According to Pitchfork, punk band NOFX claims it has been “effectively banned” from performing in the United States after frontman Michael “Fat Mike” Burkett and guitarist Eric Melvin made jokes during a show earlier this year about the 2017 Las Vegas shooting that left 58 people dead. “I guess you only get shot in Vegas if you’re in a country band,” Melvin said, with Burkett responding, “At least they were country fans and not punk rock fans.”
The band apologized later, referring to the comment as a “tasteless joke” and saying “NOFX does not condone violence against any group of people,” but that evidently wasn’t enough. Stone Brewing Co., the sponsor of NOFX’s Punk In Drublic music festival, has cut all ties with the band, and Burkett now says all of their U.S. tour dates have been canceled. In an Instagram post, he claims that NOFX has been told they’re “not welcome to play ANY big venue in the United States” because of the comment, and while he seems to recognize that they severely fucked up, he does end his post with the hashtag “#whendidpunkrockbecomesosafe”—implying that he’s a little bitter over the fact that people don’t think his joke about 58 people dying is very funny.