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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.
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.
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Jeremy & A. Jay Popoff
After the short trip to dry land, you were greeted by an energy packed performance from Lit. This was Lit’s first show on the boat. Most would consider them a band that likes to drink, but I really think it’s some drunk guys that formed a band. Lead singer A. Jay Popoff always sports a bottle of wine on stage, which is hardcore. They coined the trip’s catch phrase, “Give it up for the Ocean!” Brother and guitarist Jeremy Popoff asked for some help piecing the previous evening together with any pictures people might have taken. Lit had their roadies play guitar and bass for one song which was pretty good. Musically, they had a great performance and were what I expected. They were enjoying the boat and the atmosphere thus far. The crowd wasn’t the biggest, but I bet a lot of people were still recovering. There were a lot of first time ShipRockers who may have overdone it.
 A. Jay Popoff |  Kevin Baldes |
Post Lit’s performance, there was a belly flop contest and beer pong qualifying event. I missed these, like most people, because there was a Meet & Greet coming up with Five Finger Death Punch, Filter, 10 Years, In This Moment, and The Letter Black. The way these are handled on the boat is like a conveyor belt. The artists get in a big room and take seated areas, everyone is lined up, and they run you through to get your picture taken with the band. Later, you get online and download the pictures. It works pretty smooth to get through a lot of people. The bands were all fun and shook your hands, happy to meet you. Ivan Moody from Five Finger Death Punch gave us some Colorado love with a shout out to Peyton Manning and Willie B. The huge disappointment of this event was that I stood in line for two hours and In This Moment bailed an hour into the meet. I’m not certain why there was an early departure, but it was disheartening since, as I mentioned before, they were a big reason I booked this trip. After the trip, I inquired about it on their band Facebook page and was promptly banned from the page. In my opinion, that wasn’t the best way to treat fans, but I guess now I can’t really follow one of my favorite bands. People in line with me shared my disappointment since this was the best non-intrusive way to meet the entire band and take home a picture.
Gilby Clarke
During the Meet & Greet, Gilby Clarke took the Monster Energy Deck Stage. That was unfortunate because I wanted to see all of his performance. I was able to sneak out of line and catch a few songs. Like the other bands thus far, there was a lot of energy on stage. The bass player moved around quite a bit. Gilby played guitar and sang. They were a three piece and played some originals and a couple Guns ‘N’ Roses songs. From what I was able to see and what I could hear from line, it sounded like they had a great performance. Unfortunately for them, the crowd was kind of small since everyone wanted to get a chance to meet the bands. Also during this time, there was Ultimate Twister happening. I didn’t end up seeing it, but I can only imagine.
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P.O.D.
After getting out of the Meet & Greet, it was evening time and P.O.D. time. I grabbed a quick bite to eat and caught them playing on the Monster Energy Deck Stage. This was my first time seeing P.O.D., and I wasn’t sure what to expect. They had an awesome, positive energy performance. The crowd was a good size and seemed really into it with them. They played some of their hits that everyone knew. In the middle of the set, the band paused and a ShipRocker proposed to his lady – cool that the band allowed that. Later a newlywed couple came out and did a garter and bouquet toss, which shows just how down to Earth and positive these guys are. Singer Sonny Sandoval came out in the audience and sang for one of their songs. Promptly after P.O.D. was Rock & Roll Bingo down in the ship. I skipped this event to prepare for The Halo Method.
 Marcos Curiel of P.O.D. |  Sonny Sandoval of P.O.D. |
Lukas Rossi of The Halo Method
The Halo Method came out on the Monster Energy Deck Stage. I was excited to see these guys since I hadn’t heard any music from them yet. This was the band’s first live performance. From that regard, they did well. The Halo Method was a cool little band. The crowd was an ok size but wasn’t really into them. I think this is mainly because they were so new and no one knew any of their songs. Also, there wasn’t much crowd engagement to get that energy out and get people involved. They seemed to have a fair amount of slow rock songs; that didn’t help the energy level. To me, it was just a great opportunity to get some more drinks and relax for a moment. They had some signed posters for sale that were neat.
