trb vii - the aftermath, part two
Jan. 16th, 2007 09:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
violacea... and, the cruise continues!
Saturday: Our day in port. I sat on the beach just off the pier and read. Waded in the water a bit. I was completely lazy, and it was GLORIOUS. I'm told that it's better that we didn't head into town - reports say it was pretty scary. But, no, beach, then an overpriced lunch at Margaritaville, along with every other person who got off the ship, apparently.
Back to the ship late afternoon. At one point, Lara was out on our balcony, and apparently saw a guy in the water, halfway between the beach and the still-docked ship. He was screaming at someone to throw him a beer. So, someone above us did, and the guy swam all the way out to the boat to retrieve it. I guess, if you need a free beer, you'll do anything to get it. ;)
Saturday was 80s night, and Misti, Lara and I dressed appropriately. :) (There are pictures. They're kinda scary, but you'll see them anyway.) Then, we went down to the Hole and camped out right in front of the stage for the whole night.
First up, Oval Opus - Brenda had sent me their live album last year, and I enjoyed it, but they were an incredibly good live band! (Good enough, apparently, that they were spontaneously - so it seems - asked to come along on the BNL cruise this week, too.) Their sound is somewhat similar to Carbon Leaf - that rootsy, sometimes jam band-ish, sometimes folk-ish sound, basic rock with an interesting instrumental twist. I enjoyed them a lot, and would see them again if they ever came around here! (Okay, it also helped that the lead singer looked a bit like Matt Wertz. ;)) Next, David Ryan Harris, who has a really terrific voice and makes me actually like the electric guitar, which is sometimes hard. He's rather electric to watch.
Gaelic Storm was up next, and apparently the room was packed out the doors. We couldn't tell, because when you were up front, you couldn't see anything more than four people back. Initially, we thought it was a doomed performance, since Patrick's accordion wasn't working properly, and he ... didn't seem very happy about it, let's put it that way. But, happily, he picked up the energy when they finally started, and it was a fantastic show! Everyone was in a great mood on stage, actually. Ryan cracked up some of us at the front when, in a lull in one of the instrumentals, he told Pete he was sexy. Hee. Fred LeBlanc was actually watching from the side of the stage, having a great time, and they had him come up and play drums for their last song ... which I now can't remember what it is. But, anyway, Fred played, Patrick wore a big fuzzy purple hat, a good time was had by all. Oh, yeah, and Patrick kept leading chants of "Jimmy Buffett, you BASTARD", in reference to the $35 he spent on two margaritas at Margaritaville. :)
Carbon Leaf played next - and let me tell you, I could get used to seeing those two bands playing on the same night. Heh. Another great set, even if those of us up front couldn't hear Barry at all. It was okay, we all knew the words anyway. ;) The highlight of this set was "Desperation Song", because it's been FOREVER since I've seen Carter pull out his mandolin! Also a highlight, as always, Jordan's bass solo going into "Paloma". Once again, too short a set for my tastes, but hey, I've got a couple of headlining shows coming up next month. It's always a pleasure to see them play live, no matter how much time they have!
We were going to stay to see Van Hazel (more on that in a minute), but about halfway through the night I realized I hadn't eaten since lunch at about 2. It was now midnight, and I was going to die if I didn't eat. So, we gave up our spots in front and went to raid the midnight buffet. We were tired, dehydrated, and more than a bit punchy, as evidenced by the hopeless laughing fits that ensued after Brenda decided to rant about ... something. I forget. I just remember laughing. :)
Anyway. I wandered back down for the end of Van Hazel - which was Sister Hazel performing old-school Van Halen covers. Drunkenly, apparently, as Jenn told us later that Ken downed more than a quarter of a bottle of Jim Beam in one shot as soon as he walked onstage. They sounded like they were having fun, though - I couldn't see them, naturally, because the entire ship was packed into the Hole for that one. I don't know why they didn't plan this one for the main stage, but they should have.
