Goth-rock music icon visits a Fall River 'haunted' cafe for coffee and ghost stories

FALL RIVER — The perfect cure for the mid-week blues walked into Miss Lizzie's Coffee last Wednesday.

Simon Gallup, legendary bassist for 1980s British goth rock band The Cure, paid a special visit to the quirky cafe recently for a "wonderful time" with his family, according to Joe Pereira, owner of Miss Lizzie's.

"He's probably one of the coolest guys I've ever met ... a class act," Pereira said.

On Sunday, Miss Lizzie's shared a photo on their Facebook page featuring 63-year-old Gallup and Pereira's daughter Olivia Pereira, the general manager, inside the Lizzie Borden-themed Second Street shop.

So what brought the music icon to town?

Gallup discovered Miss Lizzie's through a family member, who it turns out is good friends with Olivia and her brother.

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So Gallup's family arranged an after-hours visit to the Fall River shop during Gallup's recent trip to the United States. According to Pereira, he was headed home to England this past weekend.

But not before enjoying some Miss Lizzie’s coffee — Gallup ordered a cappuccino with three shots of espresso — and chatting about the infamous Borden case, Fall River history and culture, and music, during his brief stop.

"We had a lot of fun. We laughed quite a bit about a few spooky ghost stories," Pereira said.

Lizzie Borden House, a bed and breakfast and museum at 230 Second St., is most well-known as the scene of the gruesome, and still unsolved, ax murders of Lizzie Borden's father and stepmother on Aug. 4, 1892.

But it's not the only Borden-related Second Street home with tales of the supernatural tied to its grim history.

Over 50 years prior to the Borden double murder, a tragic incident took place in the building next door to where Andrew, Abby, Lizzie and Emma would later settle — now occupied by Miss Lizzie's Coffee.

There, Eliza Darling Borden, Lizzie's great-aunt by marriage, drowned her two youngest children in the cellar cistern before taking her own life.

Upon learning of the building's past, Pereira said Gallup asked if Miss Lizzie's employees were ever afraid of being left alone. Staff shared their spooky encounters.

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Gallup was also spotted at the Lizzie Borden House, and Pereira said he visited a few other city spots while in the area.

According to Pereira, his daughter Olivia is a huge fan of The Cure — who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019 and are best known for hits "It's Friday I'm in Love," "Lovesong," and "Just Like Heaven" — so Gallup's pop-in was just like a dream.

Even if it wasn't Friday, was Gallup in love with Fall River? Pereira said he seemed impressed.

"He's a very nice person, very down-to-earth, a very quiet, private person, but just wonderful. And he enjoyed being in Fall River," Pereira said.

"He really liked the artistic vibe that Fall River has," Pereira said.

He noted that Gallup admired the paintings by local artists that hang in Miss Lizzie's shop as well as the larger-than-life mural of the shop's namesake, the work of city native William Silvia, that graces the shop window.

According to Pereira, it was a good day for the coffee shop and the city.

"It's really nice to have people like that coming to Fall River, supporting us, supporting the community," Pereira said. "This city has a lot to offer, and I think it's nice for people like that to come and see that we have great talent here too."

The Cure member left his mark on the staff at Miss Lizzie's in more ways than one, even signing the shop's guest book on his way out.

According to Pereira, Gallup isn't the only notable person who has paid a visit to Miss Lizzie's since opening this past fall. And he said he's recently received calls from a couple of "Hollywood people," an actor and producer, interested in featuring Miss Lizzie's Coffee shop for potential projects.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Rock icon from The Cure visits Lizzie Borden-themed Fall River cafe