Rock in a Hard Place
Dive bar Churchill's finds niche in the heart of Little Haiti
Photo: Andrea Morales
It is Saturday night in the Little Haiti community of Miami, but the sound echoing from the streets is not the loud, melodic Creole that would be expected. Music is blaring from a white concrete and brick English pub, which has a large picture of Winston Churchill in the marquee. The pub sits on the corner of a street filled with old, neglected buildings. Across the street is a pothole-filled parking lot. It glows with neon beer signs and screams rock ‘n’ roll in the silence of the desolate looking area. Every- thing seems out of place. Churchill’s is the only pub of its kind in Miami.
Inside, a kaleidoscope of people are smoking, drinking and playing pool. Some have dyed hair, others have dreadlocks. Some are pier-ced, while others are really pierced. Most stand in front of the stage bobbing their heads to “Within Cell Walls” by local indie trio Baby Calendar, who got their start at Churchill’s Pub.
Churchill’s or “The Church” has been the unofficial home for local bands in Miami since 1979. Started by former English club promoter Dave Daniels, the pub is mostly white on the inside with concrete walls and wooden scaffolds, a medium-sized stage area with a few chairs and tables and two pool tables. The pub also has one main dual-sided bar which divides the pool area from the stage area, with drinks available on both sides. However, Churchill’s inescapable sound is everywhere on the inside.
Jehan “J” Maheswarah, who does the band bookings for Churchill’s, says that its number and sheer variety of rock acts seven days a week, make it “the only true rock club here.”
The diversity of Churchill’s rock styles makes for a memorable experience. On any given night, a punk band could play after an electronic Indie band, which followed a ska-metal band. This makes Churchill’s sound so important to Miami.
“It [Churchill’s Pub] represents everything,” says Joe Amoras, the bassist for the local band Objects in Transit. “It’s like the CBGB’s of Miami.”
But once you leave Chur-chill’s, it is another world.
Miami indulges in what is popular at the moment. On Saturday nights, cars flood the streets, traveling to the hundreds of clubs, bars and restaurants spread throughout the city. Chart-topping dance, pop and hip-hop music thrive in the non-stop party atmosphere; however, rock is neglected and pushed to inner city streets. Only a few venues in Miami, mostly in Miami’s Design District, offer rock nights. But hip-hop and electronic music still dominate in these dance spots.
“We’re not a dance club that has a few bands, we’re a rock band bar,” Maheswarah says. “We’re not a trend following place. [Churchill’s] has more substance and content than other places.”
Churchill’s still is the only place for consistent rock. Maheswarah says that in a typical week the pub has about 40 bands perform which he says is “not a cluster fuck week.” The large amount of acts per week doesn’t hurt bands’ loyalty to Churchill’s. Tom Gorrio, of Baby Calendar, says that at every stage of a band’s evo-lution they still come back and perform at Churchill’s.
For this reason, Churchill’s still stands as the rock venue in Miami.
“It’s very historical; it’s a landmark,” says Tom’s brother Renzo Gorrio, of Objects in Transit. “It repre-sents the living soul of rock ‘n’ roll in Miami.”