I tried to stay up for the Dick Clarks - which was apparently the guys from the Clarks performing 80s covers - but I was dead, so I went upstairs and crashed. 3:00am seems to be about my limit. At that point, apparently, I turn into a pumpkin. Good to know.
Sunday: My notes are getting shorter at this point. I'm like that on vacation. :)
First show of the day was Five Star Iris. Misti had talked about them, but I missed them last year, so I was glad to have the chance to see them this year. And they were good! Great, straight-up rock. The lead singer had a Billy Idol thing going on, with the bleach blond hair and sunglasses, which I appreciated. Bought their CD, would see them again given a chance.
Then, we wandered back in to see Aslyn again for a song or two. I left, though, to see Toby Lightman on the Lido Deck, because I hadn't yet had a chance. I love her CD, and was pretty interested to see that she'll be opening for Carbon Leaf for at least half of their tour. She sounded amazing, but I wasn't too overly impressed with her stage presence. She had a guitar, she sang ... I didn't get anything from her I couldn't get off the CD. So, I was easily distracted, and wandered away to take pictures of the ship and soak in my last bit of warm sunlight for approximately the next six months.
Then, down to Follies, for our third dose of Zac Brown. Zac was a bit hung over, evidenced by the fact that he chanced the line in "Toes" to "do me a favor, please god no more Jager." Heh. They also covered what was apparently a Radiohead song, per the message board. I wouldn't know, as I'm a music heathen who has no use for Radiohead. But, anyway, still the most entertaining act on board, and I went to the merch room to buy both of their CDs plus a t-shirt.
Kinda bummed around for a while after that. Brenda and I had dinner, then wandered down to the Atrium bar, where we met Chris, who was once again at loose ends, since his wife was down most of the weekend with seasickness, poor thing. Misti joined us, and we all moseyed on over to the Cowboy Mouth show. Which was a blast! I felt exhausted after it was done - Cowboy Mouth is an audience participation kind of thing, most definitely. I always enjoy the hell out of them when I see them - but somehow, they're like Guster, I always see them by accident!
Sister Hazel next, for the final show of the cruise. But, first, Andy from Sixthman told us that, come January 2008, we'll be on a new ship (hopefully with better venues), sailing out of Miami, bound for Jamaica! And that the first confirmed artist on board is Marc Broussard, who 'stowed away' as a passenger this year, and got up and performed a song before the SH show started. Then, Sister Hazel, great as usual. The highlight was Emerson Hart, former lead singer of Tonic, getting up to sing "If You Could Only See" with them.
Then, it was time to jam. A Van Hazel encore - I forget what song - as well as an appearance by Aslyn, who sang "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" with them. Then a whole load of artists popped up on stage (literally - the front of the stage dropped, and it came back up with everyone) to sing "The Weight". Which was amusing ... Pat McGee was wandering around, grinning like a naughty schoolboy, messing with everyone. Meanwhile, if Pat was the naughty schoolboy, Fred LeBlanc was the obnoxious schoolteacher, physically pushing all soloists out to the front of the stage when they wanted to stick back in the crowd. It was great.
After that, KISS came back for a (too-long) encore. But, we'd heard Ken mention that we should meet everyone on the Lido Deck, so after they were done, everyone rushed upstairs, where a jam session was already in progress, featuring Marc Broussard, Josh Kelley, Keaton Simons, Francisco Vidal, David Ryan Harris ... unlike last year, this was just one long bluesy jam, with musicians wandering in and out. I got some pictures, but after about a half hour, the music started to sound the same to me (again, see above: music heathen) ... it was gettting past 3am, and also see above, pumpkin, so I eventually just said good night and excused myself to get a couple of hours of sleep, as we had to be up by 7am to get ready to leave. Sob.
It was a really different vibe this year - I think I liked the atmosphere on last year's cruise slightly better, but on a scale of 1 to 10, it's the difference between 10 and 9. TRB is an incomparable vacation for someone who loves that kind of music, with fantastic people and the most amazing artists you can imagine. Can't wait for next year! Who's with me?
