NOFX unable to get a gig anywhere in America thanks to the ongoing fallout from Vegas shooting jokes

    1 of 1 2 of 1

      Proving that some people—aka everyone living in America—can’t take an indefensible joke, NOFX has discovered there’s been some ongoing fallout from a bit of off-base humour rolled out in Las Vegas this past May 27.

      You might recall that the band—famous for taking nothing seriously—made a series of random remarks from the stage at the massive Punk Rock Bowling & Music Festival in Sin City.

      Those included bassist and unrepentant clown Fat Mike noting that he and his bandmates managed to get through a song about Muslims without being shot. When guitarist Eric Melvin suggested that only country bands get shot in Vegas, Fat Mike continued with “That [the massacre] sucked, but at least they were country fans and not punk-rock fans.”

      These comments were of course in reference to the Route 91 Harvest Festival tragedy in Vegas last October. A gunman in a hotel room opened fire on an outdoor concert featuring country singer Jason Aldean, killing 58 people and injuring 800 others for the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.

      The immediate fallout was swift and outraged—NOFX being dropped by beer companies it was affiliated with, and removed from the lineup of festivals like Camp Punk in Drublic. Long-time punkers like Mark and Shawn Stern of Youth Brigade (who also organize Punk Rock Bowling) publicly condemned the comments.

      As a result, NOFX not only quickly stated on Twitter that what it said was in poor taste, but then shocked its fans everywhere by issuing a very un-punk formal apology. That included “There’s no place here to backpedal. What NOFX said in Vegas was shameful. We crossed the line of civility.”

      When the apology was made three weeks ago, the group’s members likely had no idea how far they went over the line.

      They do now. Fat Mike has revealed that NOFX—once one of the most popular and highest-paid bands in punk rock—has basically been ruined in America.

      In Instagram post yesterday, Fat Mike wrote the following: 

      Fuck it! I’m not supposed to talk about it, but because of the comments we made in Las Vegas... every NOFX show has been cancelled in the US. We did not drop off the shows.... we were told that NOFX is not welcome to play ANY big venue in the United States. No joke! NOFX has effectively been banned in our own country. This is not our choice, but it is our reality. We are very sorry to our fans, especially the ones in Austin. For now, we are playing in Europe, Mexico, and Canada. The Punk in Drublic Festival is still happening in Europe and other continents. I’m trying my best to bring it back to the US but a lot of people don’t want it to happen. It fuckin sucks! We made a mistake, we apologized, and we gotta suffer the consequences. Maybe it ain’t fair, but whoever said life was. We are just very thankful that our fans are being so supportive. Thanks to all of you!!!!!
      See y’all in Slovenia tomorrow!

      Making one wonder if he actually ever stopped to think about the families, victims, or survivors of the Route 91 Harvest Festival, he finished the post off with the hashtag “#whendidpunkrockbecomesosafe.”

      The answer to that is, of course, the day GG Allin died.

      Fans on Intagram have suggested that NOFX return to its roots of playing backyard shows. Fat Mike's missive has also received over 11,000 likes proving, one supposes that at least someone in America doesn’t mind a joke. Either that or like 99 out of 100 people on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace, everyone hit the like button after reading two words and deciding that was quite enough for their ADHD-addled minds.

      More

      Comments