A little overdue, but you'll love my Rock Boat review
I figured it was time to update this thing. And I'm gonna do it while I'm home, too sick to go outside and head for the office. Anyway, TRB-VII was just awesome! It's definitely a vacation that you need a vacation to recover from. Ok, here's the review in LJ Cuts.
Well, this is a story of a concert whore from New York encountering the ultimate concert experience.
Day 0: It's time to get outta the cold!
It all began early in the morning on Jan. 10. I got up too early to get ready, but I was too excited to continue sleeping. I wished my mom farewell as she went to work, and I was dancing away in my place, getting ready to go. I then walk out as the sun was about to rise and the taxis were going INTO Manhattan, not out of Manhattan. Luckily, one of the gypsy cabs in the neighborhood came my way and gave me a discount on a ride to LaGuardia Airport. I then get into the airport and check into the JetBlue thing in less than a minute.
Let's fast forward several hours.
I finally met a good number of the crew, all I haven't seen in how long? Julie, Stacey and Danielle were the first ones I saw. I met my cabinmate Paul for the first time and got to have lunch with him and his friends. Renee, Kenny, Leaf, and Nicole came around later that night. And then Rachael and Lucinda came around after midnight. I already knew this vacation was gonna kick ass.
Around 12:30am or so, Honor By August's Michael and Evan came around to do an acoustic set at the host hotel in Fort Lauderdale, the Sheraton Yankee Clipper. Very fun times singing along (or harmonizing). In fact, Rachael said I was singing louder than Michael. Sorry, dude.
Day 1: Get on the boat and START DRINKING!
My hotel mates Renee, Rachael and Lucinda were ready to check out before 11am and grab a cab for Port Everglades. Checking in wasn't too lengthy, as I finally met my West Coast friend Acacia for the very first time. We've talked before and it's been awhile since I last talked to her, but we had some great conversations about how good The Rock Boat would be.
And yes, the moment we all dropped off our carry-ons, we all started drinking. Drinking was only the next big thing to do besides going to the shows and late-night jams. Oh yeah, and eating late at night.
Anyway, back to The Rock Boat.
Wideawake started things off with an explosive set, as the Carnival Legend left the port. They were amazing.
After Wideawake, Julie, Rachael, Lucinda, and I did a little fine dining in the formal dining room. On normal cruises, you get one assigned dining time and an assigned table. For The Rock Boat, there were two dining times to choose and seating depended on how many people you brought along. The dinner the first night was exquisite. And I didn't have to pay an extra dime.
After dinner, I took in The Clarks and David Ryan Harris. I need to listen to more of the Clarks and David Ryan Harris was just awesome. (Random bit: on my JetBlue flight, I was watching satellite TV. On one of those channels was John Mayer's set from Webster Hall back in September [I was there]. David Ryan Harris was stage left, and I was several rows away from him.)
Well, David's set got better when he brought out two females to help him out with "Yesterday Shutting Down." Let's just say I was in the second row, called out one of the females' names, and she had a huge smile on her face when she saw me.
Yep, Aslyn and Toby Lightman joined him!
After those two rocking sets, I headed to see Better Than Ezra and then rounded out the night with a bit of Zac Brown...
Then I showered, changed, and went walking around for a late night jam. And I see this:
Aslyn did an impromptu jam which doubled up as a rehearsal session for her first set during Day 2. She did plenty of new stuff, and I requested my favorite unreleased song, "The Way It Goes." Of course, I was in Heaven.
I kept looking around for more jams until about 4am, when I was ready to call it a night. Unfortunately, no one woke me up to catch a 5am Honor By August jam.
Some other pics from Day 1:
Acacia and me.
Erica (Will Hoge's merch girl) and me. Erica loves The Red Hat.
Day 2: Nothing but water, wind, sun, and kickass music!
Day 2 started early with Sam Thacker at high noon on the Lido Deck:
Sam Thacker was awesome as he finished off his set with a bloody finger on his strumming hand. He even waived off a band-aid that his girlfriend offered him.
After lunch and catching a bit of Oval Opus, I ran back down to the lower decks to catch some acoustic action from Claire Wyndham and Honor By August.
Claire Wyndham came in and did a duet with Michael. It was awesome.
After the HBA set, I left Michael and Evan so I could get ready to go into Aslyn promo mode from the time Toby Lightman came until the time Aslyn was about to do her thing.
Toby brought some guests along for her set. Joe Stark from Sons of William and MARC BROUSSARD.
I wanted to stick around for Sons of William, but I had to grab dinner so that I was ready to go for the first of two Aslyn sets. For this go around, she now had a cellist, two background vocalists and a drummer. Her vocals were WAY more explosive than ever, and she practically reinvented whatever songs from the album that she sang. She took everyone's breath away. Seriously.
