Smash Mouth Still Around, Performing at Dolphin Stadium Tailgate Party This Thursday

(Photo via Smash Mouth's MySpace page.)

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 pre-game 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 Sixties

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.

Smash

11:30 a.m., Smash Mouth performs at 6:30 p.m. Tickets cost $22. www.ticketmaster.com.

-- Saby Reyes-Kulkarni