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REVIEW: SHIPROCKED DAY 2 1/27/2014
Gweedo
SHIPROCKED DAY 2!!! At least that’s how some felt as the sun crept in and they started the next adventure, with some dark sun glasses. Others were more ambitious and attended the T25 workout at 9am. A few others had the call time of 11:30am to be on Great Stirrup Cay for the first Meet & Greet of the voyage. The private island needed to be tendered to which took a little bit because they packed the little boat most of the time before leaving. This day was more relaxing than past ShipRocked ports because there wasn’t much happening on the island so you could just enjoy some sand between the toes. It seemed like a perfect size because there wasn’t much of a crowd to mess with and there were tons of available beach chairs. There were big inflatable platforms you could rent to sit out on the water on. The beach had a little stage next to the water and three bars to partake at. An alright buffet lunch was the only food on the island. Everything was paid for with your cabin card except for little shacks that had souvenirs.
Gweedo
SHIPROCKED DAY 2!!! At least that’s how some felt as the sun crept in and they started the next adventure, with some dark sun glasses. Others were more ambitious and attended the T25 workout at 9am. A few others had the call time of 11:30am to be on Great Stirrup Cay for the first Meet & Greet of the voyage. The private island needed to be tendered to which took a little bit because they packed the little boat most of the time before leaving. This day was more relaxing than past ShipRocked ports because there wasn’t much happening on the island so you could just enjoy some sand between the toes. It seemed like a perfect size because there wasn’t much of a crowd to mess with and there were tons of available beach chairs. There were big inflatable platforms you could rent to sit out on the water on. The beach had a little stage next to the water and three bars to partake at. An alright buffet lunch was the only food on the island. Everything was paid for with your cabin card except for little shacks that had souvenirs.
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The Meet & Greet was not thought out at all. Everybody, including bands, was standing around with no direction on a deck by a bar. Lack of organization made it kick off a little late but not very many people showed for the photos. For those that are unfamiliar, ShipRocked offers professionally taken photos of you and the bands which are posted for free online after the cruise. It is fantastic and one of the big reasons I go on the cruise. That’s something that most concerts don’t offer unless you buy VIP. This event included Aranda, Butcher Babies, Black Stone Cherry, & American Fangs. The island allowed for some nice backdrops to the photos to help capture how awesome this vacation was. As this is a vacation for the fans, it is also a vacation for the artists. Many took to the beach the first day to see what was going on. In particular I saw Brian “Head” Welch, Chris Kael, Jeremy Spencer, Zoltan Bathory, and Maria Brink.
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I was interested in catching Art of Dying because I’ve missed them in other situations. They did spectacular. Breaking in the beach stage they had great stage presence and energy. I was very surprised. For being outside in an open area they sounded good. The beach stage had a small area fenced off in the front for VIP that was shortened during the performance so there wasn’t an awkward gap in the crowd. Art of Dying was good at captivating the crowd and they drew a decent amount of people for it being an early show. Both guitarists were very talented and have some nice looking instruments. Afterwards they went to the bar next to the stage to hang out and drink with everyone. They seemed like some really nice guys. During their show Monster was handing out energy drink which I think everyone was grateful for.
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Next up on the beach stage was Nonpoint. Somehow they manage to sound a little better every time I see them. They are such a great hard working band. The sun was beating down on them but they just sweated out rock. They had a good sized crowd that they got moving quite a bit. This was their last performance so I feel like they gave it their all. After this all Nonpoint had to do was kick back and enjoy a nice vacation with just a Meet & Greet the next day. This concluded the events on the beach stage for the day and was time for people to head back to the boat to prep for Papa Roach. Alternatively you could attend a workshop by the Hells Belles Burlesque girls to polish some of your talents before the show. I really liked how this was organized because you got to enjoy yourself and not be driven by schedule. I would have liked to see maybe one more band on the beach stage. Since you could hear the band all over the island and your objective of the day was to hang on the beach and drink, might as well add more music on the beach stage to that objective. That would have made concerts on the boat easier to catch since there’d be less overlap. There’s my two cents.
Papa Roach had their first performance on the Monster Energy Deck Stage. A lot of fans have been begging for years to get these guys on the boat. It was great to finally see them come on. Singer Jacoby Shaddix even admitted that people had been urging him to get on the boat. Really it was exactly what you want from Papa Roach, a high energy awesome performance. Shaddix had some candid moments with the audience and even ventured out and sang from the upper deck of the boat. He seemed to be having a blast performing for everyone from the top of a boat.