So here's a story that goes along with the pic below:
Aslyn introduces Joe Stark to help her out with a song he listened to on her iPod. That song was called "The Way It Goes." Of course, my favorite Aslyn song EVER. But wait, it gets better.
"This song is for Riz." I get all gushy and stuff. But there's more!
"Riz comes to my shows with stickers all over him, and that makes me feel good when I perform." I'm getting more gushy until she tells me to stand up and face the rest of the crowd in all my Aslyn sticker goodness. And there went my notoriety for The Rock Boat. And I wasn't even rocking The Red Hat, as shown below:
Afterward, I had to crash for a bit. Why? Hard liquor + choppy seas = quick hangover. I missed Florez and Ingram Hill. And the late night jamming was rather quiet. But I missed an early morning HBA jam. Or just Evan.
Day 3: If you haven't started drinking yet, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?
The day started a bit early as the boat stopped rocking and were docked at our port of call at Grand Turk Island. The vast majority of the Rock Boaters didn't do any excursions, as they wanted to keep drinking at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville, only a short walk away from where we docked. Rachael, Lucinda and I drank margaritas and pina coladas while we chomped on cheeseburgers in paradise. After that, it was off to the beach to catch some rays and enjoy the blue ocean waters.
During that time, I hung out with some other friends and found a bar that was cheaper and had faster service. After that, I went back to the boat early to take a nap and get ready for the Lido Deck party with Pat McGee.
The Deck Party was awesome. It was more about getting free alcoholic drinks and free meatballs than anything else, really.
I then grabbed dinner with all the fixins and caught a bit of Oval Opus before catching David Ryan Harris' second set for The Boat:
After his set, I wandered around, lost my money to someone at Texas Hold 'Em, then ended up running into Aslyn as we were getting ready to see Collective Soul. That band takes me back to the mid-90s, when alternative ruled.
Soon after, I tagged along w/ Aslyn and her crew to rock out to Florez's late night bit. Along the way, Aslyn had to stop at the casino to perform a few numbers while Francisco "The Machine" Vidal played guitar:
When we got to the Florez party, Aslyn was rocking out! Fun times were had by everyone that were there. And Aslyn even took the stage for a bit:
After all that fun, the jams didn't stop.
Somewhere on the boat, a singalong was taking place around a piano. The bassist from Collective Soul and the sax player from the Pat McGee took turns playing songs that everyone could sing. I was losing my voice after this late night session, so I grabbed a cup of tea and looked around for more jamming when I caught the lead vocal from Oval Opus singing Michael Tolcher's "Bad Habits."
Afterwards, I killed some time up on the Lido Deck to catch the sunrise...
Before we get to Day 4, one other pic from Day 3. This is Mandy. She's Aslyn's friend. And yes, she's hot.
Day 4: We don't want this to END!
It took awhile, but the sun finally peered through the clouds at around 7am, just about the time I wanted to go to sleep...
But then I had to walk around and find some more jams. Pat McGee and his sax player were still going at it with some people on a piano. I joined in and those people thought I had such a voice that I should sing a solo. Well, not before Pat McGee took my camera and started taking pictures:
Oh yeah, Rob from The Clarks (in the middle) held my sweater while I was performing.
I then took a nice nap.
I then woke up, went into Aslyn mode and grabbed lunch before checking out the tail end of Aslyn's sound check.
For her second set, she had more space to work with, and she continued to belt out her tunes only she knows how. No shoutout this time, but she kept smiling in my direction throughout her set:
After her set, I stuck around to check Aslyn's duet with Zac Brown:
Soon after, I hustled to catch the last half of Ingram Hill's second set:
After Ingram Hill I spent some quality chat time w/ Erica and Katie. I love them both:
The evening nightcap included the last fomal supper in the dining room and catching Sons of William and Josh Kelley. Marc Broussard and Toby Lightman joined Sons of William, and, oh yes, the bassist for Sons of William is HOT.
And Josh Kelley? Well, when I say Rock, you say Boat! Oh yeah, and DICK IN THE BOX! There. Fun times dancing around with the HBA crew and Nicole and Casie!
After Josh Kelley, I ran upstairs to chill w/ Aslyn and her crew before she took to the stage w/ host band Sister Hazel to do Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. She did that song justice, as she's always done that Elton John cover. I then said goodbye to Aslyn's friend Mandy and cellist Claire, grabbed some late night food (for the last time) and hit up the Lido Deck for the last late night jam. Marc Broussard and Josh Kelley took charge for a bit, and so did Francisco "The Machine" Vidal:
Seriously, if you have to get on board The Rock Boat, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? Next year's Boat is doing a Miami to Jamaica thing, and the ship being used will be even larger. Yep, I'm already planning for next year.
