KISS Censors Lyrics, Blood in NYE Livestream to Dodge Strict Dubai Obscenity Laws
Michele Amabile Angermiller The book has closed on “KISS 2020 Goodbye,” the band’s livestream event broadcast from the Palm in Dubai — but not without changing a couple verses to adhere to local customs in the United Arab Emirates city.The band replaced the phrase “virgin soul,” from the Gene Simmons-sung “God of Thunder,” to “sacred soul,” and also removed the word “bitch” from “100,000 Years.” Also nixed: the band’s famed blood-spitting theatrics.Although a playground for the rich and famous, Dubai is conservative about epithets that might not raise an eyebrow in America. Anything seen as a profanity or other bad language can be labeled as an obscene act, and offenders can be fined as much as Dhs 10,000 ($2,700) or jailed.