REVIEW: SHIPROCKED 2012 DAY 4 – 11/30/2012
Gweedo

The fourth and final day of ShipRocked was spent at open sea. What lay ahead was a day of sun, drinking, meeting, greeting, and rocking. The day started out with a quick breakfast before people hopped right in line for an 11am Meet & Greet. This Meet & Greet consisted of Godsmack, P.O.D., Lit, Helmet, Geoff Tate, and Gilby Clarke. Sully Erna of Godsmack was still looking a little ill, but fans were very excited that he showed up. Most of the bands were happy to meet their fans for the photo op. Concurrently throughout the ship, the morning brought a 10am show with Tory Stoffregen and Java Monster drinks along with Ben Moody hosting a yoga session. At the time of the Meet & Greet, there was Noodle Jousting, Mini-Golf with Pop Evil, and Beer Pong Finals.

REVIEW: SHIPROCKED 2012 DAY 3 – 11/29/2012
Gweedo

Hello day three and hello Nassau, Bahamas. If you did go to sleep the night before, you awoke to paradise. This was a much longer port stay lasting from 9am to 6pm. When you got off the boat, there was a giant market and locals hounding you with offers for transportation, snorkeling, Segway tours, etc. We opted to explore the island on foot and unguided. Our objective was to find food and experience the area on the way. I’m not sure how far we went but it was probably over five miles all together and off the beaten path. We hopped from beach to beach, saw a lot of stray dogs running about, and stumbled upon Bahamas Speed Week, which had a couple Ferrari trailers. Unfortunately, there were no activities during the time period we were at port. Across from the event, we ate at a fish joint that had some awesome grilled and fried fish. I had some fried Escovitch (Red Snapper) that I would gladly have again with beans and rice, a block of mac and cheese, and coleslaw. The gem of the journey was finding Saunders Beach. It is a long beach that had two people and a small local wedding. There were little coves created by piles of rock that made it look like you had your own private beach. Seashells were everywhere with white sand and a small tide. We took a dip and the water was great; however, the rocks on the cove floor were not. Throughout the walk, we saw lots of coconuts on the ground and a couple Christmas tree lots. I was surprised Christmas was so big there and wasn’t quite sure how to feel about a Christmas with no snow.

REVIEW: SHIPROCKED 2012 DAY 2 – 11/28/2012
Gweedo

Day two of ShipRocked brought us to the small island of Key West, FL. Disappointingly, this was a very short stay. If you had any fun the night before, there was little time to take in the port. I had enough time to shop, take some pictures, and eat a little. My new experience at this stop was eating Conch Fritters. To sum it up, they are like a grisly, seasoned hush puppy. They tasted good, but I could only handle a few in a sitting. The island was interesting with chickens running around everywhere. It isn’t very big and has a huge Navy base. Our boat was actually docked at the base, and you had to take a shuttle to leave the boat until you were off government property. There was no beach to visit where we were but tons of bars. It seemed like the night life would be fun, but we weren’t sticking around long enough. Also, liquor was kind of moot here since a paid drink package beckoned you on the boat. Walking around, you saw various band members checking out the sights and restaurants as well.

REVIEW: SHIPROCKED 2012 DAY 1 – 11/27/2012
Gweedo

First rule of ShipRocked: Don’t talk about ShipRocked.

Second rule of ShipRocked: There are no rules!

With that out of the way, let’s get to what we can talk about – the bands. This is my second year attending ShipRocked, and it is addictive to say the least. For the Colorado folks, I would compare it to Rock Jam except on a boat. Sailing from Ft. Lauderdale, FL on the MSC Poesia, this year took us to Key West, FL and Nassau, Bahamas. There was a stellar lineup to accompany everyone – Godsmack, Korn, Five Finger Death Punch, P.O.D., Sevendust, Filter, Fuel, 10 Years, Pop Evil, Lit, Helmet, In This Moment, Geoff Tate, The Halo Method, Gilby Clarke, The Letter Black, Pianotarium, and Andy Wood along with a slew of special guests that I’ll mention throughout the reviews. This year was an epic year for ShipRocked. This was the first year that the entire boat was occupied by ShipRockers. How can you tell me that a boat full of rockers is a bad time? You just can’t.

REVIEW: ALICE COOPER & KILL DEVIL HILL 11/23/2012
Gweedo

This marks my first time at Paramount Theatre, and it was great. The venue looks really cool and has an awesome sign outside of it. It is a small multi-level theatre that still has with the old theatre look and some nice cushioned seats. The pit area was filled in with removable seating to make it multipurpose. This particular evening was hosting two killer bands, Kill Devil Hill and the one and only Alice Cooper. The crowd that turned out was amazing; they ranged from small children to elderly. Everyone was rocking and having a grand ol’ time.

REVIEW: PUDDLE OF MUDD, JUDD HOOS, & LOST POINT 11/16/2012
Gweedo

The attendance of Puddle of Mudd at Grizzly Rock marks the biggest name to come through that venue to date. I can’t wait to see what future acts they can pull in. All around, this show was pretty awesome. The evening was kicked off with local band Lost Point followed by Judd Hoos. The crowd piled in fairly early, making it hard to get a beer by the end of Lost Point.

REVIEW: EVERCLEAR, EVE 6, & NAMESAKE 11/11/2012
Gweedo

Oh 90’s… I have such love for the 80’s that I often overlook the highlights of the 90’s. Everclear and Eve 6 were here to kindly remind you. It was a cold night – perfect for cramming into Ogden Theatre with a bunch of strangers. The crowd looked mostly of late teens to mid 30’s. It started out pretty sparse for Namesake but got full by the end of Eve 6. Nostalgic is a good word to describe the evening. Everclear and Eve 6 were some of the better things to come out of the 90’s.