The fire at the Ghost Ship in Oakland this past weekend was no laughing matter, and has caused a lot of heartache within the community, reverberating from the art and DIY scene on outward. And despite many punk and hardcore shows being housed in makeshift or DIY spaces, Joe "Joe Hardcore" McKay, the face of one of the biggest festivals in the U.S., Philadelphia's This Is Hardcore Fest (who have booked the likes of Angel Du$t, Code Orange, Turnstile), is taking fire for comments that he has made on Facebook and since deleted. See below for details.

We reached out to Joe Hardcore, head of This Is Hardcore, for comment, but have yet to receive a response.

UPDATE: McKay posts a public response.

Sometimes you get bad information. Driving to work before the sun came up today, I heard a story reported as underage ravers dying in a fire.

I was unaware that friends of mine lost friends in the fire.

I made a Facebook comment on a friend's page that has gotten quite a few people upset. I'm sorry to my friends whove lost and feelings I've hurt.

Sometimes you write something crass, probably over the line and far from a well thought out response, but never intended on being taken so literal or meaning to wound good friends going through a bad time.

I'm now fully aware of the reality to which every single word written can be used against you literally, by people upset by them.

I'm sure this will be some viral madness. I'll bow my head and drop to my knees and apologize to my real friends, but I owe nothing to those who will use this against me, or those who will walk away out of fear of disassociation.

If you'd like to give towards the Ghost Ship Fire Relief Fund, please do so at this link.