Monsters Of Rock Cruise

The first annual Monsters of Rock Cruise got underway on solid ground, as MOR hosted a sold out pre-party event in Lauderdale the night before the cruise set sail to start off the weekend with a bang. Exit 66 was the venue for a hot night on the beach with Atomic Punks kicking off the show to a seriously packed house full of cruise goers and musicians who hit the area early to party. Atomic Punks put on a great show with their tribute to VH, but the crowd was there to see the ‘dirty boys of the underground’… and KIX brought the house down with their performance, pounding out crowd favorites for a hot sweaty drunk mass of fans. The band played hit after hit and the night didn’t wind down for hours…

Morning came a little to soon, but before long crowds were bridging the gangplank Saturday to board the MSC Poesia and get the voyage under way. Tesla hosted the ‘sail away’ concert as the cruise went seaward and the music got started for the three day event. There were bands playing in a number of the lounges as well as in the main theatre and and night one brought performances from Cinderella, Tesla, Black N Blue, Firehouse, Bang Tango, Faster Pussycat, Y&T and more as the fans made their own way through the mass of overlapping shows to get to their favorites. Late night parties raged on in the lounges and musicians and fans hit the late night buffets to hang out and chow down. You could meet and greet just about anybody at 2am at the buffet for beer and sustenance. No rest for the wicked…

Sunday started off with a port of call in Key West, where you could hit the beach, sightsee or stay on board and keep hitting the shows. The music continued all day and night throughout the cruise with most bands playing multiple days and times so you could coordinate shows with being a bit of a tourist, so many hit the beach and restaurants in the beautiful Keys. Sunday hosted Kix on the main deck, Night Ranger, Helix, Rhino Bucket, John Corabi, Eric Martin, Motley Inc. and DC4 throughout the inside stages, and more performances from Cinderella, Y&T and Firehouse as the night progressed. Day two closed with an all star jam in the Zebra Lounge that featured George Lynch, Brad Gillis, Oz Fox, Frank Hannon, John Corabi, Robbie Crane, Scott Coogan as they rocked out to some classic covers and played late into the night. Nobody left early, the jam raged until George said so.

Monday the Poesia pulled into port at Nassau, Bahamas for a little R&R, mon (the rest and relaxation kind), and crowds hit the local boardwalk for cuban coffee, cigars, and to check out the local bars and food or hit the white sand beach. The music continued on the boat with a midday show from Stryper in the theatre, while Black N Blue hit the pool deck stage to a beautiful sunny afternoon. As the day progressed bands hit all the stages for the final 24 hours… Faster Pussycat, Bang Tango, Rhino Bucket, Odin, Flametal, Bill Leverty hit the lounges, and the pool deck hosted a blistering performance by UFO as the boat pilled away from the Bahamas and set to sea for the final night. Musicians turned out in full force to watch UFO before many had to take off for their own shows. XYZ and Keel rocked out on the pool stage and Night Ranger and Tesla treated fans to acoustic shows in the theatre, and the final concert of the night was a amazing performance by George Lynch and Lynch Mob on the theatre stage to close out the cruise. But not the night, parties rages on until… well, until you had to get off the boat.

The first Monsters of Rock Cruise was a phenomenal success with 24 bands rocking all weekend to multiple performances, fans had a great chance to see a tremendous amount of music packed into a few short days, with musicians hanging out on the pool deck, chatting with fans, meet and greets during the day, art and photography exhibits (featuring MOR official photog Mark Weiss) interspersed with the performances and the parties. Memorable moments throughout the weekend were Cinderella rocking the house in the theatre as the boat actually rocked so hard you could see the stage moving and the band barely keeping balance, but killing it… KIX blowing up the pool deck stage as the boat set sail from Key West in mighty winds… Y&T literally tearing the roof off the theatre with an amazing show… UFO doing “Rock Bottom”, “Lights Out” and “Too Hot To Handle”… Black N Blue and Eddie Trunk cutting up and hanging out watching Keel, and Keel’s encore with members of Helix, BlackN Blue, Stryper and more on stage jamming out to “Right to Rock”… Brad Gillis ripping a Randy Rhoads solo in memoriam during the Night Ranger set… Taime Downe hosting a DJ set late night in the VIP lounge… and everyday hanging at the pool and deck bars as musicians and stars roamed around, relaxed and and chatted…and all the late late late night partying in the lounges with rock stars and fans alike until last man standing and the sun came up and you stared all over again. I’ll leave the sordid stories for those who were there and can remember them…

The departing was almost as much of a meet and greet as the cruise, as the port customs line held a mix of cruise-goers and rockers with fans waiting in line with Cinderella, Tesla, Stryper and others to get back in Lauderdale for the end of the journey. The cruise was a great time and a great party, and already plans are in the works for the 2013 version, and you can hold a cabin now for $99 until the details come together. Check the Monsters of Rock Cruise site for ongoing info on how you can be a part of the 2013 party at monstersofrockcruise.com.