Who would've thought it. A corporate party by Digidesign, pioneers in digital recording hardware and software, at the Edge in Palo Alto, CA, turned to be one of the cooler concerts I've been to this year. The guests were Smash Mouth who played an energetic ninety minute set that almost made me believe in rock 'n' roll again.
I was a bit skeptical going into the show. My only familiarity with the band was hearing what has been played on the radio. I was pleasantly surprised. Smash Mouth blend good old rock 'n' roll with the pop-pop-grunge aesthetic that defined the nineties sound with a bit of reggae and funk and who-knows-what-else thrown in (which includes good old-fashioned fun). And their live show was made just as fun as listening to their music on the radio, which was the key ingredient for someone who like me who was barely familiar with them. This also makes for their general like-ability: the crowd was extremely mixed (from little kids, some of whom got to go up on the stage to much older kids) and probably pretty diverse in music tastes, but I didn't see a single person who was disappointed in the band.
Their set was cool. The first half-a-dozen tunes really got the crowd going. They then slowed down a bit but things picked up again when they covered Van Halen's Running with the Devil. They ended the set with the popular tunes Walking on the Sun and All Star. One of the highlights of their set (and music) was the amazing keyboard work which I simply loved.
The food was good and the crowd was really cool as well. Best of all, it was all free. Can't beat that. Smash Mouth is definitely a fun band that's worth checking out though, even if you have to pay. I truly went through a NSME (Near Smash Mouth Experience).