The Virginian-Pilot
©
NORFOLK
Organizers of a Town Point Park festival ordered a performer offstage and pressed charges against him Saturday night after they say he used profanity twice within a two-minute period.
The action came less than a month after a number of downtown residents said they heard offensive language during the park's Afr'Am Fest over Memorial Day weekend.
The Bayou Boogaloo and Cajun Festival was winding down around 9:30 p.m. Saturday when Karen Scherberger, Festevents' executive director, said she heard a performer use an "embellishment of the F-word" while introducing band members. Scherberger said she immediately made contact with the stage manager, who motioned the singer off the stage. The band was allowed to finish the song before the concert was shut down, she said.
Foul language is "not something we tolerate at any of our events," Scherberger said. "There are families here. It's so inappropriate."
Festevents, which organizes Town Point Park festivals, posted an apology on its Web site, saying it regretted "our guests were exposed to profanity... the musician responsible has been charged with abusive language by the Norfolk Police Department."
Information about the charge - a misdemeanor - was not available Sunday.
Scherberger said the performer, Raymond "Boots" Riley, was cooperative and left the park after the alleged incident. Riley was a guest of the band Galactic, described on its Web site as an instrumental act that "grooves to an urban ear while still maintaining their essential funk aesthetic."
Galactic had performed at the park twice before and language was never a problem, Scherberger said. "They will absolutely never be invited back. They played their last event at Town Point Park."
Complaints that followed the Memorial Day weekend festival prompted city officials to look at how festivals at Town Point Park are managed. Afr'Am Fest organizers have denied the use of vulgar language but said they would work with the city to resolve any problems.
Lainy Lustig, who lives near the park at Freemason Harbour, did not attend Bayou Boogaloo but can sometimes hear the festivals from her home. She said she did not hear anything out of the ordinary Saturday.
"That's a fun festival," Lustig said. "I'm really surprised."
Scherberger said Festevents received one e-mail complaint Sunday and that several in attendance "commented to police" as they left the show Saturday.
"This is the first time in 26 years we've ever pressed charges against a performer," she said. "It's not something I ever thought I would have to do."
Kristin Davis, (757) 222-5208, kristin.davis@pilotonline.com
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Hypocrites!!!
Festevents management is citing this guy for using the f word, yet festevents and the city had a VIP section where FREE ALCOHOL IS DISTRIBUTED BY THE KEG!
I'm sure that kept the profanity down in the public areas, huh? How many arrests and citations were issued for drunk in public and profanity?
How did this turn into race?
How did this discussion turn into race? Profanity is profanity recardless of the color of the mouth it came out of. If you want to attend a concert where you can expect to here profanity, then go, but an even that is filled with family and kids is not the place for it. Neither is all the drinking, but the beer will continue to flow because people always want their booze no matter what else they are doing. People drink and curse too much to begin with.
I thought the concert rocked
It is about time they got a decent band to play at these events.
I paid my 10 bucks to get into the event. I thought the way he used the F word was very artistic.
I am sure Pat Robertson would forgive him for the slip
I agree 100%, MGM!!!
I agree 100%, MGM!!! Some people are so ignorant and don't even know it.
If one of you ignorant fools could please provide the requested list, I and many others would be ever so grateful.
If you could also make a list of who is Christian enough, a good driver, and so forth.
Oh and we will need a list of words we can and cannot use, by race of course! We know there are a few words some of you think only American Africans can use.
Thank you.
Hey CH!!
My wife is Black! My musician friends are mixed! NO..we DO NOT wear white hoods! My point was that when you hire a "black act" these days, the venue is "almost" guaranteed to hear the F-word. Now..go back to the days of the Apollo Theatre! Those performers had class, and were a classy act and had respect! Wish I could say the same for some performers today. I guess the "Black Acts" I remember growing up, had more class than most of the "popular urban" acts of today! White hoods??...my...my...aren't we grasping? Visions of your past?
Anthony Burfoot
It would be helpful to have a list of black citizens who are regarded as too "Uncle Tom" to speak for any other black person. It would also be helpful to have a list of the credentials of the person/people making that list and why they think they are more qualified to speak for black people than the people they are blacklisting.
Yes, I am throwing down a gauntlet. Pls explain to me, a white person with many friends of pretty much every race, what you have to say about being black that is more valid, due to your experiences, than any contributions Anthony Burfoot has ever made. I will listen, but you need to make an eloquent, logical case, not just repeat tired old phrases.
Are you trying to say there is only one "black" way of looking at every issue? That sounds kind of racist to me. Cheers, MGM
It comes down to $
Not race... those who have it send their kids to private schools and those that don't send them to public. While it's naive to believe that the motivations by some individuals are influenced by race, more commonly, it's influenced by the almighty dollar. I went to private school, and many of my classmates were black.
This isn't a race issue...
but to whomever is quoting Anthony Burefoot, let me tell you from personal experience that this guy is an ignorant uncle tom who only obtained his position through pandering and hypocrisy. If you're going to quote an African American to make your point, he's the wrong one to use.
Ira Tateu ... Wrong
Lets take Norfolk for example
Norfolk has continued to treat funding of public schools on the lowest level; you know why? Because most of the White elite send their children to private schools. The overwhelming amounts of money spent are spent on Downtown Norfolk. This is an attempt to remove the under-class and build a shinny city where supposedly the effete will congregate and reverse the majority population of under-class blacks. That is one example for you, though I know we are way off topic and I said my last post, but oversimplifications must be addressed. Denial once again. Yes, I realize that we are really talking free speech but if you can't see the obviousness of the Karen S's tactic I feel for you
Cajun is not Creole is not Urban Thug
A lot of words describing my heritage are getting used incorrectly, so just for the sake of accuracy, some definitions, please.
I am a Cajun, descended from the French settlers of Nova Scotia who were transported to Louisiana when the British assumed control of Canada. Most settled in Southwest or South Central Louisiana.
Creoles are the descendants of French colonists who came directly from France, and indigent people (or other immigrants, or slaves). French descendants in Tahiti, for example, are also called Creoles, just as are those of French descent in New Orleans, which has very few Cajuns.
Neither of these traditional Louisiana cultures has any special relationship to Urban Thug culture which can be found in any large city. What such an act was doing at Bayou Bougaloo is beyond my understanding. You would not find Cajuns or Creoles using such language in the presence of childre