Rapper's profanity at Norfolk festival was out of place

Certain things go together: Peanut butter and jelly. Bikinis and sunscreen. Ants and picnics.

Repeated F-bombs and family-oriented concerts? Not at all.

It's come to this: Festevents, the group that organizes festivals and concerts at Town Point Park in Norfolk, will explicitly state in its contracts that bands and singers shouldn't utter profanity while performing on stage. Unfortunately, something that should be common sense needs to be spelled out in written agreements.

The change comes after a rapper Saturday night let loose with a few not-so-choice words in front of children and families who were at the Bayou Boogaloo and Cajun Festival.

The decision by festival officials to pull Raymond "Boots" Riley from the stage, while fronting the band Galactic, was entirely appropriate. The decision to ask Norfolk police to charge him with abusive language, a misdemeanor, was overkill. The organization had achieved its goal - to stop the cursing - and Riley was cooperative and left the park after the incident. Plus, without a prior explicit ban on profanity, it's debatable whether the charge will hold up in court.

Clips of Riley on YouTube.com, before adult audiences, appeared to jibe with his act Saturday night. So it shouldn't have been a surprise that he might delve into the realm of impolite verbiage.

Twice previously, Galactic had appeared at the Bayou Boogaloo without singers or rappers, said Karen Scherberger, Festevents executive director. The organization's booking agent apparently didn't know Riley might appear, though Galactic's Web site notes that several rappers - including Riley - were scheduled to be on tour with the band this summer. The Web site stated that Riley would appear in Norfolk on Saturday night.

The downtown park has been in the news a lot this season, after noise and obscenity complaints at Afr'Am Fest, and after turnout fell by almost 50 percent at Harborfest. It's understandable, then, that Festevent organizers are hypersensitive about the conduct of bands, the safety of festival-goers and the city's image.

"It's a public park," said Scherberger. "... We always promote events as family-oriented." She added: "We work extra hard to make sure content is acceptable." She said many in the crowd of 4,000 began to leave after Riley's comments.

This is not so much a First Amendment issue as it is one of taste and propriety. Performers would gain more leeway on stage at private, generally adults-only venues such as The NorVa, Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amphitheater or nTelos Pavilion. The setting at Town Point Park, though, is different.

Festevents, correctly, has made it clear that profanity is unacceptable at its concerts. Charging Riley with a crime, however, was as unnecessary as the rapper's monologue.