Some bands reach the fifty-year mark and start looking back at their glory days. And then there are The Fleshtones, who seem to have far too much fun to waste time looking in the rear-view mirror.

On Friday, October 30th, we arrived in Ravenna to celebrate this incredible milestone with them: half a century of garage rock, energy and pure rock’n’roll attitude. The destination was the Bronson, a venue that already sounded promising. But before the show, there was one important matter to take care of: dinner.

We checked into our hotel, parked the car and immediately spotted a pizzeria nearby. “Well, we could go and check out the venue first.” So we headed towards the Bronson, only to discover that it was still closed. No luck. Back to plan A: pizza.

And that’s where the evening started getting interesting.

While we were sitting there waiting for our pizzas, guess who suddenly appeared? The Fleshtones’ singer, Peter Zaremba, himself. Fifty years of rock behind him, and an opportunity like that doesn’t come around every day. What better moment to put on my best journalist face?

I walked over, exchanged a few words with him and asked him a question. Naturally, I also grabbed a photo. His answer was short and sweet, but he was friendly and smiling. Then he headed off towards the venue.

A little later, as we started walking there ourselves, we spotted the band’s guitarist heading in the same direction. About 400 metres separated us from the Bronson, including an underpass that deserves a special mention. Calling it creepy would be an understatement. Stanley Kubrick could have easily used it for a scene in A Clockwork Orange.

After surviving our little journey into cinematic horror, we finally arrived at the Bronson.

A small, intimate venue with a capacity of around 200 people. Exactly the kind of place we love: no enormous distances between the stage and the audience, no giant screens to watch what’s happening just a few metres in front of you. Here, you don’t just watch a gig. You feel it. And when The Fleshtones hit the stage, that intimacy becomes a huge advantage.

The band showed absolutely no intention of behaving like a group celebrating its fiftieth anniversary. No nostalgic atmosphere, no rock’n’roll pensioners reminiscing about the good old days. They simply plugged in and got down to business.

The show was a full-throttle mix of garage rock and rock’n’roll, with a setlist combining classic material, newer songs and tributes to artists who helped shape the history of rock music.

There were songs such as You Gotta Love, Love, Bigger and Better and American Beat, alongside newer material including Float Your Showboat, their new 2026 single. And there was also room to pay tribute to the Ramones, with two songs dedicated to the legendary New York punk band. A well-deserved nod to another group that helped write some important chapters in rock history.

But the real show was happening on stage.

The singer was an absolute ball of energy. Singing, dancing, spinning around and seemingly having a rather complicated relationship with gravity. He also didn’t seem particularly opposed to the occasional Negroni, which I suppose counts as an essential part of his pre-show athletic preparation.

At one point, he kept reminding everyone that this was the party, that the party was happening tonight. Not tomorrow. Tonight!

And he had a point. Why put off until tomorrow what you can do tonight?

The feeling was that The Fleshtones were genuinely having a great time. They weren’t simply running through a setlist to celebrate an anniversary. They were doing what they have clearly loved doing for the past fifty years: playing music, being on stage and getting the audience involved.

And perhaps that’s the secret to their longevity.

I actually got a chance to ask the singer about it before the show, during our unexpected encounter at the pizzeria.

My question was:

“50 years of rock and you are still going strong. What’s the secret?”

His answer was simple and disarmingly honest:

“I don’t know what the secret is, but we have fun. We enjoy what we do.”

No magic formula, no special recipe, no motivational speech. Just having fun doing what you love.

Perhaps there’s nothing more to add.

The following morning, we bumped into the other members of the band again during breakfast at the hotel. The singer looked considerably more worn out than he had the night before. Well, after an evening of rock’n’roll, endless spinning and a few Negronis, even he has to face reality at some point. Fifty years on the road is no small achievement, but apparently not enough to convince him to sit still.

We left Ravenna with the feeling that we’d witnessed something more than just an anniversary gig. We’d seen a band that, after half a century, still takes to the stage with the same desire to have fun and make people around them have fun too.

Because, in the end, rock’n’roll isn’t about age, charts or anniversaries.

It’s about attitude.

And if, after fifty years, you still feel like jumping around, spinning, playing loud and maybe having a Negroni between songs, then you’re clearly doing something right.

Happy 50th, The Fleshtones. And keep on rockin’!