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Smash Mouth will play Friday, Aug. 16 at the Brown County Fair along with Sugar Ray and Lit. Promotional photo.
A little nostalgia, a little new music and a little bit of a party.
That’s what folks can expect at the Smash Mouth, Sugar Ray and Lit concert Friday, Aug. 16 at the Brown County Fair, said Paul De Lisle, the bass player for Smash Mouth.
Fans surely remember hits like “Walking on the Sun,” “All Star” and “I’m a Believer.” But De Lisle said Smash Mouth continues to make music he feels is fresh and relevant. And it’s similar in style to the band’s best-known songs, he said.
“There’s a certain Smash Mouth sound that’s hard to define, but we kind of understand it,” De Lisle said.
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The band’s most recent singles include “Ride on” and a cover of “Sunshine Day.” The latter was made popular by the show “The Brady Bunch.” Barry Williams — Greg Brady — joined Smash Mouth on the song.
Live shows are also a way to develop a new wave of fans. They already know “I’m A Believer” from the movie “Shrek,” De Lisle said, so the band has an in that way.
The song was written by Neil Diamond and was a No. 1 hit for The Monkees at the end of 1966.
“As the old saying goes, kid-tested, mother-approved,” De Lisle said of Smash Mouth’s music appealing to more than just those who loved the hits in the last half of the ’90s.
Smash Mouth, Sugar Ray, Lit offer rock alternative
Smash Mouth will offset three nights of country music, and De Lisle said Sugar Ray and Lit also put on great live shows.
Sugar Ray will headline the Aug. 16 rock night concert with Smash Mouth and Lit at the Brown County Fair. Promotional photo.
The bands are good friends, and Smash Mouth’s first real tour was opening for Sugar Ray in 1997 after “Walkin’ on the Sun” was a hit, De Lisle said, to everybody’s surprise.
That was when a band had to hope to get noticed and couldn’t just put their music out on the internet, De Lisle said.
Smash Mouth was founded in 1994, eventually made a record on its own and took it to Hollywood. “Walkin’ on the Sun” took off shortly thereafter.
“It took us about two and a half years of poverty and struggles,” De Lisle said, half-joking.
But the band was fortunate to have that early success, he said.
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Smash Mouth has certainly had some ups and downs, some triumphs and heartbreaks, De Lisle acknowledged. Most notably, founding member and lead singer Steve Harwell struggled with health issues and alcohol. He left the band in 2021 and died from acute liver failure on Sept. 3, 2023.
It was a tough situation, De Lisle said. He said it got to a point where there were some sketchy live shows with Harwell.
Smash Mouth was prepared for Harwell’s departure
Management knew things were going downhill and that Harwell would have to retire, so the band was prepared, De Lisle said.
Hundreds of musicians applied to be Smash Mouth’s new front man, but one stood out from the start, he said. That was Zach Goode, who started with the band in March 2022.
It was kind of magical and, “We found the right guy, for sure,” De Lisle said.
He’s the final founding member of Smash Mouth, has been in bands since he was 13 or 14 and has no plans to pack it in even though there have been some bumpy stretches.
“I was a surfer and a skateboarder, but I was always in bands,” De Lisle said, later adding, “This is my life’s work. I was never going to quit.”
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The Smash Mouth, Sugar Ray and Lit concert begins at 7 p.m. at the Larry Gerlach Grandstand. General admission tickets are $60. There is also a four-night concert package that costs $150. Tickets are available on the fair’s ticketing webpage or at the box office before the show.
Other concerts during the fair include Sawyer Brown and Ned LeDoux on Wednesday, Aug. 14, Tigirlily Gold and Gabby Barrett on Thursday, Aug. 15 and Matt Sell and Russell Dickerson on Saturday, Aug. 17. Those shows all begin at 8 p.m.
The Dacotah Bank Stampede Rodeo is Monday, Aug. 12 and Tuesday, Aug. 13. The Paul Bunyan Lumberjack Show is Sunday, Aug. 18.
De Lisle, 61, said the band members love country, but are happy to bring a California-laden bill to the fair. He said he’s excited for the trip to Aberdeen.
“It’s just going to be a very high-energy show and a little more rocking than people expect, and I can’t wait,” he said.