NOFX

NOFX draw criticism for joke about Las Vegas shooting victims

[Photo by: Joe Leonard]

Veteran punk band NOFX and their often outspoken frontman, Fat Mike, are drawing criticism for a tasteless joke they made onstage Sunday about the victims of the 2017 Las Vegas shooting. Watch video of the incident below.

As reported by TMZ, Fat Mike compared victims of the Vegas shooting to punk music fans. The musician made the comment last weekend during NOFX’s set at the Punk Rock Bowling & Music Festival. He reportedly said of the victims, “At least they were country fans.”

It all started between songs during the band’s festival performance. Fat Mike announced, “We played a song about Muslims and we didn’t get shot. Hooray.” Another NOFX member then replied, “I guess you only get shot in Vegas if you are in a country band.”

“That [the massacre] sucked,” Fat Mike continued. “But at least they were country fans and no punk rock fans.” The longtime NOFX singer added, “You were all thinking it.”

The other performer in the exchange with Fat Mike is NOFX guitarist Eric Melvin, as reported by SPIN. The footage of NOFX’s onstage remarks was first shared by Las Vegas radio DJs Dave Farra and Jason Mahoney.

The Las Vegas shooting occurred Oct. 1, 2017. A lone gunman opened fire from a hotel window onto concertgoers at the Route 91 Harvest music festival. 58 people died. And it was the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, per ABC News.

Punk Rock Bowling responds

Punk Rock Bowling released the following statement regarding NOFX’s comments.

In light of NOFX’s comments during their performance at the Punk Rock Bowling and 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.
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.
Mark Stern and Shawn Stern
Founders of Punk Rock Bowling