The nostalgia of Smash Mouth should draw a large crowd as the band plays hits from most students’ childhood at 7 p.m. Thursday on the Lavin-Bernick Center Quad as part of the week’s Homecoming festivities. The local act CakeWalk will join them.

The San Jose, California-based band formed in 1994 and has performed for 20 uninterrupted years now. The band’s first album, “Fush Yu Mang,” was released in 1997 and went double platinum, mostly thanks to its first major single, “Walkin’ on the Sun.” The band released its second album, “Astro Lounge,” in 1999, along with the enduring single “All Star.”

Smash Mouth has been featured on soundtracks for “The Jungle Book 2” and, most notably, “Shrek,” and has covered bands ranging from the Monkees to the Kinks.

CakeWalk, a New Orleans-based funk band comprised of Tulane students and graduates Kyle Oblinger, Jenna Winston, Piper Browne, David Schloss, Cody Greenstein, Rob Kellner, Graves Lee, Leo Skovron and Mack Major, has headlined locally with bands such as Naughty Professor, Sexual Thunder and The Big Excuse. 

Though CakeWalk was formed just recently, in February, it has high aspirations for the future. After opening for Smash Mouth, next week it will play at the Juke Joint in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, its first performance outside of New Orleans. The group then plans to start recording.

“We recorded a few tracks just in a one-day session back in March, but we would like to spend a lot more time than just a day, maybe put a legit EP together,” Lee said.

“We started out as just like a group of friends,” Skovron said. “We had a Facebook group, we would meet like twice a week and jam together, and there were no aspirations really. We’re trying to just expand, get better, and get some professional recordings out there.”

Browne, who is a member of the Homecoming Court, as well as a vocalist for CakeWalk, came to the band with the original proposition.

“Sarah Hostetler, the Homecoming Chair, reached out to me and asked if CakeWalk would be interested, and I said of course,” Browne said.

Skovron said the band didn’t hesitate.

“As soon as we heard that we could be opening for Smash Mouth, it was a no-brainer,” Skovron said.