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Monday August 22, 2005

Actual music: Churchill's

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is a rock n roll band. The name of the band is unknown . . . in fact, we can’t even tell you whether they were any good. What we can say is that they have played Churchill’s Hideaway ((what? their web site is ugly? start taking notes!)) recently. And so have many other rock bands and musical acts of various incarnations. In fact, you can walk into Churchill’s almost any night of the week and catch a few different bands playing. Some will be great, and some will be poor. But they will all be groups of people that have gotten together, against all odds, and spent hundreds of hours honing their craft, spent thousands of dollars on their equipment, wrote, learned, and rehearsed actual songs . . . how much of this have you done lately?

The point is that improbably, there are lots of people still doing this; enough of them that you’d never be able to know them all, and pretty much the only place they have to play is Churchill’s. Oh, sure, there are other places to see music . . . there’s I/O, there’s Jazid, but these are places that show professional, established acts. Churchill’s is the only place left (in the 80’s there were at least ten) where an unknown band can get a set just by making a phone call. It’s nothing short of an incubator for a very significant portion of the local arts scene. Damn – this place should be getting grants.

But unless we’re, like, way off, they’re not. In fact, Dave Daniels, the British ex-pat who’s owned and operated the place since time immemorial, threatens to close it down every decade or so. But for the time being, it lives on. And it lives in style:

They’ve got British-style bar food (the shepherd’s pie is a rite of passage among local punks) and tons of beers on tap. There’s a laundry facility on premises. The bar is located in the middle of Little Haiti. U2 have caught Rugby games there. Weekly women’s mud wrestling. Weekly jazz jam. Weekly set by the Lanudry Room Squelchers. The list goes on.

Churchill’s Hideaway
5501 Ne 2nd Ave
Miami, FL 33137
(305) 757-1807

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  1. Biscayne Bystander    Mon Aug 22, 10:18 PM #  

    Ladies and Gentlemen, this is a local blog. The purpose of the author’s previous post “Scala Naturae” is unknown . . . in fact, we can’t even tell you whether any of his entries are any good. What we can say is that he has made a few entries((what? his posts lack imagination? start by making excessive remarks needlessly within parentheses!)) recently. And so have many other bloggers and local scribes of various incarnations. In fact, you can log onto CriticalMiami almost any night of the week and catch a few different people ranting. Some will be great, and some will be poor. But they will all be opinionated people that have gotten together, against all odds, and spent hundreds of hours honing their craft, spent thousands of dollars on their equipment, wrote, learned, and rehearsed actual phrases. . . how much of this have you done lately?

    The point is that improbably, there are lots of people still doing this; enough of them that you’d never be able to know them all, and pretty much the only place they have to post is CriticalMiami. Oh, sure, there are other places to read blogs. . . there’s ArtBlog.net, there’s Discourse.net, but these are places that show professional, established acts. CriticalMiami is the only place left (in the 80’s there wasn’t one) where an unknown graphic designer can get attention just by making a post. It’s nothing short of an incubator for a very significant portion of the local amateur blog scene. Damn – this place should be getting hits.

    But unless we’re, like, way off, they’re not. In fact, Alesh Houdek, the Czechian who’s owned and operated the place since time immemorial, threatens to write something meaningful every decade or so. But for the time being, it lives on. And it lives in style:

    They’ve got Miami-style topics (the misuse of hyphens is a rite of passage among local punks) and tons of links to other sites. There’s a laundry facility on premises. The site is located in the middle of Pennsylvania Ave. Neighbor Daniel Krutchkoff has an active warrant for FAILURE TO APPEAR FOR MISDEMEANOR OFFENSE. Imaginary womens’ mud wrestling. Weekly j_zz jam. Weekly set by DJ Pride. The list goes on.

    CriticalMiami.com
    936 Pennsylvania Ave #7
    Miami Beach, FL 33139
    305-532-2587

  2. alesh    Tue Aug 23, 01:13 PM #  

    Yes, very nice—i’m touched. Actually, we’ve been getting mad hits lately, thanks – over 10,000 page views in the last week. Right over here i linked to a bunch of local blogs that aren’t on the sidebar.

    Dang – this comment box is stupidly small. Let’s see if I can fix that. And my archive links still don’t work. What is this, amatur hour??

  3. cohen    Tue Aug 23, 01:19 PM #  

    the only location i miss in miami is churchills, when i get back to town i expect a party at churchills dam it,,,

  4. noted    Wed Aug 24, 10:21 AM #  

    It is worth noting that Churchills, in addition to having Brit food, has British Indian food too – every Wednesday is Curry night at Churchills. But watch out! Some of the choices are extremely spicy.