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Face it: your Sundays suck. You wake up at 2 in the afternoon, reheat yesterday’s coffee, kick that strange person in your bed out, and maybe brush your teeth by the time the sun sets.
Sure it’s a great way to relax before the work week, but every once in a while you need to shake it up and the Copper Rocket Pub in Maitland is here to help.
Every third Sunday of the month you can dust yourself off from the day before and head to the Rocket (where new dust from the construction in the area may settle on you) at 5:30 p.m. for cheap PBR, cheap Uncle Jones BBQ, and the new Southern Fried Sunday.
The popular event has returned after the long, sad decline of the Copper Rocket’s good name. Now under new management and hoping to reclaim the vibe that slowly bled away the last couple years, the Copper Rocket decided to bring back the much-requested afternoon of food, beer, and rock and roll.
The conceit is simple, and not much different than what the Sundays used to be: give patrons some good beer specials ($1.50 PBR), a cheap cover to see a few rock bands ($5), and a low cost for delicious Uncle Jones BBQ ($3). The inaugural return was last month, sporting a surprisingly enthusiastic turnout. “So far we’ve had a great reaction to bringing it back.” says Rachele Steyer, co-owner of the Copper Rocket.
For Southern Fried organizer Jessica Pawli coming back was almost a no-brainer. “A lot of people had been asking me when I was going to bring it back and whether I was going to bring it back, so obviously it was the right time. And then the new owners of the Copper Rocket called me, so I thought ‘Well, obviously it needs to happen.’”
One of the differences between the old Southern Fried Sunday and the reincarnation is the addition of the friend of all rockers and hipsters, Pabst Blue Ribbon, as its sponsor. “Pabst Blue Ribbon is an awesome sponsor, they’ve done very well by us for this.” says Steyer. Thanks to PBR’s distribution arm, the Copper Rocket will be introducing Southampton Brewery beer to the Central Florida market. There will be bucket specials for Southampton’s Double White, IPA, and Secret Ale (an altbier) during the Southern Fried event.
But the bigger, more obvious draw to the event is getting to hear the music. And there’s no shortage of bands familiar with the Sundays who want a taste of the southern fried action.
“I have had lots of bands contact me about playing,” says Pawli. “Even people from out of town have been contacting me finding out when they can drive up from Tampa or drive out from the beach. There’s lot of great bands in Central Florida for this genre of music.”
And what exactly folds into the genre of southern fried music? According to Pawli, pretty much anything alt-country, folk, rockabilly, bluegrass, or variation on country. That doesn’t mean that bands that don’t identify themselves as any of those styles can’t apply, just that they should keep their setlist at least lightly fried.
This Sunday will boast the talents of Kaleigh Baker, the Orange Blossom Trails, and The Teague Stefan Band along with PBR specials starting an hour earlier than the bands at 4:30 p.m. The exact moment when you are sitting at home wondering where your Sunday is headed.
