Smash Mouth SLAMMED For Playing To A Crowd Of Thousands In Unsafe Conditions: ‘F**k That COVID S**t’

MKC

Now, this is decidedly NOT All Star behavior!

Smash Mouth, the band that is today perhaps best known for their contributions to the Shrek soundtrack, came under fire on Monday after a clip of one of their performances went viral. The video shows the band in front of a HUGE crowd of bikers over the weekend, and the audience isn’t exactly following CDC guidelines. There’s barely a mask in sight, and definitely no social distancing going on. 

 

According to the event website, some safety measures were put in place to protect attendees, such as posted signs with reminders of CDC guidelines and hand sanitizer stations. They also specified “Guests will be required to have a mask with them when they enter the amphitheater” — not, you will note, that they would actually enforce wearing a mask. You may be wondering how many people would show up for a Smash Mouth concert in the year 2020, let alone in the midst of a deadly pandemic. Well, the concert was actually part of the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in Sturgis, South Dakota. The festival is billed as “the Largest Music Festival in Motorcycling” and features bike shows as well as nightly concerts. Hundreds of thousands of people are estimated to attend the festival every year — in other words, definitely the kind of event that should have been canceled during a deadly pandemic. 

Related: Antonio Banderas Reveals He Tested Positive For Coronavirus

Other musical acts performing at the festival included Trapt, Buckcherry, Drowning Pool, Night Ranger, Reverend Horton Heat, Lit, 38 Special, Quiet Riot, and Big Skillet. Smash Mouth in particular made it clear they felt the show must go on! In the clip, the band’s frontman Steve Harwell told the crowd:  

“Now, we’re all here together tonight … F**k that COVID s**t!”

While we agree with the anti-COVID sentiment, saying it doesn’t make the disease any less of a clear and present danger to everyone in the audience! It’s kind of like shouting “WE HATE LAND MINES” while Naruto running through a live mine field.

The band’s negligence may come as a bit of a surprise, only because they’ve previously tweeted pro-safety messages with the hashtag #MaskStar. They also tend to be pretty “woke” about things like antiracism, gun control, and, um, oral sex. 

Related: Amanda Kloots Shares About Picking Up Nick Cordero’s Ashes

However, this isn’t the first time the group has courted controversy in recent weeks, although the previous instance was much lower stakes. The band drew the ire of stan Twitter after shading the new Taylor Swift album by tweeting, “borelore.” LOLz! (And they were shaded right back by Dylan O’Brien and Emmy Rossum.)

We never thought we’d have to say this, but: folks, please do not risk your life to see Smash Mouth!!! Or anyone else! The sooner we all commit to wearing masks and social distancing, the sooner we’ll all be able to go to concerts SAFELY!

See some of the angry fan reactions (below):

[Image via Smash Mouth/YouTube]

The post Smash Mouth SLAMMED For Playing To A Crowd Of Thousands In Unsafe Conditions: ‘F**k That COVID S**t’ appeared first on Perez Hilton.