By this time, Phoenix had become quite popular, both for the songs and the thinly-veiled allusions to the Communist regime. The band members, especially Nicu Covaci, were increasingly harassed by the Securitate. Covaci married a Dutch woman and left the country in 1976. He returned in 1977, bringing in relief aid for those struck by the powerful earthquake on 4 March. After two grandiose concerts in Constanța and Tulcea, Covaci left the country again, this time with all the band members (except Baniciu) hidden inside their Marshall speakers: at the time it was extremely difficult to obtain approval to travel abroad, and illegal border crossing was punished with imprisonment.