STURGIS, South Dakota (CelebrityAccess) — The annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota continued unabated on Tuesday, with crowds of more than 250,000 expected for the 10-day event.
California rock band Smash Mouth performed at Sturgis during a crowded concert as part of the Sturgis Buffalo Chip music festival on Sunday night, and appeared to laugh off the effects of the pandemic even as the crowd appeared to ignore health guidelines about social distancing and wearing masks to limit the spread of the disease.
“Fuck that COVID shit,” Smash Mouth frontman Steve Harwell said as he started the concert with a rant against the virus.
While South Dakota’s experience with COVID-19 has been relatively light, with just over 9,700 hundred reported cases and 146 deaths as of August 11th, the state is reporting one of the highest effective reproduction numbers (RT) in the U.S. with each infected person passing the virus to an estimated 1.2 people, according to data compiled by the COVID Tracking Project. That makes South Dakota the state with the fastest growing infection rate, behind only Hawaii.
Other bands that performed at the concert included Trapt, Night Ranger, Saving Abel, Buckcherry, Reverend Horton Heat, 38 Special, Quiet Riot and Big Skillet.
A rep for the band did not respond to a request for comment.
