The city of Orlando, Florida, in the United States, is known primarily for its theme parks that attract tourists from all over the world, such as Disneyworld, and also for the impressive number of Brazilians per square meter. The city's punk scene, however, is not usually among the major local highlights. Even so, this would be the setting for my next musical pilgrimage, in which, along with my brother and personal photographer Rafael Beck , I would set off to catch a show on the unusual tour of the trio composed of The Black Tones , Surfbort , and Me First and the Gimme Gimmes.
Orlando isn't a very pedestrian-friendly city, and public transportation isn't abundant or practical, so we took an Uber across the city to get to the event. We arrived at the Ace Café (more precisely, the Ace Café patio) and The Black Tones' show was already underway.
On stage were twins Eva and Cedric Walker , she on guitar and vocals, and he on drums, accompanied by their charming mother on backing vocals and bassist Ezekiel Lords . I didn't know much about the Seattle twins with Louisiana roots, but my impression was very positive. The music they make is rock and roll "pero sin perder la ternura" (but without losing tenderness). It has protest, feeling, and humor too. Eva sings beautifully and knows how to make her voice vibrate in a very distinct way, and her brother Cedric has zero mercy on the drums.
The fact that their mother was on tour and on stage with them says a lot about the band and the family atmosphere they try to bring to the show, even though the music is anything but sweet. There weren't many people there yet to check out the first show, but given their position as the opening act of this trio on this tour, I suspect it's not the first time The Black Tones have experienced this. At least they didn't seem bothered by the small audience.
Next came Surfbort, which was the reason we pursued this story in Orlando in the first place. We had seen them at a historic show at the South by Southwest Festival in March , which gave me an incredible experience photographing from the middle of the most furious crowd, right in front of the stage. Being the image hunters that we are, we hoped to repeat the experience in Orlando for what would be the band's first ever show in the state of Florida.
A few minutes before the show started, I don't know if she was a victim of some sudden illness or pure emotion, a woman fainted right in front of the barrier separating the audience from the stage, and the rescue of the unconscious woman earned the best comment from Dani Miller , the charismatic vocalist of the band. When the fire truck pulled up, she exclaimed: "Our music is so bad they had to call the fire department!"
Nothing could be further from the truth, of course. Exaggeration and self-deprecation are constants in the band's humorous performances, as confirmed by the slogan emblazoned on the bass drum, "Surfbort ruined my life." The audience during this second show was larger, but still not the most numerous. One person tried to start a mosh pit alone, but wasn't exactly successful. Even so, Dani Miller, always very invested in making something memorable for whoever was watching the show, got off the stage, jumped the safety barrier, and invited those present to show off their dancing skills. Without wanting to spoil the surprise, but already spoiling it: the people's dancing skills weren't very impressive.
Personally, I would have preferred my second Surfbort show to have been in a dark, low-ceilinged dive bar with a packed house, but we accept what we have. Even in the open, uninspired courtyard of Ace Cafe, they still played fast, loud, and without losing energy. Towards the end of the event, we even had the pleasure of chatting with drummer Sean Powell and guitarist Alex Kilgore , both big fans of Brazil.
Sean told us about the curious episode when dear Brazilian friends convinced him to get a certain phrase tattooed on his butt in Portuguese (which I won't share here), and Alex, in turn, told us about his desire to return to Brazil and about some famous friends he hung out with in the 90s, like Caetano Veloso and Carlinhos Brown . A tip for the folks promoting all these new festivals that have sprung up in Brazil lately. Besides being a great show, at least two members of Surfbort (including bassist Nick Arnold and guitarist Matt Picola ) really like our country.
Interestingly, the main attraction of the night was a cover band. But not just any cover band. Me First and The Gimme Gimmes call themselves "the greatest cover band in the world," and in a way that may very well be true. Perhaps because of their repertoire, which consists of inspired punk versions of hits from names as diverse as John Denver, Elton John, Barry Manilow, Paula Abdul , and Gloria Gaynor .
Or it could be the fact that the band is made up of current and former members of major punk bands formed decades ago, which often gives Gimme Gimmes the label of "supergroup." Originally formed in the 90s by members of NOFX, Lagwagon, No Use for a Name, and Swingin' Utters , the band's lineup varies considerably, and those we saw on stage in Orlando were Spike Slawson on vocals, Andrew Pinch on drums, CJ Ramone on bass, Swami John Reis on one of the guitars, and Jake Kiley on the other.
The show by these cover kings is quite fun, largely thanks to Spike Slawson, who dominates the stage as frontman and master of ceremonies, embodying an exaggerated version of a somewhat star-studded crooner who forgets the name of the city where he's performing and demands enthusiastic applause from the audience, even while occasionally joking about the fact that what they're playing are hits by other artists.
You can tell they're having fun on stage, without the pressure of their original bands' shows, free to play around like a "dance band," from the colorful costumes matching Slawson's speeches between songs to the occasional rehearsed joke. I recommend the show for the wedding or graduation of anyone who can afford to hire this top-notch team.
By the end of the night, the whole thing was starting to look more like a really fun punk rock show, but then the Corona beer, costing a mere 16 dollars, quickly brought me back to the somewhat inhospitable reality of the Ace Café, and shortly after the last chords of the world's greatest cover band sounded, we were already inside the Uber that would once again carry us through the city of Orlando, the one that doesn't like pedestrians.
Check out Rafael Beck's photos below (swipe to see the other photos or click here if you're not seeing our gallery ).
