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Legendary
In The Media
Rockin'
the boat
By
John Pain
The Associated Press
Passengers gather on
the deck of last year's Legendary Rhythm & Blues
Cruise in the western Caribbean. (The Associated
Press) |
FORT
LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- A floating Woodstock? Mardi Gras
at sea? Those aren't the typical descriptions of vacations
on a cruise ship, but many passengers on two charter
sailings featuring live, improv-heavy music said that's
how it was.
"It was the real 'Love Boat.' It
was a lovefest," said Steve Bate, a long-haired real
estate agent from Wellington, Fla., after getting off
the ship.
The Jam Cruises brought together
more than a dozen so-called jambands and disc jockeys
ranging from Les Claypool of Primus to the New Orleans-flavored
Rebirth Brass Band. Most are known for their free-form,
improvisational jams, which brought out about 2,000
passengers who are usually more comfortable in Birkenstocks
than in cramped cabins.
The music helps lure people who normally
think of cruises as a stuffy luxury for the rich. Jessica
Brooks had never been on one before and found the personal
attention a little unusual.
"We came to dinner the first night.
It's a formal dining room. They pull the chair out for
you, they put the napkin on your lap," said Brooks,
24, a graduate student from Fayetteville, Ark., who
went on a Jam Cruise. "We don't typically go to those
kind of restaurants."
Two four-day cruises were chartered
on an Imperial Majesty Cruise Line ship. They left in
early January, using Fort Lauderdale as a home port
and making stops in the Bahamas and Key West. Each cruise
had more than a dozen bands, with music including jazz,
rock, electronic dance, funk and fusion. Concerts were
held in theaters or poolside under the sun and DJs spun
sets in a club. Many artists played together in impromptu
jam sessions that sometimes lasted until around dawn.
"We had a hell of a jam session.
. . . Like 50 musicians on one stage, just going for
it," said Philip Frazier, the Rebirth Brass Band's tuba
player. Frazier, 37, said the swaying of the ship even
helped people get into the groove and dance.
The floating music festival concept
isn't new. The Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise first
sailed in 1992 and Taj Mahal, Ike Turner and others
have played on board. Carnival Cruise Lines has offered
a ship to the Rock Boat for the past three years, featuring
college rock acts such as Sister Hazel and Cowboy Mouth.
One of the appeals of the trips is
that passengers get to meet their favorite musicians.
"Usually, you go see a band, they
go backstage and you don't have any contact with them.
But on this trip . . . you're hanging out with them.
You're eating dinner next to them. You're watching them
run around with their kids or their wives," said Brooks.
Musicians also enjoy getting to be
around their fans.
"Taj Mahal is sometimes the first
person on the dance floor," said Roger Naber, managing
partner of the Blues Cruise.
Many are also drawn by the possibility
of a one-time jam session among eclectic musicians who
usually wouldn't play together. Organizers have recorded
some of the spontaneous songs to possibly release them.
The Jam Cruises attracted mostly
people in their 20s and 30s, many coming for all-day
and all-night partying. That usually isn't possible
on the theme sailings that cruise lines have run for
decades, because the ship is shared with regular vacationers
who aren't keen on carousing until 6 a.m.
With the young crowd and music known
for an anything-goes attitude, the question of drug
use comes up. Even Jam Cruise promotional material says
"anything is possible in international waters" and people
on an Internet message board make veiled references
to drugs on board.
But Imperial Majesty President Arthur
Pollack said that the policies were in place to monitor
drug use, which he said is a possibility on any cruise.
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