Still a Fun, Crazy Story: Smashmouth Singer Goes Nuts at Taste of Fort Collins

People still talk about Steve Harwell's meltdown at the 2015 Taste of Fort Collins. Many have seen the video, many where there. I was the DJ on stage when it went down.

Smashmouth. Bread. Lead singer guy throws a curse word-laden fit on stage. Those are the bullet points. It's been seven years, and I still remember the scene and enjoy retelling the story.

Smashmouth was all over the place in the 90's, especially with the song  'All Star' and 'I'm a Believer' being huge on the radio and being included in the blockbusters 'Shrek' and 'Shrek 2.' They had a great moment in the sun, without question; you could say they were, indeed, walking on the sun, they were that hot.

Fame, and time, had began to take their toll on lead man Harwell, when they played Taste of Fort Collins that afternoon.

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WHAT WAS THE DEAL AT TASTE OF FORT COLLINS?

There was a vendor at that Taste of Fort Collins that was giving away bread. During the concert on the night before, fans were throwing bread at the band, and the band kind of got into it.

The next night, with the Smashmouth show, Harwell was not having it. Maybe more than a little drunk, with people throwing bread up at them, he got 'super upset.'

WHAT HAPPENED?

Steve kept yelling at the 'fans' that it was rude, etc. He threatened to walk off if they kept it up. They kept it up, he walked off.

RELATED: Get Your $25 Weekend Passes for the 2022 Taste of Fort Collins

I was the DJ that was at the concert to be the person to say, 'Thanks for coming, everybody get home safe!' after the show was over, so I was right there off-stage. The promoter came up to me:

You need to go out there and say something.

Like what?' I said

Like, if they want to see the show they need to stop

OK....

And, I swear, I had the mic in my hand and was approaching the stage, when here comes Harwell storming at me. He is a big guy, I am not. He storms over and grabs the mic out of my hand-

I got this,

Then he rushes out and begins yelling again; I really thought he was going to hurt someone. There wasn't anything I could do, nor should have done; it wasn't my party (Townsquare Media at that time did not run the event) and I wasn't about to approach that guy.

If you missed the video, let's recap: Again, this is NSFW stuff. Look for me, I'm the little guy in the white fedora at the beginning:

I honestly don't recall what happened after I got off the stage. I may have blocked it out. Seriously, I remember all the tense moments leading up to the meltdown and the meltdown; after that, I'm blank.

Still, it's a great story.