This isn't a review of America's local band Cheekface's debut UK gig at MOTH club in London, but it is inspired by it.
I was looking forward to seeing Cheekface. It didn't fall well for me, landing the day after returning from eight days at Glastonbury Festival. A long drive home. Unpacking. Then a train down to London. A hotel needed. Going to Cheekface was going to hurt, physically and financially, so why go?
With spoke sung vocals with often absurd, dry witty lyrics, heavy on American cultural references, Cheekface offer sometimes surreal, short power pop/ indie punk tracks. They are hard to pin down (grasping for reference points think DEVO meets Talking Heads via They Might be Giants, with the delivery of Colorblind James, perhaps a pinch of Pavement and a slice of CAKE).
They are a band that will not be everyone's cup of tea. A love hate 'Marmite' band. I love them, and perhaps because I've played them too much, my wife doesnt. If you fall in the Marmite 'love' camp, you'll go out of your way for savoury salty hit. So if Cheekface are finally heading over to this side of the pond, being in the Cheekface 'love' camp I was always going to be drawn.
Rewind a couple of years. Lock down limits much human interaction. The online world provides respite, connection and community (not just military grade psyc-ops induced outrage, hate and apathy). Through fan culture community connections around UK band Sports Team, I'm introduced via an American fan to Cheekface. A passing Spotify story post share, that I'll add to a 'recommended via instagram' playlist and go back to listen to and like.
I'm instantly hooked and go on to, perhaps single handedly through streaming, get my home town Chester to register as a hotspot of cheekface listening . The vinyl is soon ordered. A second, then eventually a third album follows. I'm in for a t-shirt too. Add social follows.
So it started with lock down love at first listen. Meaningful connection in a world of separation, fear and anxiety. A musical prop supporting me when the weight of the world is heavy. Now I've become a fully fledged Cheekface fan some say Cheek Freak.
Back to the present, I've never met a Cheekface fan face to face. I've found other bands via online Cheekface banter (Fresh, and through Fresh Cheerbleederz, who now provide support at the opening night show). I've followed a UK fan account @TourForCheek that spent around a year tweeting answers to their bio question 'Have Cheekface announced a UK Tour today? with variations on the theme of' no' and 'not yet' . But actually meeting an in the flesh real person who has heard of and likes Cheekface, not one.
I bought the ticket months ago. It sold out quick - with a second date added also selling out. The band was quick to point out this is not a tour (A point not lost on @TourForCheek) The unwritten message "we're coming to the UK but not touring, its London, London or nothing".
In the absence of a UK tour, the UK must go on tour to see Cheekface so I'm heading off, excited, but with some trepidation. Who else will be there? Will it meet my overblown hopes and expectations? Will I be alone in a room of strangers?
I need not have worried. Going to Cheekface's debut UK show is like going home. There's a buzz in the air. Smiles on faces. People at a gig in London talking to each other. We are not too cool for school. People wearing Cheekface Ts smiling knowingly at others doing likewise. Many more queuing to buy same said Ts so we'll never feel quite so lonely again. Old and young and between.
Cheerbleederz start proceedings. They come across excited as the rest of us, not faux excitement to win converts but the real deal. They're having fun, it's infectious, and their poppy punk set is deservedly well received. They didn't need to win us over because were already on side.
By the time Cheekface follow, MOTH club is filled up and it's hot. What follows is a blur, a set packed with short power pop 'classics' from across their three albums.
Audience participation is invited and when not, joyfully given regardless. Let's not confine our exhuburance to the call and response responses of Listen to Your Heart (no!) or Next To Me, yo! (shut the f**** up). Sure we can chacha slide with the best of them too. Our phone lights are primed for waving around to Featured Singer. We'll sing along and dance and jump and scream with a carefree abandon. When the words aren't enough we'll hum the riffs because we can and it's a joy to do so. We've waited for this. Boom! Cheekface have landed, we are not not alone. This is real.
Over the course of the evening I speak to at least 13 people (including the person behind @TourForCheek account). 12 of whom have travelled from beyond London (Edinburgh, Sheffield, Manchester, Merseyside, Suffolk, Essex, Watford amongst others). America's local band has drawn people from many localities across the UK and beyond together. Tonight the cheekfreaks have gathered, and MOTH club is ours.
Online technology though often used for terrible purposes can be a wonderful thing. I often despair of its a abuse as we are crushed and divided by the algorithms of profit. But the same technology can create real community. It helped me find Cheekface. A single human driven share, spotted and listened to. People adding sharing connecting interacting around a fringe musical interest all adding up to a wonderful night in London.
