Spider found in Noel Gallagher's guitar case

Noel Gallagher Noel Gallagher was said to be "blissfully unaware" of the panic the spider had caused

Related Stories

The backstage area of a Jersey music festival had to be quarantined after a large spider jumped out of Noel Gallagher's flight case.

Jersey Live crew were unpacking his guitars on Sunday when they saw the "huge black spider with green fangs".

Representatives of the Jersey-based Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust were on site fundraising and took the spider away for analysis.

Gallagher had yet to arrive so was said to be "unaware" of the panic.

Matt Goetz, head of herpetology for Durrell, said the spider was now living in a jar on his desk.

Spider panic

Although Mr Goetz said he thought he knew the family it came from, he wanted to double check and said it would need to be sent to an expert for analysis.

Jersey Live spokeswoman, Jayne Houghton, said: "Staff immediately set about catching the spider and an area backstage had to be quarantined for nearly 20 minutes.

"Noel had not arrived at the gig and so was blissfully unaware of the panic the spider caused."

Black spider The black spider "jumped out" of Noel Gallagher's guitar case

Noel Gallagher has been touring around Europe over the past few months and Mr Goetz said the spider could have come from anywhere, including the UK.

"You will need a spider expert, I would probably send it off to a museum to identify the species and exactly where it comes from," said Mr Goetz.

Even though spiders like it exist in the UK, there are no plans to release it into the wild because it could come from somewhere like South America.

He said: "I am sure it would do no harm if we let it go but I will probably keep it here in my office for a couple of days and then maybe find somebody who would be sure about it."

Mr Goetz said the quarantine would have been a sensible measure given how many places musicians visit.

"If they come to Jersey from god knows where and a spider jumps out of [their cases], it could be a dangerous spider from the tropics," he said.

Noel Gallagher was headlining the Jersey Live music festival on Sunday 2 September. The two-day event attracted 10,000 people and also saw Chase & Status, Primal Scream and Professor Green perform.

More on This Story

Related Stories

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites

BBC Jersey

Features & Analysis

  • The bottoms of Eric Orton's feetFoot loose Watch

    How barefoot Indian tribe inspired a US fitness revolution


  • Anthony Weiner, Medea Benjamin of the group Code Pink, and Amanda BynesTweets of the week

    Hecklers, Anthony Weiner and more - all in 140 characters


  • Eccles cake10 things

    Don't microwave eccles cakes, and nine other nuggets


  • CrashAlertWatch out!

    The 'safety belt' for the walking texter


Elsewhere on the BBC

  • Florence’s Medici Chapel Art over politics

    Michelangelo managed to complete Florence’s Medici Chapel during a time of uprising

Programmes

  • A smartwatchClick Watch

    Marc Cieslak looks at the watches which are capable of doing more than just telling the time

BBC © 2013 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.