 Lukas Rossi & Dave Buckner |  Ben Moody |
Maria Brinks
Following The Halo Method was In This Moment’s final performance. This was your last opportunity to see the band… period, as they were leaving the cruise the next day due to a packed tour schedule. I was able to see the majority of this set. It seemed very similar to their first set – just the song order changed. Like I mentioned before, the down time while Maria Brinks changed costumes really took away from their performance. They have such a solid sound that it wasn’t hard for them to get the crowd right back in once she got all buttoned up. The wind outside was wreaking havoc on their props and Maria’s costumes. She was unable to do the shadow dance from the night before because the sheet would not have held up with the wind. Maria’s voice sounded a lot better though. In This Moment started off with a bigger crowd than The Halo Method. You could tell that I wasn’t the only one that hopped on this boat to see these guys, but like with other performances, I and others had to leave early to go catch Korn. As with other concurrent shows, I missed all of Fuel because they played down in the boat in the exact same time slot.
James "Munky" Shaffer
Korn played in the Carlo Felice. That place was packed. They put on one of the better sets I’ve seen from them. It helped that they were performing at or below sea level. The air gets mighty thin for some of these bands when they come through Denver. I’ve seen singer Jonathan Davis on oxygen at all those shows except for this one. Davis was just a ball of energy on that stage – very spastic and mobile. The stage didn’t have any bells and whistles, just a simple backdrop with Korn’s logo. As with Five Finger Death Punch, they couldn’t believe they were playing a seated venue. The crowd was really into their performance, danced around, and loved it. As you would expect from previous Korn shows, Davis pulled out his awesome bag pipes. Their set was mostly older Korn songs with about three from their new album. When I saw them earlier this year, it was the other way around and a very dubsteppy show. I think everyone was very pumped and satisfied after this performance. Also the entire show was simulcast to the fans hanging out at the bar and in the hot tubs on the upper deck. Concurrent with Korn was Geoff Tate’s set. Sadly, I was not able to check that out.
 Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu |  Jonathan Davis |
Richard Patrick of Filter
As you exited Korn, Filter was in the middle of killing it. They were manning the Feedback Bleeding Ears Lounge also known as the Zebra Lounge. The sound was even louder than the night before. The ShipRocked alum were playing to a growing crowd as people left Korn and got snared by this awesome band. Singer Richard Patrick managed to crowd surf/ceiling walk in the low profile venue. He was showing some NASA love sporting a patch on his jacket. In the back, there were other artists hanging out, drinking, and rocking out to Filter. It was a fun time but still hard to see the band through the wall of people. After Filter’s set we headed over to a ShipRocked first, Late Night Comedy. That started at midnight in the middle of Filter, but we got to see the last of three comedians, Jay Oakerson. He had a hilarious set. It was very off script, and he was just joking around with audience members. Jay spent a lot of time poking fun at people in crowd, at himself, and telling sexual stories.
 Big Jay Oakerson |  Andy Wood, Abby Gennet, & Brett Scallions |
Andy Wood
The final stop of the evening was at Live Karaoke with the assistance of Andy Wood & The Amalgam. This was on the Monster Energy Deck Stage that was still a little windy. They kicked this off at Midnight and were still going. People were dressed up for the Yacht Rocked theme night that had patrons dressed in sailor and captain garb. With such a big stage, it was quite intimidating to get up there. Most of the time some of the special guests, like Matt Pinfield, were singing. Fuel singer Brett Scallions was behind the drumset for a couple songs with Slunt singer and wife, Abby Gennet. Also, Phil Buckman of Filter didn’t get enough playing in before as he came up and pounded on the bass for a bit. This was a once in a life time opportunity to truly taste being a rockstar. It is one thing to do other live band karaoke but this one had actual rockstars rotating in. The regular band without the additions was amazing. They played tons of great songs, and Andy Wood shredded on the guitar. There was a lot of talent going around and great crowd interaction. People were rocking out as if the songs’ writers were actually performing them. This was a great second day to the cruise, and the late night events made it really hard to get back to the cabin and prepare for day three.
 Andy Wood & Phil Buckman |  Andy Wood & Matt Pinfield |
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