Yacht Rock just got off the Sail Across the Sun Cruise, hosted by the band Train. This was (by our count) our ninth music cruise. You could say we're getting the hang of it.
Let me begin by offering my apologies if Michael Franti pops out of your computer and starts rapping and dancing barefoot on your desk. Franti was everywhere on the boat, dancing in the crowd, walking around George Town, playing his own gigs, and guesting on everybody else's gigs. It was cool--I mean, the dude is an immensely optimistic, sweet guy, and I've got nothing against him, but I think there might be more than one of him because he was everywhere!
The real story of the cruise was the legend of John Oates, the little buddy half of Hall and Oates, who's pretty much every musician on the boat's hero by now. Helped write the hits, helped play the hits, played the biggest stadiums, sang on We Are the World for god's sake, rocked the 'stache, shaved the 'stache, and now does and plays exactly what he wants while still giving the fans the Hall and Oates they need. I think all the other bands on the boat spent some time wooing Oates into sitting in with them (we being no exception). Oates delivered every time and seemed to have the most fun of anybody. Plus, he was cool as hell.
I mostly stayed in my room gobbling Dayquil and Nyquil. I slept a lot. It was pretty awesome.
Friday: we flew to Miami, got on the boat. I watched Gravity (excellent even on a tiny, shitty television). I took a nap. We ate at the Teppanyaki place (very good food!).
Our first gig was in a dark room with a low ceiling. The stage was crazy dead--outer space has more natural reverb. For this gig, I had a Nord Stage 2 as my bottom keyboard (usually I use a Nord Electro 3). Slightly different controls. I spent the entire gig tearing my sunglasses off as I tried to figure it out while playing something on the top keyboard. Not my best or most inspired performance, as the keyboard stuff was always confusing (mostly because of the Nord, but also because the top keyboard, while the same as the one I normally use, had fifteen more keys, making visual landmarks more difficult), and the sax stuff on such a dead stage felt like I was playing into a pillow. Ugh.
Saturday: I didn't wake up until after 3 PM. What's up Nyquil!
In the evening we hosted/hijacked the bingo game. I played saxophone through much of it. Songs included Happy Birthday, Auld Lang Sine, Bingo (in a minor key, though), and Turn the Page. Suffices to say we were really annoying.
Photos indicate that we hung out with former MTV host Matt Pinfield, who knows everything about every song. Pretty impressive. I believe this night also included Greg Lee crushing Monkey and me in bowling. I also booed several Sixthman karaoke singers at the private party.
Sunday: woke up on the south side of Cuba at a little island called Grand Cayman. I went ashore for coffee and lunch. The bar I found also had wi-fi. Good sandwich.
The city of George Town was really deserted--I assume this was the case because it was Sunday, and not some unannounced plague. I saw more chickens than natives. There's a dumb joke about nest eggs and Grand Cayman banks here.
As the boat was leaving port, we were gearing up for our second show, this time up on the outdoor stage. As we were getting set, out walks the man, the myth, the legend, THE JOHN OATES! Ho-lee-shit.
So, blah, blah, blah…I got a Nord Electro 3 for this gig, so my keyboard stuff was pretty much normal, and my sax playing was a little better (though my alto felt weird, like my reed was too soft and kept closing up). Whatever. We played She's Gone with John Oates. Nothing else about this gig matters.
Monday: more sleeping. Matt Pinfield interviewed John Oates. Great stuff, and Oates gave us a nice shout out. We hung out with guitar wizard Charlie Hunter that afternoon.
Monday night, we played one of the last shows on the boat--a big set of 80s stuff in the Atrium. Twas a night of technical difficulties. Monkey had all sorts of guitar problems which derailed his performance.
Second song, I noticed that the top keyboard sustain pedal was dead. I turned around and asked the crew for another one. In the mean time, I swapped the one working one back and forth, except the the polarity was backwards, so every time I moved the plug, I also had to flip the switch on the bottom of the pedal. Back and forth, back and forth. Where's the replacement pedal? Nobody can locate one. Back and forth, back and forth, and Monkey is having a shit fit. Finally the second pedal shows up about two-thirds of the way through the set. I plug it in the Nord, and it's the wrong polarity (and has no switch to change it), which means I have to plug it into the top keyboard and put the other pedal in the Nord, but I have to switch the polarity on it. Got it? Whew!
All this stuff is happening while we're peeling through tunes and I'm trying to remember my two or three parts and look like I'm having fun doing it. The gig ain't always easy!
Anyway, the lead singer of Train (Pat Monahan) is a huge fan of ours, so he hung out for most of the show and sang on I Can't Go for That (where was Oates for that one?). He is also an amateur saxophonist, and he and I chatted about the different horns for a few minutes before the gig (this is after he razzed me during soundcheck and I told him to shut up--we're good friends now).
Tuesday: I went to bed at 4 AM. Artists were scheduled to meet at 8:45 AM. Some asshole banged on my cabin door at 7:30.
We flew home, landing in Atlanta around 2 PM. Brace positions?
The next cruise (Live Loud) leaves next Wednesday. More washee washee…happy all the time.
