| | Highlights of the Cruises Over the past couple weeks I went on two Caribbean cruise ships. These weren't your standard, love boat - winter getaway, fall in love on the pool deck with your soul mate, who happens to be the athletic instructor from Trinidad – cruises. These were rock n' roll cruises, and they were filled with bands and music fanatics. The boats had funny names like the Rock Boat, and the Mayercraft Carrier. I never understood the latter. I get it that it's a play on words, but I can't get the war reference out of my head. I cant help but think of the movie Top Gun, or that time at the end of the war on Afghanistan, when the president flew out to an Air Craft Carrier and made a speech with a sign behind him that read, "Mission Accomplished".
It's seems like a good idea to have a music festival out at sea, and it is until you start thinking about how horrible the giant ships are on the ocean environment, and on top of that the food is terrible. It's all casino buffet style. The whole thing is about quantity, not quality. Except for the beds, because those are neither about quality nor quantity. They hurt my back, and my legs hung off the sides. But somehow people love the beds, and find they sleep better on them than they do at home. The ships advertise the beds for purchase in all the rooms. I think people sleep well because they pass out drunk every night. Or maybe it's the gently swaying of the boat in the water.
I think ultimately, I am too claustrophobic to spend more than a day or two on a cruise ship. When I was a kid I hated it when my sister held a blanket over my head. To this day I can't sleep with my head under the covers.
I don't want to sound too negative, because I did have fun. I love being out on the ocean. Looking at the ocean comforts and inspires me. I also love the opportunity to play in front of new people. I admit that I was overwhelmed with all the people I talked to. It isn't easy for me to be discreet in a crowd, and I spent most of my time chatting with folks who would stop me as I walked by. If I met anyone and they thought I was too short with them, I apologize. It is not about you. I probably just had to go to the bathroom or just really wanted to get to wherever I was going.
Here are my highlights of the two cruises.
Highlights of the Rock Boat:
- Being around Matt Nathanson- Matt is one of the funniest people I've ever met. He had me laughing the entire time we were together. Sometimes I would roam around the boat looking for him in spots where I had run into him before. I felt bored without him.
- Glenn Phillips - As you can imagine, the cruise ship brings out the Vegas vibe in people, and a lot of performers raised their rock star stakes. Glenn obviously wanted nothing to do it. He wasn't a showboat and he still managed to mesmerize with his humble stage presence and his incredible songs.
- Jamaica – Because of weather, we couldn't go to our first destination, Grand Cayman, so I was extra eager for the second port, Ocho Rios, Jamaica. I got off the boat and paid a guy with a van $50 to drive me around the island. I got to see some really rural areas, some wealthy areas, some impoverished areas, some wild jungles, farm land, coastline, and he drove to the top of a mountain and I looked back down at the little town on the coast where the giant white Carnival boat took over the little bay like a salmon in a goldfish bowl. The guy driving kept trying to get me to buy drugs from his friends and kept asking me if I wanted a prostitute. I told him over and over again that I just wanted to see things.
Highlights of the Mayer Cruise:
-Brandi Carlile – Brandi won me over. She has just about the purest voice I've ever heard. I watched her set on the main stage. She came across as very humble, both musically and as a person. She performed with her acoustic guitar and with an accompanist on cello. Every one of her fans was totally in love with here. They were cheering her on, not like they were obsessed, but like true believers. She made me a believer.
- impromptu casino set – on the last night of the cruise we put together a last minute set in the casino. We had Gabe Dixon sit in on keys and Eric, from Soulive on guitar. We jammed out on mostly covers. Paul Simon, Bob Marley, Neil Young, the Grateful Dead…that was the best show we did. It was very loose.
- the super bowl – on Sunday there was a super bowl party in the vip lounge, normally that isn't my scene, but unexpectedly it turned out to be one of the best times I spent on the boat. I got wrapped up in routing for the Giants, because they were the underdogs. A lot of the musicians from the boat were there watching and it was fun to take sides and talk smack to each other.
- songwriting workshop – I had the best time facilitating a songwriting workshop. I didn't know what to expect when I signed up to do it. A lot of people showed up and we all talked about what we thought good songwriting is. People asked questions about my writing process and I did the best I could to explain how I write, how I feel about, and what I consider to be good songwriting.
Thanks Rock Boat. Thanks Mayercraft Carrier. Thank you fans. |
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