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While members of the Los Angeles band Ozomatli are fighting misdemeanor and criminal charges after spending Thursday in jail, some Austin City Council members are hoping to revise the 2003 noise ordinance that caused the arrests.
The band, which played at Exodus on Wednesday night as part of South By Southwest, led fans out of the club in a musical conga line just after 2 a.m.
The band ended its 1999 SXSW show in the same manner, without trouble, band members said at a Saturday news conference.
Austin fire marshals told band members to get 200 people out of the overcrowded club, and the band was trying to comply, said bassist Willy Abers.
As band members continued to play music outside on Sixth Street, Austin Police Department officers warned they were violating the city's noise ordinance and instructed them to return to the club, band members said.
"On our way back in, we were still being positive," Abers said.
However, as they headed back into the club, Ozomatli percussionist Jiro Yamaguchi's drum made contact with the head of an APD officer, and a scuffle in the crowd ensued, according to bandmember reports. The incident ended in the arrests of Yamaguchi, Abers and band manager Amy Sue Blackman-Romero.
"I've known Jiro for 11 years, and he wouldn't hurt an ant," Abers said. "There's no way that he would hit somebody - anybody - over the head with his drum. That's not what he does."
Yamaguchi was charged with assault on a police officer, Abers with a noise ordinance violation and Blackman-Romero with interfering with an officer's duties. They were taken to Travis County Jail and released on personal recognizance Thursday afternoon, Blackman-Romero said.
Lawyers for the band are working to get the charges dropped, Blackman-Romero said. She wouldn't comment as to whether band members plan to sue APD.
The band's Saturday-night show at Stubb's concluded without incident.
A video of the Thursday morning incident, available on statesman.com, showed a crowd outside Exodus and band members holding their instruments above the crowd, trying to get back in the club.
APD spokeswoman Laura Albrecht said she was not aware of the video and declined to comment on the cases.
"We thought that after they saw the video last night, that they would drop the charges," Blackman-Romero said.
The incident wasn't handled as well as it could have been, said Louis Black, Austin Chronicle editor and SXSW organizer.
"Worse stuff happens almost every other week on Sixth Street," Black said. "If this is the biggest deal [during SXSW], this is great news for us. It's great news for the police. It's great news for the band - but I'm not saying I'm happy that it happened."
Festival organizers are not mobilizing to change the noise ordinance, Black said.
Council members Betty Dunkerley and Brewster McCracken said SXSW and the Austin City Limits Music Festival should be exempt from the noise ordinance.
Local bands are more aware of the noise ordinance than out-of-town musicians, McCracken said.
"If we knew they couldn't play on the street at 2 a.m., we wouldn't have," Blackman-Romero said. "Especially because we pulled it off successfully before, we had no idea."
Ozomatli returns to Austin on April 22 for a show at La Zona Rosa.
"Our audience is all about love and harmony. We bring people together. That's the type of band we are," Abers said.
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