Joe Leonard / Fat Wreck ChordsVeteran punk band NOFX is facing strong criticism after making callous remarks about the horrific massacre that killed 58 people and injured hundreds of others at the Route 91 Harvest Festival on October 1, 2017.
While performing at the Punk Rock Bowling & Music Festival in Vegas this past Sunday, NOFX frontman Fat Mike remarked, “We just played a song about Muslims and we didn’t get shot,” as seen in video footage posted Wednesday on TMZ.
At that point, one of his bandmates, appearing in the fan-filmed video to be guitarist Eric Melvin, said something to the effect of, “I guess you only get shot in Vegas if you are in a country band.” To which Fat Mike replied, “I mean, that [massacre] sucked but at least they were country fans and not punk rock fans.”
When the audience started to groan in disapproval, Fat Mike responded, “You were all thinking it.”
In a statement Wednesday, Punk Rock Bowling & Music Festival organizers Mark Stern and Shawn Stern wrote, “In light of NOFX’s comments during their performance at Punk Rock Bowling & Music Festival, we would like to offer a formal apology to those in attendance, the City of Las Vegas, the victims, and the families of 10/1.”
The statement continues, “Las Vegas is home to the Punk Rock Bowling & Music Festival, and we do not condone the statements made from our stage on Sunday night. We take the safety of our festival goers seriously and want to relay that, there is nothing funny about people being shot and murdered, ever.”
NOFX has yet to release a statement on the matter.
Copyright © 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
