A New Zealand band that performed at a Christchurch City Council funded New Years Eve concert may face penalties following sexually explicit and political comments made on stage.

Multiple people contacted chrislynchmedia.com with concerns about Kora, describing the on stage behaviour at Hagley Park as inappropriate for a family focused event.

One woman said she was “disgusted” by a sexually explicit joke made by the band’s singer involving erections.

She said the comment was particularly concerning given the band had acknowledged there were children in the audience.

Another attendee said the evening had started well before the band appeared. “The night at Hagley Park was good until Kora decided to crack some jokes and swear,” the attendee said. “Was disgusting to be fair.”

Another concertgoer said the performance crossed a line when it turned political. He said the singer encouraged people to enrol to vote so they could remove the Government from office.

“I found it an extraordinary thing to say. This was meant to be a family friendly event, not a platform for political messaging, especially when it was funded by ratepayers.”

Another woman who attended the concert with her family said the experience was upsetting for both adults and children.

“We were there with our young family and had to listen to Kora swear constantly and then tell crude inappropriate jokes,” she said.

“Our 12 daughter turned to us at one point and asked mum isn’t this meant to be a family event. He was swearing a lot and there are lots of little kids around.

“It’s almost heavy metal type music nothing to sing along to not family focused at all as published.

“No alcohol No smoking, which is perfect for families but the music and behaviour of the main act was sad and embarrassing. Such a shame for so many.

“More than half of the people at the event didn’t even clap they were just sitting and hoping for the midnight fireworks to kick in.”

In a statement, Head of Recreation, Sports and Events Nigel Cox said the council did not consider the content appropriate for a publicly funded family oriented civic event.

Asked whether the council had performance guidelines for artists appearing at council events, Cox said “The Council expects all artists engaged for Council events to uphold a high standard of behaviour that is appropriate for public and community settings.”

On whether the council would review the performance or take follow up action, Cox said “Yes, we are refreshing our artist briefings will include a specific no profanity clause in our booking agreements and have raised the issue with the band’s agent.”

“Any failure by performers to comply with our booking agreements will constitute a breach of contract and result in penalties.

“Three formal complaints have been received relating to comments and bad language by the band. Staff are following up directly with those people to apologise,” he said.

In a statement, Kora’s management team told chrislynchmedia.com it had only become aware of the concerns on Friday.

Manager Matthew Harvey said neither he nor the booking agent condone offensive language around children or at family oriented events.

Not everyone was unhappy with the event, with many people offering positive feedback about the evening on Chris Lynch’s Facebook page.