In case you haven't seen all my TRB pics yet: http://entertainment.webshots.com/album/557055944JIRIYJ
Well, this is a story of a concert whore from New York encountering the ultimate concert experience.
Day 0: It's time to get outta the cold!
It all began early in the morning on Jan. 10. I got up too early to get ready, but I was too excited to continue sleeping. I wished my mom farewell as she went to work, and I was dancing away in my place, getting ready to go. I then walk out as the sun was about to rise and the taxis were going INTO Manhattan, not out of Manhattan. Luckily, one of the gypsy cabs in the neighborhood came my way and gave me a discount on a ride to LaGuardia Airport. I then get into the airport and check into the JetBlue thing in less than a minute.
Let's fast forward several hours.
I finally met a good number of the crew, all I haven't seen in how long? Julie, Stacey and Danielle were the first ones I saw. I met my cabinmate Paul for the first time and got to have lunch with him and his friends. Renee, Kenny, Leaf, and Nicole came around later that night. And then Rachael and Lucinda came around after midnight. I already knew this vacation was gonna kick ass.
Around 12:30am or so, Honor By August's Michael and Evan came around to do an acoustic set at the host hotel in Fort Lauderdale, the Sheraton Yankee Clipper. Very fun times singing along (or harmonizing). In fact, Rachael said I was singing louder than Michael. Sorry, dude.
Day 1: Get on the boat and START DRINKING!
My hotel mates Renee, Rachael and Lucinda were ready to check out before 11am and grab a cab for Port Everglades. Checking in wasn't too lengthy, as I finally met my West Coast friend Acacia for the very first time. We've talked before and it's been awhile since I last talked to her, but we had some great conversations about how good The Rock Boat would be.
And yes, the moment we all dropped off our carry-ons, we all started drinking. Drinking was only the next big thing to do besides going to the shows and late-night jams. Oh yeah, and eating late at night.
Anyway, back to The Rock Boat.
Wideawake started things off with an explosive set, as the Carnival Legend left the port. They were amazing.
After Wideawake, Julie, Rachael, Lucinda, and I did a little fine dining in the formal dining room. On normal cruises, you get one assigned dining time and an assigned table. For The Rock Boat, there were two dining times to choose and seating depended on how many people you brought along. The dinner the first night was exquisite. And I didn't have to pay an extra dime.
After dinner, I took in The Clarks and David Ryan Harris. I need to listen to more of the Clarks and David Ryan Harris was just awesome. (Random bit: on my JetBlue flight, I was watching satellite TV. On one of those channels was John Mayer's set from Webster Hall back in September [I was there]. David Ryan Harris was stage left, and I was several rows away from him.)
Well, David's set got better when he brought out two females to help him out with "Yesterday Shutting Down." Let's just say I was in the second row, called out one of the females' names, and she had a huge smile on her face when she saw me.
Yep, Aslyn and Toby Lightman joined him!
After those two rocking sets, I headed to see Better Than Ezra and then rounded out the night with a bit of Zac Brown...
Then I showered, changed, and went walking around for a late night jam. And I see this:
Aslyn did an impromptu jam which doubled up as a rehearsal session for her first set during Day 2. She did plenty of new stuff, and I requested my favorite unreleased song, "The Way It Goes." Of course, I was in Heaven.
I kept looking around for more jams until about 4am, when I was ready to call it a night. Unfortunately, no one woke me up to catch a 5am Honor By August jam.
Some other pics from Day 1:
Acacia and me.
Erica (Will Hoge's merch girl) and me. Erica loves The Red Hat.
Day 2: Nothing but water, wind, sun, and kickass music!
Day 2 started early with Sam Thacker at high noon on the Lido Deck:
Sam Thacker was awesome as he finished off his set with a bloody finger on his strumming hand. He even waived off a band-aid that his girlfriend offered him.
After lunch and catching a bit of Oval Opus, I ran back down to the lower decks to catch some acoustic action from Claire Wyndham and Honor By August.
Claire Wyndham came in and did a duet with Michael. It was awesome.
After the HBA set, I left Michael and Evan so I could get ready to go into Aslyn promo mode from the time Toby Lightman came until the time Aslyn was about to do her thing.
Toby brought some guests along for her set. Joe Stark from Sons of William and MARC BROUSSARD.
I wanted to stick around for Sons of William, but I had to grab dinner so that I was ready to go for the first of two Aslyn sets. For this go around, she now had a cellist, two background vocalists and a drummer. Her vocals were WAY more explosive than ever, and she practically reinvented whatever songs from the album that she sang. She took everyone's breath away. Seriously.