Saturday: Our day in port. I sat on the beach just off the pier and read. Waded in the water a bit. I was completely lazy, and it was GLORIOUS. I'm told that it's better that we didn't head into town - reports say it was pretty scary. But, no, beach, then an overpriced lunch at Margaritaville, along with every other person who got off the ship, apparently.
Back to the ship late afternoon. At one point, Lara was out on our balcony, and apparently saw a guy in the water, halfway between the beach and the still-docked ship. He was screaming at someone to throw him a beer. So, someone above us did, and the guy swam all the way out to the boat to retrieve it. I guess, if you need a free beer, you'll do anything to get it. ;)
Saturday was 80s night, and Misti, Lara and I dressed appropriately. :) (There are pictures. They're kinda scary, but you'll see them anyway.) Then, we went down to the Hole and camped out right in front of the stage for the whole night.
First up, Oval Opus - Brenda had sent me their live album last year, and I enjoyed it, but they were an incredibly good live band! (Good enough, apparently, that they were spontaneously - so it seems - asked to come along on the BNL cruise this week, too.) Their sound is somewhat similar to Carbon Leaf - that rootsy, sometimes jam band-ish, sometimes folk-ish sound, basic rock with an interesting instrumental twist. I enjoyed them a lot, and would see them again if they ever came around here! (Okay, it also helped that the lead singer looked a bit like Matt Wertz. ;)) Next, David Ryan Harris, who has a really terrific voice and makes me actually like the electric guitar, which is sometimes hard. He's rather electric to watch.
Gaelic Storm was up next, and apparently the room was packed out the doors. We couldn't tell, because when you were up front, you couldn't see anything more than four people back. Initially, we thought it was a doomed performance, since Patrick's accordion wasn't working properly, and he ... didn't seem very happy about it, let's put it that way. But, happily, he picked up the energy when they finally started, and it was a fantastic show! Everyone was in a great mood on stage, actually. Ryan cracked up some of us at the front when, in a lull in one of the instrumentals, he told Pete he was sexy. Hee. Fred LeBlanc was actually watching from the side of the stage, having a great time, and they had him come up and play drums for their last song ... which I now can't remember what it is. But, anyway, Fred played, Patrick wore a big fuzzy purple hat, a good time was had by all. Oh, yeah, and Patrick kept leading chants of "Jimmy Buffett, you BASTARD", in reference to the $35 he spent on two margaritas at Margaritaville. :)
Carbon Leaf played next - and let me tell you, I could get used to seeing those two bands playing on the same night. Heh. Another great set, even if those of us up front couldn't hear Barry at all. It was okay, we all knew the words anyway. ;) The highlight of this set was "Desperation Song", because it's been FOREVER since I've seen Carter pull out his mandolin! Also a highlight, as always, Jordan's bass solo going into "Paloma". Once again, too short a set for my tastes, but hey, I've got a couple of headlining shows coming up next month. It's always a pleasure to see them play live, no matter how much time they have!
We were going to stay to see Van Hazel (more on that in a minute), but about halfway through the night I realized I hadn't eaten since lunch at about 2. It was now midnight, and I was going to die if I didn't eat. So, we gave up our spots in front and went to raid the midnight buffet. We were tired, dehydrated, and more than a bit punchy, as evidenced by the hopeless laughing fits that ensued after Brenda decided to rant about ... something. I forget. I just remember laughing. :)
Anyway. I wandered back down for the end of Van Hazel - which was Sister Hazel performing old-school Van Halen covers. Drunkenly, apparently, as Jenn told us later that Ken downed more than a quarter of a bottle of Jim Beam in one shot as soon as he walked onstage. They sounded like they were having fun, though - I couldn't see them, naturally, because the entire ship was packed into the Hole for that one. I don't know why they didn't plan this one for the main stage, but they should have.