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I was super excited when it was announced that Tremonti, Mark Tremonti of Creed and Alter Bridge’s solo band, would be on the boat. They were next on the docket and this was my first concert by these guys. Some added excitement is that Wolfgang Van Halen, Eddie Van Halen’s son, is currently playing bass for them! The whole band sounded fantastic! It was better than their premier CD which doesn’t capture the energy and grit of the band. Mark plays and sings great. Unfortunately this was another show at the Headbanger Wine Spinnaker Lounge which made it hard to see them. There were a good amount of people watching the show. I stuck around as long as I could and made a commitment to see their second show at a better venue later on the boat.
From Tremonti I headed over to see what Jim Breuer was going to bring to the stage. He was performing on the Monster Energy Deck Stage. I was surprised. Breuer did a comedy music mix. He had a small crowd. I think people were checking out Wilson who was playing at about the same time. Jim Breuer was very funny and the music aspect made it even funnier. One song he was impersonating Ivan Moody from Five Finger Death Punch and talking about the rules of ShipRocked. Rule number one, don’t be a dick! I ended up missing Crash Kings, Living Colour, Digital Summer, and Scorpion Child as I prepped to see the acoustic set by Sevendust.
Everyone I talked to was not interested in this Sevendust acoustic set. Even in talking to lead singer Lajon Witherspoon, he had apprehensions about the set. I was very excited to see it and these are the types of things I want to see on the boat. Something memorable and one of a kind, even though they plan on tour this set. They were playing at the Stardust Theater and that place was packed. Apparently rockers didn’t want to admit they wanted to see an acoustic show. It was hard to get in. I had to wait for the organizer of the boat to find a place for me. Wow, it was awesome. The show was very intimate, candid, and a lot of fun. Many other artists from the boat were sitting in watching the show as well. At one point guitarist Clint Lowery broke into a little Survivor “Eye Of The Tiger” and poked fun at himself at his lack of vocal upper range. Nonpoint’s Elias Soriano made an appearance to sing a duet with Lajon. That was really cool and another example of something unique to the boat. Towards the end Living Colour’s Corey Glover stopped by on set to say hello since he is a big influence of Lajon’s. But in the end this IS Sevendust and we all know that there’s nothing soft about their music. As an encore they plugged in and played one song so that everyone got their metal fix.
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The next show I didn’t know what to expect. Love and Death hit the Monster Energy Deck Stage. I hadn’t heard any of their music but I was aware that it was Brian “Head” Welch’s solo band. Outstanding, I was pleasantly surprised. I think they had the best visuals on the screens of all the bands thus far. Head being the guitarist for Korn made them have a little bit of a Korn sound with vocals and guitar work. They had a good crowd to play for that had a lot of artists in it as well. This was a midnight show so it was good to see people make it out for it. But then again this is ShipRocked, does anyone really sleep? Head had admitted that he was slightly nervous about playing because all the other bands have been touring and they haven’t been doing much since he rejoined Korn. Love and Death played a Korn medley for the fans to rock out to. The stage got a little wet from an ever so slight mist in the air which caused guitarist JR Bareis to fall right on his bottom. Like a pro though he didn’t miss a beat. Head had slipped as well and they finally were getting some rags out there to fix the situation. One lucky fan was pulled from the stage to sing one of the Korn songs with Head. I can’t wait for these guys to get out and do more.
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Finally I wrapped up my evening by catching the rest of the Andy Wood’s live band karaoke. It is guaranteed to be a good time every time. Andy Wood can just shred any song on the guitar, solos and all. The band he brings with him is also good and has a great catalog of songs for people to sing. During these sessions other artists often pop in to sing or sit in on an instrument. This time around Jacob Burton of Lynam and Adler, how was just on the boat because it is awesome, with Metal Mike, who has played in Rob Halford’s solo band, did “Breaking The Law” by Judas Priest. Obviously they killed it, really wish Lynam would make a return to the boat or even getAdler on there. Candlebox frontman, Kevin Martin, stepped up to sing Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway To Heaven”. Really long song but damn can that guy sing! The final notable act was Lukas Rossi of The Halo Method singing “Rebel Yell” by Billy Idol. That was pretty crazy. He sang the hell out of it and got the crowd fired up. Also his attire and stage presence seem to be influenced by Billy Idol so it made the performance that much better. This needs to be a cruise staple. Phew… on to the next day.
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