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REVIEW: SHIPROCKED 2014 DAY 3 - 1/28/2014
Gweedo
Rise and shine, day three of ShipRocked has arrived!! Today brings the dawn of “Washy Washy, Happy Happy, Smiley Smiley, All the tiiime!!!” The cadence of cleanliness that has been ingrained into everyone’s soul. Delivered to the masses at every boarding and before entering the buffet area by the energized and overly enthusiastic crew. I think it was very effective in getting people to remember their hygiene. Everybody on the boat and at this point even off the boat was saying it to each other. As for activities for the day, we were still off the coast of Great Stirrup Cay where we would stay one more day. As the day before, there was another early Meet & Greet this time with Jim Breuer, Nonpoint, Crash Kings, Scorpion Child, & Wilson. As most learn from their mistakes the organization of this event was much better but very rushed. It seemed like the person in front of you had barely cleared the frame before they were snapping your shot. Not sure why the rush since both of these greets didn’t have a lot of people showing up to them. Wandering around there were less artists that came to the island this time. It seemed like they got their fill the day before and were relaxing on the mostly empty boat.
Gweedo
Rise and shine, day three of ShipRocked has arrived!! Today brings the dawn of “Washy Washy, Happy Happy, Smiley Smiley, All the tiiime!!!” The cadence of cleanliness that has been ingrained into everyone’s soul. Delivered to the masses at every boarding and before entering the buffet area by the energized and overly enthusiastic crew. I think it was very effective in getting people to remember their hygiene. Everybody on the boat and at this point even off the boat was saying it to each other. As for activities for the day, we were still off the coast of Great Stirrup Cay where we would stay one more day. As the day before, there was another early Meet & Greet this time with Jim Breuer, Nonpoint, Crash Kings, Scorpion Child, & Wilson. As most learn from their mistakes the organization of this event was much better but very rushed. It seemed like the person in front of you had barely cleared the frame before they were snapping your shot. Not sure why the rush since both of these greets didn’t have a lot of people showing up to them. Wandering around there were less artists that came to the island this time. It seemed like they got their fill the day before and were relaxing on the mostly empty boat.
The first of two bands to grace the beach stage this day was Aranda. I had been hearing a lot of hype about these guys so I was anxious to see what they brought. Pretty damn good is what they brought. There was a smaller crowd to start but their melodic heavy rock drew more people in. The Oklahoma Aranda brothers were having a great time on the stage with the rest of their band. I think the outside venue stole some of their performance. I personally wanted to see more energy getting out into the crowd. Listening to their CDs it seemed like they had a bit more to offer. I wish I had not missed their boat performance so I could have experienced them in more ideal conditions. That being said, the crowd’s response wasn’t at all negative, people were definitely digging the music and without a doubt they walked away with more fans. I’m going to make an effort to catch Aranda again as soon as I get the chance. Though talent, they lacked none. I was sold once I heard across the beach the best Led Zeppelin “Dazed & Confused” cover I’ve ever witnessed. Keep an eye on these boys, I see them going places.
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Candlebox kicked off with a proposal by two fans. She said yes so no awkward moment there. A few people had scoffed at the addition of Candlebox to the boat. Yes they aren’t as heavy as some of the bands but it was quite refreshing to have a moment where someone wasn’t screaming at you. I have yet to be disappointed at a Candlebox show and the streak continues. After all this time they know exactly how to perform even on a stage next to the ocean. They sounded great and had a solid set. Like I mentioned in the previous review it would have been nice to have at least one more band play on the beach stage. Kissing the island goodbye it was time to take the last tender to the Norwegian Pearl and prepare for Three Days Grace.
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The upper deck was packed with the anticipation of Three Days Grace’s performance. Just as they did the first day, Matt Walst and the crew delivered. Explosions of excitement and lyrics spewed overboard. I’m glad the addition of Matt Walst to the band has been so successful. It will be interesting to see where the band goes once they get a permanent singer. My only issue with their performance is that it was the exact same show that everyone saw on day one. Mixing it up and just being more candid with the crowd would have made it perfect. The Monster Energy Deck Stage was given an integrity test next by the Butcher Babies. Finally I was able to SEE the Butcher Babies! Turns out they are led by two very attractive and talented women. The band owned the stage and the crowd. Heidi Shepherd and Carla Harvey’s screaming and growling duet brings something new to the female heavy metal world. I really enjoy the ebb and flow between the two. Butcher Babies were able to energize the entire crowd that was still fairly large. Go check these guys/women out!!
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In staying with the Monster Energy Deck Stage lineup I decided to catch Black Stone Cherry. This caused me to miss the concurrent shows of The Halo Method, American Fangs, and No Fun Intended. Sorry guys maybe next time. I did hear that No Fun Intended was a blast. Wow did Black Stone Cherry turn it on. That show was very enjoyable and entertaining. They had loads of energy and talent, bringing a very candid show to the stage as they always do. Guitarist Ben Wells was mostly a ball of hair on stage as he bounced and bobbed around. Drummer John Fred Young was also a maniac behind the set. Testing the endurance of his kit and flailing his hair all about. This was the best performance I’ve seen from them. They capped the performance with a fantastic cover of Joe Walsh “Rocky Mountain Way”. I overheard many people talking about how great their performance was for the remainder of the cruise.
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I bolted over the see the already in progress Five Finger Death Punch at the Stardust Theater. Fantastic! They changed it up quite a bit from the first performance and I loved it. They threw a couple acoustic songs in the set. Singer Ivan Moody went way out in the middle of the theater to sing and meet fans. The majority of the boat was at this show. They rocked so hard. Ivan ended up yelling at a fan in front that was raising a little too much hell given the surroundings. Being a sympathetic performer he didn’t want to see the fan ejected and miss the show so an understanding was quickly met. I’m very glad I was able to catch both of their performance. Five Finger Death Punch has still managed to keep a good head and appreciate the fans. Hail to the Kael for being on the forefront of that. Another disappointing miss was Wilson. I had heard so many good things about them but they were playing at the same time so I’ll have to catch them at another venue. Since I was able to watch the first part of Jim Breuer’s first performance I headed over to see the last part of his second at the Meliti Stage. I’m glad I did that because it was even more hilarious. His closing number was a metal remix of the children’s song “Bingo”. His twist was that for every letter he impersonated a different iconic rock singer. The impersonated singers being Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Halford of Judas Priest, Brian Johnson of AC/DC, and James Hetfield of Metallica. Wow. Mannerisms and voices were down to a T. Pure talent from this guy. They have to bring him back on future cruises.
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My final show for the evening was In This Moment’s last show of the boat on the Monster Energy Deck Stage. I was disappointed that the show was the same as their first. It was still of the same quality and sounded good. The instruments were tight and still shrouded in fog. I really wanted to see Heidi and Carla go up and sing “Blood” with Maria. It seemed poised to happen because the duet had expressed how In This Moment was a big inspiration for them and the Butcher Babies were hanging out side stage enjoying the show. But alas it didn’t happen. Also I was looking to see Elias Soriano of Nonpoint go up and sing “The Promise” with her as he’d done on a prior ShipRocked or even Ivan Moody lend his voice. Another missed opportunity for something great and memorable to happen. I hope with their upcoming CD they bring a new show to the stage that is something fresh. So ends another day of ShipRocked. Can the next day manage to continue the upward trend of awesomeness? We shall see.
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