Public Enemy Wasn’t on Bill, Tour Agent Says

Public Enemy, the rap group whose non-appearance at the Pacific Amphitheatre Sunday brought charges of political interference from other acts on the bill, was never scheduled to play the show in the first place, a group spokeswoman said Tuesday.

The spokeswoman for New York-based Rush Productions Inc., tour representatives of the politically charged rappers, said the group was to play at a similar show Saturday at the Shoreline Amphitheatre outside San Francisco, but not at the “Gathering of the Tribes” concert in Costa Mesa on Sunday.

Public Enemy had figured prominently in ads for the Costa Mesa concert, a 10-hour rock, folk and rap marathon. Amphitheater officials have remained tight-lipped about the group’s no-show. Alex Hodges, in charge of concert booking for the Pacific, had no comment backstage during the event. The general manager and operations manager of the Pacific have not returned numerous phone calls from The Times. A representative of Pacific parent company, Nederlander, who asked not to be identified, would say only that Public Enemy did not play because of a scheduling conflict.

When the group did not appear, several acts went on stage and publicly blamed Costa Mesa police for blocking its performance. Backstage, Ian Astbury, lead singer of the Cult and organizer of the event, said he had been told that “Costa Mesa authorities . . . put a lot of verbal pressure” on amphitheater officials to keep Public Enemy off the bill.

Police Chief David L. Snowden said Tuesday that his department had nothing to do with the group’s failure to appear, although he said the department did convey concerns about the event to amphitheater officials. He said the department was worried about an unlimited re-entry policy, which eventually was dropped, and about the concert taking place on the day of a swap meet on the neighboring fairgrounds.

Times staff writer Mike Boehm contributed to this story.