Aside from being responsible for some of the most iconic punk rock albums of all time, NOFX have continually made headlines for their shock-tactic stage antics and controversial opinions.
On Sunday, the band took to the stage at Punk Rock Bowling & Music Festival in Las Vegas, where they sounded off on 2017 the shooting at Route 91 Harvest Music Festival in Las Vegas which left 59 people dead (including the perpetrator), and a further 530 injured.
In footage shared on Twitter by X1075’s DJs Dave Farra and Jason Mahoney, frontman Fat Mike and guitarist Eric Melvin can be heard exchanging banter regarding the event.
It begins with Fat Mike saying, “We played a song about Muslims and we didn’t get shot. Hooray”, to which Melvin responded, “I guess you only get shot in Vegas if you are in a country band.”
Fat Mike then responds with “at least they were country fans and not punk rock fans”, to which fans can be heard groaning from within the crowd. Mike then came back with, “you were all thinking it!”
Check out the footage below:
https://twitter.com/DaveAndMahoney/status/1001849361507106816
Fans have taken to social media to air their concerns with the joke, noting that although NOFX are well loved for their controversial opinions, this joke took things too far.
“So no more NOFX for me after steady love for over 25 years. Punk isn’t making fun of a mass shooting that slaughtered 58 innocent people, I don’t care what your band’s shtick is” said a disappointed fan.
Unbelievable. Joke or not, it's just wrong. Thanks for calling them out and taking a stand for victims of 1 October.
— Jason Roth (@jasonrothlv) May 30, 2018
https://twitter.com/ItsJustMarkNV/status/1001867619761344512
Yikes. not surprised to hear them say something controversial as thats what theyve always done. Anyone asking them to get dropped from a label, fired or whatnot are just making fools of themselves. As a band they've always been against labels and mainstream/corporate media.
— Joey Flash (@TheJoeyFlash) May 30, 2018
NOFX can fuck themeselves now. So no more NOFX for me after steady love for over 25 years. Punk isn't making fun of a mass shooting that slaughtered 58 innocent people, I don't care what your bands shtick is. #FuckNOFX #FuckFatMike #banNOFX #CaptainPirateFace
— John Robison (@Capt_PirateFace) May 30, 2018
NOFX last garnered some criticism earlier in the year, releasing a Stephen Hawking tribute song after his passing called ‘There’s No ‘Too Soon’ If Time Is Relative’, with fans claiming it was harsher than their previous tributes.
The legendary punk act were last in the country this March for the inaugural Download Festival which saw them share the stage with Korn, Limp Bizkit, Mastodon, Suicidal Tendencies and more.
