Free Pixie party brought to halt by gardai
Former Pixies frontman Frank Black performs for free outside the locked gates of St Stephen's Green on Saturday afternoon
Monday February 11 2008
GARDAI turned away hundreds of disappointed music fans from an impromptu free gig by former Pixies frontman Frank Black.
But despite taking the legendary singer away in the back of a squad car, gardai insisted yesterday that he wasn't actually arrested after he tried to stage a solo performance at the bandstand in St Stephen's Green in Dublin.
Hundreds of music fans converged at the park just as it was closing at 4pm on Saturday after word spread via the internet and some radio stations that the singer would be hosting an impromptu gig at the park prior to his concert at Vicar Street that night.
But as fans made their way to the bandstand, gardai told them to leave because the park gates close at 4pm during the winter.
Black performed a couple of songs outside the park gates before he was ushered into a garda patrol car. But gardai yesterday insisted that Black wasn't arrested but was simply taken away in order to disperse the crowd.
Black was quoted yesterday as saying that he was taken to Kevin Street Garda Station where gardai treated him "to some kind of stew".
But a garda spokesman said Black was obviously speaking with his tongue placed firmly in his cheek, as he was never arrested "and certainly not given any food".
"He was taken away for safety reasons. People everywhere were blocking the park and it became a public order issue," he said.
The Office of Public Works, which operates the park, said anyone staging a performance at the band had to apply for permission beforehand.
"From an event point of view we have to ensure they're insured. It would be very rare they would extend the opening hours," an OPW spokesman said.
In Black's case, no one approached the OPW beforehand and gardai were called in to disperse the crowd after some eager fans climbed into the park over the railings after it had closed, he said.
- Allison Bray
