Etc...

Just delete the expletives, OK?

When concertgoers gather for the annual Elsrock heavy metal music festival in the Netherlands in late August, they may see guitars being smashed on stage. There may be all sorts of pyrotechnics. The decibel level may blow out the speakers. But what won't be part of the scene is profanity – at least not issuing from the lips of the performers. Or so the theory goes since the mayor of Rijssen granted a permit for this year's performance. It seems that last summer, when the event was held in the small town for the first time, there were multiple complaints. According to one of them, the music "is typified by lyrics about death and decay." Oh, and the vocals "change[d] between a hellish wail and deep grunts." This was especially problematic because the festival took place outdoors, and Rijssen is in an area known as the Dutch Bible Belt. The only way that church groups opposed to the return of the festival could be placated, Mayor Bort Koelewijn wrote in granting the permit, was "the stated readiness of the organizers to make sure that no blasphemous words are used and that the honor of God's name is not besmirched. And if the bands don't cooperate? "I'll ask the district attorney to prosecute," his letter added.