Rock music isn’t dead; it’s just taking a smoke break.
This weekend, The Backyard at Boca Fiesta will hold a lighter up for local Florida rock. At 10 p.m. Saturday, the venue will host Golden Pelicans, Gino and the Goons, Curleys, and EW. The event costs $5 and will last until 2 a.m.
In 2009, former Against Me! drummer Warren Oakes parted ways with the band to create Boca Fiesta in downtown Gainesville. Shortly after, Oakes established The Backyard, a performance and event venue, in the adjacent courtyard.
The spirit of Against Me! — the frugal flair, the anti-idealism and the bombastic do-it-yourself attitude — lives on in the performances at The Backyard. And it is within this atmosphere that musicians like Erik Grincewicz (Golden Pelicans) and Gino Bambino (Gino and the Goons) are able to thrive.
Grincewicz (vocals), along with Rich Evans (drums), Scott Barnes and Sammy Meneses formed Golden Pelicans in 2011. The group, all in their mid- to late-thirties, look like a gang of debauched roofing contractors, and their sound is just as mean, sweaty and hard-hitting.
“We play the music you would like to hear in a dark bar,” Grincewicz said. “Some people want to hear the Aquabats; I want to hear Jesse Hector.”
Influenced by acts like AC/DC, Alice Cooper and Judas Priest, Golden Pelicans incorporate an element of fear into their live performances. With tracks like “Pissing in a Puddle of Puke,” “Maggots” and “It Ain’t Psychedelic (Unless You Kill Someone),” it is difficult not to feel intimidated by these hard rock musicians.
Although, you really shouldn’t be scared of Golden Pelicans’ attitude. The guitars may sound wrathful, but it’s really just hyper enthusiastic fear, Grincewicz said.
The same can be said about Gino and the Goons, a hard rock band from Tampa that Grincewicz is particularly fond of.
“Gino and the Goons are the best damn party band in the land folks,” Grincewicz said. “You will know everyone of their songs by the time they walk off stage.”
Gino and the Goons frontman Gino Bambino said he likes to keep things simple. For him and T-bone Jones (bassist), trying to fit into genres and categories is annoying.
“T-bone and I write songs that we like,” Bambino said. “If other people like them, then great. If they don’t, that’s fine too.”
Bambino is a new-age relic from a time forgotten. His pleasures are all guilt-free and his mantra is simple: sex, drugs, death and rock ’n’ roll.
Both Bambino and Grincewicz remind listeners of the original simplicity of unadulterated rock music. You don’t need money, glitz or glamour — you just need good music, good friends and good beer.
Golden Pelicans' latest EP, "Disciples of Blood," explores themes of gang and psychedelic violence, Russian roulette and life under the Byzantine empire.
