Smash Mouth

Comments (0) By Saby Reyes-Kulkarni Friday, Jan 9 2009

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Smash Mouth, at the Budweiser National Championship Tailgate Party, presented by Allstate. Thursday, January 8, at Dolphin Stadium NW bus parking lot,2269 Dan Marino Blvd., Miami Gardens. Party begins at 11:30 a.m.; Smash Mouth performs at 6:30 p.m. $20. Visit ticketmaster.com.

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If a band exists solely to keep the party going — as California's Smash Mouth clearly does — it makes perfect sense to catch that band in a tailgate party setting before a huge football game. For this appearance, Smash Mouth takes a detour from its usual casino engagements to play the Dolphin Stadium parking lot as part of the pregame celebration for the BCS National Championship. Before Florida faces Oklahoma, fans should be treated to such appropriately party-minded chestnuts as "All Star," "Can't Get Enough of You, Baby," "Then the Morning Comes," the band's re-working of the Monkees' "I'm a Believer," and, of course, its, um, smash hit, "Walking on the Sun."

When "Walking" first broke like a virus all over MTV and radio in 1997, listeners had every reason to believe that Smash Mouth would disappear before you could finish saying, "I hope you save those royalty checks." By all rights, that's what should have happened, but raspy-voiced frontman Steve Harwell and company turned out to be too wily and resilient for that. With a sound that, to be fair, combines a 1960s surf/garage aesthetic, pop polish, hooks, and even flavorful touches of suburban white-boy reggae with unparalleled skill, Smash Mouth has graced the public with just enough unforgettable songs to still be kicking. Harwell likens the band's ethos to the Kinks' "Where Have All the Good Times Gone?" The answer? To the game, of course.