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Smash Mouth Holds Concert For Thousands, Tells Crowd: 'F**k That COVID'

Critics lambasted the band after videos and photographs of the massive crowd at a South Dakota festival performance made the rounds on social media.

Well, much like the band admitted in 2001, Smash Mouth is not the sharpest tool in the shed.

The band headlined a music festival and motorcycle rally in Sturgis, South Dakota, this weekend, and was criticised heavily on social media after the fact for not adhering to CDC guidelines as the pandemic rages on in the US.

Sturgis Buffalo Chip is a multiday festival that attracts hundreds of thousands of people each year and offers attendees everything from bike and stunt shows, shopping, live music and various events, according to its website.

Smash Mouth was one of several bands — including Trapt, Buckcherry, Drowning Pool, Night Ranger, Reverend Horton Heat, Lit, 38 Special, Quiet Riot, and Big Skillet — to play at the festival this year, but went viral on Monday for its Sunday night performance.

Photos and videos from the band’s performance indicated that most of the attendees were not wearing masks or adhering to social distancing guidelines. Frontman Steve Harwell even shouts to the crowd at one point, “Now, we’re all here together tonight ... Fuck that COVID shit!”

HuffPost has reached out to the band for comment.

The event’s page on Black Hills & Badlands Tourism Association’s website indicates that the venue had signs posted “at all entry points and gathering areas reminding guests to remain socially distant, encouraging the use of face coverings and explaining recommendations from the CDC to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.”

Additionally, the site claims the event had hand sanitizer stations, masks for purchase, and masked employees behind sneeze guards “at designated points of sale.”

The site also said that guests have the opportunity to social distance with “over 600 acres” available to them and that they were “required to have a mask with them.”

Videos from the event make it clear that a large volume of attendees did not wear masks or attempt to keep the recommended six feet apart from one another.

In response to the brazen disregard for the global health crisis, many people on social media weighed in with their thoughts on Smash Mouth holding a concert right now:


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