The Soundtrack of a Florida Girl: Nep Live at Crowbar
February 25, 2026 - Tampa, Florida
“Florida Man” this and “Florida Man” that, what about the Florida Woman? Growing up as a girl in the Sunshine State means being wary of your sun exposure from a young age, expecting odd interactions with strangers every time you venture out of the house, and being surrounded by a unique blend of country, suburban, and city attitudes. From one Florida girl to another, Nep gets it.
At 8:30 p.m. sharp on Wednesday, February 25th, the lights dimmed to a soft blue, and Nep crept out of the green room and onto the legendary Crowbar stage. She sported a cut-up, blue t-shirt bearing the logo of Park Ave CDs, an Orlando record store. The glitter on her cheeks shimmered under the cool light, joining the matching streaks worn by guitarist Jake Sondy, drummer Tyler Pons, and bassist Sophia Damiani. She introduced herself to the room as a “certified Florida girl” and asked how many others were in the audience, which drew an eruption of screams, my own included. From there, she and the band jumped into “Daytona”, an anti-love song dedicated to and named after her hometown. This song, along with many others in Nep’s discography, reads like a diary entry. It’s a girl’s plea for a new chapter away from the only place she’s ever known– a prayer many have sent up before. She also calls out the mishandling and pollution of Florida beaches, an ongoing problem across the state. Nep belted the words, “The beaches are fucked / Daytona Beach sucks / I don’t have friends here / People’s lives end here.” The desire to leave the state while fighting to preserve it perfectly encapsulates the love-hate relationship that comes with growing up in Florida; it’s a “I can make fun of it because I’m from here, but you can’t,” sort of thing. “Daytona” evokes a familiar feeling that everyone in the room shares.
A few songs in, Nep started “Lovelace”, a boppy indie-folk song from her first EP, Nep’s Storybook. She went into a fit of giggles about 45 seconds in after noticing the people at the front of the stage were dancing in sync, “There’s a bunch of y’all doing the Macarena.” She and her guitarist joined in with them as they continued the song. Her genuine appreciation for her supporters showed in every “Thank you guys!” she gushed after each song. Several times between songs, fans showed her the gifts they brought her. One girl painted the detailed cover of Nep’s Storybook onto a guitar pick, and another brought a handmade crocheted tapestry with the illustration from the “A Big Brown Dog Named Bagel” cover. Nep thanked each of them directly and away from the mic, as if it were a one-on-one conversation, and everyone else in the room disappeared.
“Have you guys ever heard of Biketoberfest?” Nep asked the audience, “Do you know what that is?”
“Yes!” The room answered, knowing what was coming next.
“It’s so cool to be a Florida girl, and it’s so crazy to be a Florida girl, you get it.”
After a short description of the infamous October weekend that crowds every street in Daytona Beach with bikers, Nep launched into “Biketoberfest”. Her vocals blend the drawn-out indie-folk delivery and the tender tone of bedroom pop with a Southern twang that hangs off her words. Next was “All Around Beauty”, an upbeat rock song about staying positive during a heartbreak. These tracks come from her debut album, Noelle, released in October 2025 and the focus of her Florida Girl Goes To… tour.
Halfway through the show, Nep told us she was going to play a song she hadn’t played at a headlining show in years called “Pup”. The audience immediately screamed in delight.
“Oh my gosh, I’m so excited that you know this one!” she squealed.
She then asked us to let out our best barks whenever we heard any dog-related word mentioned in the song, which there are a handful of. The silly energy that filled the room after the first few fits of barking paused when she got into the emotional meat of the song. “Pup” is a pathetic dedication of oneself to an unhealthy relationship because Nep is too blindly in love to look anywhere else; it’s the kind of unwavering loyalty that only dogs have toward people. The bridge goes, “Like a puppy wanting more attention from you / I’m a dog, oh, I’m your dog / I will love you until I’m gone / I know it’s wrong.” After the bridge, Nep giggled, then quickly said, “Okay, now it gets serious,” before strumming her guitar and softly continuing into the gut-wrenching lyrics.
She continued the melancholy vibe with “I Will Always Love You Alright”, a love song for someone who isn’t in her life anymore. As she sang the first lines, people all over the room uncrinkled pieces of paper and held them up for her to see. They read, “WE WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU ALRIGHT”. It was a fan project for the Florida shows created by a supporter named Reverie. Nep’s face lit up when she looked up from her guitar and saw all the signs.
“You guys, oh my god!” She exclaimed, then pouted, “I’m gonna cry.” She was smiling ear to ear for the rest of the show.
Nep touched on every stage of her discography, playing early songs like “maramlade” and “Soup Song”, more chipper, folksy songs from her EP like “Cottontail” and “Doc”, more powerhouse indie-rock from her LP like “Scar” and “The Soundtrack”, plus her brand new single, “turtle”. Tampa marks the fourth stop on the Florida Girl Goes To… tour. The remaining dates hit 16 more U.S. states, two Canadian provinces, and two stops in the UK. It won’t be long before the ray of sunshine that is Nep floods the world.
Get tickets to Nep’s Florida Girl Goes To… tour here: Nep
