The advice coming out of the US this week for musicians is don’t travel on planes if you’re not partial to shaving.. On a trip to AOL’s Los Angeles headquarters, The National’s Matt Berninger was banged up in federal custody at Honolulu’s airport because of a “misunderstanding”.
The jetlagged and exhausted front man for the band – who are breaking big around the world – was to meet his wife and infant daughter for what he refers to as their “first official family vacation” in Kauai. After flying from Tokyo, was waiting for his connection when things went pear shaped.
“Suddenly I hear my name being called,” he told US music mag Spinner, “and my name’s flashing on all the monitors, and I was supposed to report to security.” He approached the security desk where the woman at the counter told him, “Sir, I can’t help you right now. They’re evacuating the airport.”
Berninger, the deep voiced singer of the indie rock band with Ohio roots, was watching people clear the airport when the penny dropped. “I had bought a novelty clock in Tokyo, some sort of MacGyver, goofball alarm clock that happened to look exactly like a bomb. And it was in my suitcase,” he says, describing the pressie he bought for a mate. “I had the Honolulu Airport evacuated for about 45 minutes. I ultimately had to surrender the alarm clock to the TSA but they were very pleasant and professional. They had done a great job and I thanked them and they let me go.” With all misunderstandings and security concerns allayed, Berninger issued an apology to those at the airport who may have missed connections that day.
Meanwhile Eels front man, Mark ‘E’ Everett, was chilling out in Hyde Park in London during a press tour last week, when he was approached by police because he fitted the description of a wanted terrorist. Quickly realising that he wasn’t their man, the police apologised and released him. “Not every guy with short hair and a long beard is a terrorist. Some of us just want to rock,” Everett said of the incident.
