So what’s Smash Mouth been doing for the past decade? Believe it or not, they’re still out there putting on live shows, including a recent event at a food festival in Colorado. Oregon Live reports that this event didn’t go quite as planned , however, when band frontman Steve Harwell melted down on-stage in a profanity and threat-laced rant.
The incident reportedly began when concertgoers started tossing slices of bread, which had been obtained by one of the vendors at the event. While attendees of the Taste of Fort Collins food festival threw slices of bread at one another and the stage, Harwell couldn’t put himself in the spirit. His reaction was caught on video. Warning: It’s definitely not safe for work.
The Smash Mouth singer reportedly demanded to know who was throwing the bread on stage before threatening to physically assault whoever it was. The profanity-laced meltdown took up approximately three minutes of stage time while the band awkwardly played music in the background to the tune of their 1999 hit “All-Star.” Harwell was so angry at the bread throwing that he had to be restrained and pulled back by security guards that were working the live event. Once he was wrangled back by guards, the singer finally started singing the song.
The temper tantrum didn’t make him any friends. In fact, the crowd of fans went from cheering, throwing bread, and having a good time to booing the band. The boos got louder the more Harwell ranted and threatened to fight members of the audience. USA Today reports that the singer eventually walked off stage before the band was to play an encore.
Hey now, I’m a Rockstar, get your bread on, don’t play. #smashmouth #TFC #tasteoffoco
— Brian Petersen (@BePthree) June 15, 2015
Just witnessed a grown man throw the biggest tantrum over bread. #smashmouth #tasteoffortcollins
— Jenna Beutler (@jennalives97) June 15, 2015
Steve Harwell is now the butt of many jokes on social media, which is something to be expected. After all, it wasn’t a very graceful moment for him. He’s sure to recover, though, since this is not the first hardship the band has faced. After all, this is a band who has burned through at least 11 past members.
The singer for Smash Mouth isn’t the only performer to get into such a snafu, however. Back when Green Day was trying to recreate their old punk days, Billie Joe Armstrong threatened to beat up one of the audience members. The singer then did a running jump kick into the audience with both legs in what could have turned out to be a violent attack. He reportedly missed , though. Shirley Manson threatened to have a guy roughed-up after he spat on her during a 2005 performance and had him removed from the show. Those are just a couple of the examples of some of the more notorious performer freak-outs during live events.
[Photo: Steve Harwell/Twitter]