So here's a story that goes along with the pic below:
Aslyn introduces Joe Stark to help her out with a song he listened to on her iPod. That song was called "The Way It Goes." Of course, my favorite Aslyn song EVER. But wait, it gets better.
"This song is for Riz." I get all gushy and stuff. But there's more!
"Riz comes to my shows with stickers all over him, and that makes me feel good when I perform." I'm getting more gushy until she tells me to stand up and face the rest of the crowd in all my Aslyn sticker goodness. And there went my notoriety for The Rock Boat. And I wasn't even rocking The Red Hat, as shown below:
Afterward, I had to crash for a bit. Why? Hard liquor + choppy seas = quick hangover. I missed Florez and Ingram Hill. And the late night jamming was rather quiet. But I missed an early morning HBA jam. Or just Evan.
Day 3: If you haven't started drinking yet, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?
The day started a bit early as the boat stopped rocking and were docked at our port of call at Grand Turk Island. The vast majority of the Rock Boaters didn't do any excursions, as they wanted to keep drinking at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville, only a short walk away from where we docked. Rachael, Lucinda and I drank margaritas and pina coladas while we chomped on cheeseburgers in paradise. After that, it was off to the beach to catch some rays and enjoy the blue ocean waters.
During that time, I hung out with some other friends and found a bar that was cheaper and had faster service. After that, I went back to the boat early to take a nap and get ready for the Lido Deck party with Pat McGee.
The Deck Party was awesome. It was more about getting free alcoholic drinks and free meatballs than anything else, really.
I then grabbed dinner with all the fixins and caught a bit of Oval Opus before catching David Ryan Harris' second set for The Boat:
After his set, I wandered around, lost my money to someone at Texas Hold 'Em, then ended up running into Aslyn as we were getting ready to see Collective Soul. That band takes me back to the mid-90s, when alternative ruled.
Soon after, I tagged along w/ Aslyn and her crew to rock out to Florez's late night bit. Along the way, Aslyn had to stop at the casino to perform a few numbers while Francisco "The Machine" Vidal played guitar:
When we got to the Florez party, Aslyn was rocking out! Fun times were had by everyone that were there. And Aslyn even took the stage for a bit:
After all that fun, the jams didn't stop.
Somewhere on the boat, a singalong was taking place around a piano. The bassist from Collective Soul and the sax player from the Pat McGee took turns playing songs that everyone could sing. I was losing my voice after this late night session, so I grabbed a cup of tea and looked around for more jamming when I caught the lead vocal from Oval Opus singing Michael Tolcher's "Bad Habits."
Afterwards, I killed some time up on the Lido Deck to catch the sunrise...
Before we get to Day 4, one other pic from Day 3. This is Mandy. She's Aslyn's friend. And yes, she's hot.
Day 4: We don't want this to END!
It took awhile, but the sun finally peered through the clouds at around 7am, just about the time I wanted to go to sleep...
But then I had to walk around and find some more jams. Pat McGee and his sax player were still going at it with some people on a piano. I joined in and those people thought I had such a voice that I should sing a solo. Well, not before Pat McGee took my camera and started taking pictures:
Oh yeah, Rob from The Clarks (in the middle) held my sweater while I was performing.
I then took a nice nap.
I then woke up, went into Aslyn mode and grabbed lunch before checking out the tail end of Aslyn's sound check.
For her second set, she had more space to work with, and she continued to belt out her tunes only she knows how. No shoutout this time, but she kept smiling in my direction throughout her set:
After her set, I stuck around to check Aslyn's duet with Zac Brown:
Soon after, I hustled to catch the last half of Ingram Hill's second set:
After Ingram Hill I spent some quality chat time w/ Erica and Katie. I love them both:
The evening nightcap included the last fomal supper in the dining room and catching Sons of William and Josh Kelley. Marc Broussard and Toby Lightman joined Sons of William, and, oh yes, the bassist for Sons of William is HOT.
And Josh Kelley? Well, when I say Rock, you say Boat! Oh yeah, and DICK IN THE BOX! There. Fun times dancing around with the HBA crew and Nicole and Casie!
After Josh Kelley, I ran upstairs to chill w/ Aslyn and her crew before she took to the stage w/ host band Sister Hazel to do Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. She did that song justice, as she's always done that Elton John cover. I then said goodbye to Aslyn's friend Mandy and cellist Claire, grabbed some late night food (for the last time) and hit up the Lido Deck for the last late night jam. Marc Broussard and Josh Kelley took charge for a bit, and so did Francisco "The Machine" Vidal:
Seriously, if you have to get on board The Rock Boat, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? Next year's Boat is doing a Miami to Jamaica thing, and the ship being used will be even larger. Yep, I'm already planning for next year.
In case you haven't seen all my TRB pics yet: http://entertainment.webshots.com/album/557055944JIRIYJ