[Chron]It was musician's microphone that spooked DFW

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2730217


It was musician's microphone that spooked DFW
Associated Press

GRAPEVINE - It was Brian Teasley's custom-made microphone that was responsible for shutting down five gates in Terminal C at Dallas Fort Worth-International Airport this week.

Next time, he'll ship it instead of carrying it in his baggage, he promised in a story in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Teasley, a member of Dallas-based pop-rock band Polyphonic Spree, had been in Austin where the group taped an episode of Austin City Limits. He was taking a flight from DFW to his home in Birmingham, Ala., on Thursday.

The percussionist for the 25-member band had planned to do some recording at home, so he put the microphone in his suitcase.

When his suitcase didn't show up on the baggage carousel in Birmingham, he filled out the missing-luggage paperwork and went home. He didn't know the suitcase wasn't there because it was under scrutiny at the Texas airport.

A DFW terminal area and several gates were closed briefly after a routine baggage screening detected the device, which raised concerns because of the wires and threading caps running through it. A bomb disposal robot removed it, and it was taken to an open field.

By the time Teasley arrived home, he had quite a reception.

"I had Taco Bell in my hand, and all of a sudden, these cars block me in my driveway. They've all got tinted windows, 'X-Files' style," he said. "Then here comes one guy with a bulletproof vest on, another with a gun showing. It was a very harrowing day."

Teasley explained that the item in question was not a pipe bomb, but a microphone.

"I told them we had just used it when we were on Craig Kilborn's show," he said. "I still had it on my TiVo, so I was like, `Come watch it with me.' After they figured out I was telling the truth, they were pretty cool. I was talking to them about music. But thank God for TiVo."