I tried to stay up for the Dick Clarks - which was apparently the guys from the Clarks performing 80s covers - but I was dead, so I went upstairs and crashed. 3:00am seems to be about my limit. At that point, apparently, I turn into a pumpkin. Good to know.
Sunday: My notes are getting shorter at this point. I'm like that on vacation. :)
First show of the day was Five Star Iris. Misti had talked about them, but I missed them last year, so I was glad to have the chance to see them this year. And they were good! Great, straight-up rock. The lead singer had a Billy Idol thing going on, with the bleach blond hair and sunglasses, which I appreciated. Bought their CD, would see them again given a chance.
Then, we wandered back in to see Aslyn again for a song or two. I left, though, to see Toby Lightman on the Lido Deck, because I hadn't yet had a chance. I love her CD, and was pretty interested to see that she'll be opening for Carbon Leaf for at least half of their tour. She sounded amazing, but I wasn't too overly impressed with her stage presence. She had a guitar, she sang ... I didn't get anything from her I couldn't get off the CD. So, I was easily distracted, and wandered away to take pictures of the ship and soak in my last bit of warm sunlight for approximately the next six months.
Then, down to Follies, for our third dose of Zac Brown. Zac was a bit hung over, evidenced by the fact that he chanced the line in "Toes" to "do me a favor, please god no more Jager." Heh. They also covered what was apparently a Radiohead song, per the message board. I wouldn't know, as I'm a music heathen who has no use for Radiohead. But, anyway, still the most entertaining act on board, and I went to the merch room to buy both of their CDs plus a t-shirt.
Kinda bummed around for a while after that. Brenda and I had dinner, then wandered down to the Atrium bar, where we met Chris, who was once again at loose ends, since his wife was down most of the weekend with seasickness, poor thing. Misti joined us, and we all moseyed on over to the Cowboy Mouth show. Which was a blast! I felt exhausted after it was done - Cowboy Mouth is an audience participation kind of thing, most definitely. I always enjoy the hell out of them when I see them - but somehow, they're like Guster, I always see them by accident!
Sister Hazel next, for the final show of the cruise. But, first, Andy from Sixthman told us that, come January 2008, we'll be on a new ship (hopefully with better venues), sailing out of Miami, bound for Jamaica! And that the first confirmed artist on board is Marc Broussard, who 'stowed away' as a passenger this year, and got up and performed a song before the SH show started. Then, Sister Hazel, great as usual. The highlight was Emerson Hart, former lead singer of Tonic, getting up to sing "If You Could Only See" with them.
Then, it was time to jam. A Van Hazel encore - I forget what song - as well as an appearance by Aslyn, who sang "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" with them. Then a whole load of artists popped up on stage (literally - the front of the stage dropped, and it came back up with everyone) to sing "The Weight". Which was amusing ... Pat McGee was wandering around, grinning like a naughty schoolboy, messing with everyone. Meanwhile, if Pat was the naughty schoolboy, Fred LeBlanc was the obnoxious schoolteacher, physically pushing all soloists out to the front of the stage when they wanted to stick back in the crowd. It was great.
After that, KISS came back for a (too-long) encore. But, we'd heard Ken mention that we should meet everyone on the Lido Deck, so after they were done, everyone rushed upstairs, where a jam session was already in progress, featuring Marc Broussard, Josh Kelley, Keaton Simons, Francisco Vidal, David Ryan Harris ... unlike last year, this was just one long bluesy jam, with musicians wandering in and out. I got some pictures, but after about a half hour, the music started to sound the same to me (again, see above: music heathen) ... it was gettting past 3am, and also see above, pumpkin, so I eventually just said good night and excused myself to get a couple of hours of sleep, as we had to be up by 7am to get ready to leave. Sob.
It was a really different vibe this year - I think I liked the atmosphere on last year's cruise slightly better, but on a scale of 1 to 10, it's the difference between 10 and 9. TRB is an incomparable vacation for someone who loves that kind of music, with fantastic people and the most amazing artists you can imagine. Can't wait for next year! Who's with me?
