NOFX have pulled out of a headline performance at a Las Vegas festival after receiving “hate messages and threats” in regards to the band’s controversial past comments about the Route 91 Harvest shooting.

Fat Mike and co. were announced for this September’s Punk Rock Bowling last week, but have since faced a backlash over a joke they made about the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting while performing at the event back in 2018.

“I guess you only get shot in Vegas if you’re in a country band,” said guitarist Eric Melvin at one point in the gig, to which Fat Mike replied: “At least they were country fans and not punk rock fans.”

As well as receiving criticism for making the remarks, NOFX were severed from Stone Brewing Co. – the San Diego Brewery behind the group’s beer and music festival both called Punk In Drublic.

Yesterday (May 3), Punk Rock Bowling organisers confirmed that NOFX had been replaced as Friday night headliners by Descendents. It came after they shared a statement from Fat Mike in which he opened up about the band’s decision to drop out.

We regret to announce that NOFX will no longer be able to perform at #PunkRockBowling this year due to circumstances beyond our control, but the good news is we have confirmed the @descendents to headline Friday in their place! 1/7 pic.twitter.com/TK0stLcGqo

— ???? ???? ??????? (@PunkRockBowling) May 3, 2021

Explaining that he had been “so fucking excited” to play at the festival in 2021, the frontman said that NOFX had come to the decision to cancel “out of respect that wounds are still healing”.

He claimed the band had been sent “hate messages and threats” since being announced as part of this year’s line-up, adding that it “just feels wrong” to go through with the performance.

“I’ve been playing and bowling at Punk Rock Bowling since the very first one when there were only 22 teams. PRB is my favorite time of the year. Like so many of you, I not only get to see my favorite bands, but I also get to see my punk friends from high school… 3/7

— ???? ???? ??????? (@PunkRockBowling) May 3, 2021

There has been a lot of hate messages and threats because we are on the bill, It just feels wrong. We know we said shitty things that caused it, so we get it. Sorry to everyone that wanted to see us. It’ll have to be in a different city… 5/7

— ???? ???? ??????? (@PunkRockBowling) May 3, 2021

It’s pretty fucking cool that we are being replaced by a better band! I wish I could be there to see ’em.”
Actually very sincere,
Fat Mike and NOFX 7/7

— ???? ???? ??????? (@PunkRockBowling) May 3, 2021

“We know we said shitty things that caused it, so we get it. Sorry to everyone that wanted to see us. It’ll have to be in a different city,” Mike continued.

He went on to hail Descendents as “a better band” than NOFX. “I wish I could be there to see ’em,” he said.

You can read the statement in full and see the revised Punk Rock Bowling 2021 line-up in the above tweets.

Apologising for joking about the 2017 Vegas mass shooting, which left 58 people dead, NOFX said wrote a statement in 2018: “There’s no place here to backpedal. What NOFX said in Vegas was shameful. We crossed the line of civility.

“We can’t write songs about how people in this world need to be more decent, when we were clearly being indecent. Las Vegas has always been a welcoming city to our band, and to make light of the tragedy that occurred there was egregious.”

NOFX, meanwhile, released their 14th LP ‘Single Album’ back in February via Fat Mike’s label Fat Wreck Chords.