Steve Thorne, Redferns
When robbers broke into Machine Head frontman Robb Flynn’s house on September 7, they stole many valuable and irreplaceable guitars, including one that was given to Flynn from the late Dimebag Darrel. The robbers also stole a mini flying V that was given to Flynn’s son Zander for Christmas. Sadly, there has been no headway in catching the criminals or retaining the stolen goods. However, fans have helped chip in to make up for at least one of the losses.
Several members of Machine Head’s official message board (The Frontlines) have donated money and bought a new guitar for Zander. Frontlines member Desmadre wrote the following letter to Flynn:
“When I heard what happened to you and your family on the 7th of September I was disgusted… Then when I heard that they stole your son’s flying V, I was absolutely fuckin’ pissed… To come home at such a young age and see the shit that happened is traumatizing… asking if the robbers would return at night to kill him… I didn’t know what to say, but I knew what I could do…
Over the years you’ve been more than generous to a shitload of us from the Frontlines board… taking us backstage even taking the time to shoot the shit with us. You’ve helped us go through our own problems like sadness, sorrow, death or just merely getting us pumped for a football game or getting us through a drag-ass day at work. Nowadays, who the fuck does that? You know who… no one!
I’ve heard the Frontlines refered to as a community, as a fun place to fuck around on the Internet but I see it as more… It’s more like a family. And what do families do in times like this? They help each other out. So from the bottom of our rotten blackened hearts, Robb we hope you accept this gesture. It may not replace what was taken from your home but hopefully it will help starting with the most important thing in your life, your kids…
Thank you for your years of help.”
In response, Flynn posted the following thank you letter in the forums:
“On behalf of my wife and and kids, I want to sincerely thank Desmadre [member of the Machine Head message board who helped raise the funds to buy the guitar] the and everyone who contributed to the guitar fund. It was an incredible and thoughtful gesture, one that my family and I were / are blown away by. It practically moved my wife to tears (Christ, she almost posted a thanks on the board!?) and Zander is totally stoked! Great choice of guitars, Zander actually likes it better than his other one! I would also like to take this time to thank the other Frontliners [members of the MH message board] who have gone out of their way to help our family out, either financially, with gift certificates, scouring eBay for the guitars, or just sending the good vibes our way.”
You can read Flynn’s entire post and update on the Frontlines Message Board. Flynn also posts pictures of Zander playing his new guitar in the post. Robb and his family have gone through a lot over the past two months, something no family should have to go through. But what the Machine Head fans did truly his heartwarming and obviously meant a lot to the Flynns. Not to sound overly sappy, but it really is touching to see fans giving back to their favorite band.
