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        <title><![CDATA[‘F–k that COVID shit!’: Smash Mouth plays to thousands of bikers at rally]]></title>
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            <media:title type="html">‘F–k that COVID shit!’: Smash Mouth plays to thousands of bikers at rally</media:title>
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        <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>They &#8216;aint the sharpest tools in the shed&#8230;</p><p>Thousands of people turned up to a concert headlined by Smash Mouth in South Dakota on Sunday night amid the coronavirus pandemic.</p><p>The 90s pop-rockers and their fans at the <strong>annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally</strong> didn&#8217;t seem worried about gathering together during the viral outbreak that&#8217;s killed at least 160,000 Americans.</p><p>“We’re all here together tonight! F&#8211;k that COVID shit!” front-man Steve Harwell <a href="https://twitter.com/mattesontv/status/1292696480667639808" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said on stage</a>, earning cheers from the crowd.</p><p>The iconic 10-day festival was expected to attract some 250,000 motorcycle enthusiasts, scaled down from about half-a-million people who attended in previous years, <strong>according to USA Today</strong>.</p><p>Festival goers didn&#8217;t have to face many of the social distancing restrictions common elsewhere in the country, the newspaper reported. For example, those who traveled in from a virus hotspot for the event were not required to quarantine.</p><p>And while organizers encouraged the use of masks or face coverings, they were not required.</p><p>Footage from the festival&#8217;s Buffalo Chip concert series, where Smash Mouth performed performed, showed mask-less crowds packed together in front of the stage.</p><p>But the &#8220;All Star&#8221; band maintained it felt safe and took all safety precautions possible ahead of the event.</p><p>&#8220;Everything backstage was sanitized, etc. The band has their own Covid addendum to their rider as well and the promoter and venue adhered to all of our requests,&#8221; band manager Robert Hayes <strong>told Billboard in an email</strong>.</p><p>&#8220;We spent endless hours advancing this event to make sure that it was pulled off as safely as possible and we are very happy with the outcome.&#8221;</p><p>The performers said they didn&#8217;t have any control over what safety measures attendees followed, but claimed most of them were on their motorcycles &#8220;which eliminated a lot of physical contact between attendees and actually created a forced social distance.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;The Smash Mouth organization is taking this pandemic very seriously and has taken measures to keep our band, crew and fans as safe as possible during this time,&#8221; Hayes said.</p>]]></content:encoded>
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