A Los Angeles trio known for deadpan talk-singing, sardonic lyrics about anxiety and rising rent, and a fanbase that spontaneously breaks into conga lines is bringing its tour to North Tampa on Wednesday. Cheekface headlines New World Music Hall on September 2, with Philadelphia ska-punk band Catbite opening, part of a late-summer run that has already carried both bands through Texas and Louisiana on their way into Florida.
Cheekface consists of lead vocalist-guitarist Greg Katz, bassist Amanda Tannen, and drummer Mark “Echo” Edwards, a band that formed in Los Angeles in 2017 and has operated under a strict DIY ethos ever since, releasing its own music through Katz's independent label, New Professor Music, according to the LA Times. Tannen previously played bass in the 2000s New York indie band Stellastarr and designs all of Cheekface's artwork and merchandise, per the same profile. Creative Loafing Tampa describes the band as a viral nerd-rock act with a following that spans furries and Gen-Z listeners, and reports that tickets for Wednesday's show start at $29.67.
The band self-released its sixth studio album, Podium, on July 31, a 40-minute, 13-track record and its fifth full-length release of the 2020s, according to CONE Magazine. The record was recorded at Palmquist Studios in East Los Angeles and features guest contributions from Jer Hunter of Skatune Network and Elise Okusami of Oceanator, along with production work by Teddy Roxpin, as detailed by BrooklynVegan. Hunter is also an influential promoter and musician within the contemporary ska-punk scene, the outlet notes.
Sardonic Lyrics Meet Post-Pandemic Anxiety
Musically, Cheekface blends post-punk and power-pop grooves reminiscent of CAKE and Minutemen with deadpan talk-singing, according to PopMatters. The band's lyrics on Podium touch on topics like hostile urban street furniture and rising living costs, the outlet reports, threading anxiety, everyday mundanities, and neurodivergence throughout the record. That combination of absurdist humor with real cost-of-living and post-pandemic sociopolitical anxiety has helped the band build a loyal following among Gen-Z and millennial fans who call themselves “Cheek Freaks.”
Those Cheek Freaks are known for turning Cheekface shows into interactive events, including spontaneous crowd conga lines during performances, according to New Noise Magazine, which points to seven years of constant touring behind the trio's cult following. Wednesday's stop is part of a broader tour itinerary that also includes Pensacola on September 1, West Palm Beach on September 3, and Atlanta on September 6, per BrooklynVegan's reporting on the tour, which features additional supporting acts like Apes of the State and Bodega in other markets.
Catbite Brings Neo-Two-Tone Ska to the Bill
Opening the Tampa show is Catbite, a four-piece ska-punk band formed in Philadelphia in 2018 and fronted by former jazz-trained singer Brittany Luna, signed to the indie label Bad Time Records, according to WXPN. The station notes Catbite has previously toured with acts including The Gaslight Anthem and Less Than Jake. In May 2025, the band released its six-track EP Doom Garden on Bad Time Records, produced by Sarah Tudzin of illuminati hotties, marking its first studio release in nearly three years, according to Punk Rock Theory. Tudzin has also worked with prominent indie rock projects such as boygenius, the outlet adds.
A Venue Built for the Room
Cheekface and Catbite will play at New World Music Hall, part of New World Brewery, which relocated in 2020 from Ybor City to North Tampa's Sulphur Springs neighborhood at 810 E. Skagway Ave. The venue features a dedicated 300-capacity indoor Music Hall equipped with an L-Acoustics PA system, as Hoodline previously reported, after the brewery spent over two decades in Ybor City before commercial development shifts pushed it to relocate.
Beyond touring acts like Cheekface and Catbite, New World Tampa functions as a broader community space in Sulphur Springs. It hosts events such as Pints of Science, a monthly open-mic style lecture series where Tampa-area researchers present their work to the public, according to the University of Tampa. Co-owner Nancy Bird established that series in 2022, per the same account.
Wednesday's show marks Cheekface's stop in a run that Creative Loafing Tampa lists as appearing in the paper's August 27–September 2, 2026 issue, in a piece authored by Ray Roa for the outlet, based at 633 N. Franklin Street in downtown Tampa. For fans hoping to catch the trio's deadpan wit and Catbite's brass-driven energy in one room, the Sulphur Springs venue offers a comparatively intimate setting for a band whose live shows have become known as much for audience participation as for the music itself.
