and his bass that he refers to as Little Bass, and the bass that was stolen.

This cover says in a picture exactly what I think is so cool about Mike Watt. He has thought of himself as a blue collar musician, and one of the most true "working musicians" that has ever existed. The man plays non-stop. In this pic of him and his, Little Bass, it appears as his tool, and not much different than a hammer to a carpenter. Rock on Mike, and I hope you find your gear.