POISON Concert Leads Missouri Town Officials To Legislate Morality

August 29, 2003

Cliff Sain of Branson Daily News reports that a Branson, Missouri alderman on Monday (August 25) defended the city's right to legislate morality, prompting a resolution encouraging theaters to stick to family-oriented entertainment.

The resolution, which only expresses the opinion of the board, was passed, but met with a mixed reaction from a crowd of about 70 spectators — some calling the resolution unnecessary, and others upset it didn't go far enough.

The resolution, read by Alderman Jack Purvis, was created in response to complaints about a recent concert by rock band POISON at The Grand Palace.

Purvis said that the July concert by POISON concerned him because of reported behavior by both the band and crowd. He said he wants Branson theaters to establish "a code of ethics" to discourage future shows like POISON's.

"As a 35-year resident of Branson, I am very concerned when we have this kind of venue that crosses the line of decency and the family values we treasure here in Branson," Purvis said during a board of aldermen meeting.

Purvis, who did not attend the concert, started his discussion by referring to a letter by local pastor Jay Scribner, which was sent to several area newspapers, including the Branson Daily News. In the letter, Scribner said the concert included the constant use of obscenities from the stage, smoking by the band, audience and crew members, marijuana use by audience and crew, audience members throwing alcoholic beverages, and women exposing their chests and throwing bras on the stage.

"I have been able to confirm that the items listed in that letter did take place," Purvis said.

"The Board of Aldermen encourages Branson theater owners to offer to the public, entertainment which appeals to, and is suitable, for all family members regardless of age," Purvis read from the ordinance.

The resolution states the board "encourages theater owners to abide by all applicable public safety and public conduct ordinances."

Find more on

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).