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Concert organizers to pay cost of cursing

Clearwater allows an alternative rock concert to stay at Coachman Park for now, but foul language will draw fines.

By AARON SHAROCKMAN
Published December 13, 2005

CLEARWATER - The annual Next Big Thing alternative rock concert can stay at Coachman Park at least one more year, but organizers will be fined if the cursing continues, City Council members said Monday.

Individual acts would not be penalized, Parks and Recreation director Kevin Dunbar said. Instead, the penalties would be targeted at the event's emcees, who work for concert organizer radio station 97X (WSUN-FM 97.1).

The amount of the fines was not discussed, nor did city officials say what words would trigger the penalty. Council member Carlen Petersen said it should be a "huge financial disincentive."

If 97X refuses the changes, the concert would be canceled, council members said.

The concert, which started in 2001, has been criticized by nearby residents who can hear the concert and call it both offensive and obnoxious. Supporters have said the show provides music listeners an outlet otherwise unoffered in the city.

The compromise decision came Monday after Mayor Frank Hibbard failed to win council support to stop the concerts altogether. The city has asked for better behavior each year, or it would cancel the show, Hibbard said.

But "all we do is cry wolf," he said.

Other council members believed the concert had improved over time. Noise levels are now being monitored, and music acts are being screened by the city.

This year, out of 11 acts at the Dec. 4 show, Dunbar said only band 30 Seconds to Mars was obscene.

Radio personalities acting as concert emcees also exchanged obscenities near the end of the concert, Dunbar said. The changes would penalize the emcees' actions but not the bands, Dunbar said.

"Once the bands are out on stage, there's not a lot we can do," Dunbar said.

Representatives from the radio station could not be reached Monday.

Before the council even acted Monday, residents debated the importance of any restriction in letters and e-mails sent to the city.

"In a society where it's becoming politically incorrect to utter the word Christmas, is it okay to shout from loudspeakers "gd' and the "f-word' over and over and over?" wrote Charles McLane Jr., 57, who lives near Coachman Park.

Amber Rose, a 16-year Clearwater resident who went to this year's concert, said the right to say obscenities is an important one.

"When we start telling people what they can and cannot say, we lose everything," Rose said in a letter.

Organizers sold 12,500 tickets to this year's sellout show. The city expects to net $40,000 to $60,000 from the event.

The concert is too big for Bright House Networks Field, Dunbar said, and there is no indoor alternative in the city.

Hibbard said the concert did not meet the sensibilities of Clearwater. As downtown grows, the complaints will only get louder, he said.

[Last modified December 13, 2005, 01:31:15]