Saturday March 16th, 2013
Feeling quite refreshed when I woke up
this morning, the benefits of not overindulging in the frosty adult
beverages the evening prior, I sauntered out for a little walk down
Fort Lauderdale Beach. It was a glorious day once again; I guess for
me almost any day here is as there’s no snow and no work. I popped
into the local “hotspot” known as CVS and sure enough it didn’t
let me down, I’m definitely gonna have to camp out here a bit next
year with my camera and hunt for autographs! Dwain Miller, drummer
from Keel was just approaching the door as I was leaving. I said
good morning and shook his hand; after all we are sort of best
buddies now, both of us with the same quest to meet Saxon and Nigel
Glockler. I let him know that I had sent Nigel a message and he will
be looking out for us aboard ship. Dwain laughed and said “great,
now I’ll be all nervous!” You don’t think that a rock star
like Dwain would get nervous meeting someone like that, but at the
end of the day they are all just people as well as you and I with
heroes and things. I think that some folks forget that and it’s
quite obvious when they are being hounded for pictures and autographs
at all times. I’m all about that stuff myself, but have a few
manners folks and don’t bother them while they’re at dinner,
there’s a time and a place for that stuff, be respectful and choose
wisely.
I was originally supposed to share in a
shuttle over to Port Everglades with several friends, but they are in
a different hotel and while it was a gorgeous day I didn’t feel
like the 20 minute walk to it from mine. Plus I hadn’t heard from
them since the Rockerz Gone Wild Pool Party, so I called a cab and
arrived at the port a bit early. The check in process was well under
way when I arrived and seemed to be a much better system and more
organised than last year, where I felt a little like cattle being
herded around the coral.
After checking in and grabbing a seat
in the lounge, waiting until the boarding commenced, I pulled out my
computer and started trying to recount my most awesome day with Keel.
I managed to get a good portion of the tale typed out (I hope it
made sense when you read it!) before meeting a few more new friends.
This time I happened to be sitting next to one of the agents for
Frankie Banalli and Quiet Riot……here’s my card! Hopefully we
will be able to set up an interview when they play in Toronto, which
I think is in June, so watch out for that.
As I trudged up the gangway with all of
my earthly possessions strapped to my back, most of the other
cruisers bee-lined for the drink package pick up area. I by passed
the line and headed for the familiar territory of the interior halls
of the MSC Poesia leading me to my home of interior stateroom #11039
once again. I was surprised how much of the ship I remembered and
found my way quite easily, what a contrast to last year when I spent
most of the time being lost! Must be the sobriety leading the way
right now, not sure that I like it too much though, better drop off
this bag and join the line for drink package pick-up.
While wandering the halls and decks, I
passed by Geno Arce, bassist for Keel and we exchanged friendly
greetings. Brian Vollmer, vocalist for Helix was hanging out by the
pool as I joined some friends at a table. It was great to see Brian
interacting with his fans and he seemed very happy to do so, it was a
bit odd however seeing him in sandals and Bermuda style bathing
trunks instead of his stage gear. Tons of other performers passed by
and the Mojito Bar on the top deck became a hub of activity as
cruisers new and old began the drinking process. We broke up our little table at the call to participate
in the life jacket drill. It seemed that they had trouble convincing
cruisers to attend this year as they repeatedly announced that
participation was mandatory and your cruise card would be scanned to
be sure you were there.
Next on my agenda was the thought to
catch some of Jailhouse who were slated to come on in the Pigalle
lounge at 5:45pm, then head out early and go topside for Tesla and
the sail away show. My plans were rather foiled as I ran across
Kaleb “Duckman” Duck, guitarist for Helix and Fritz Hinz, drummer
for Helix. Kaleb and I have been trying to get together for an
interview, but the timing doesn’t seem to be right. We loosely
planned to sit down for ten minutes after Helix’s meet and greet
session on Sunday afternoon. If you’ve not met the guys from
Helix, they are all down to earth great guys and Kaleb, Fritz and I
enjoyed several beverages, also being joined by Rob McCheacran (sp?),
a former member of the band.
I noticed Maz Mazza, guitarist for Ted
Poley over by the railing of the pool deck and I went over to shake
his hand and apologise for the inconvenience of missing our planned
interview Thursday, during the lost passport incident. He was cool
and understood and we made a loose agreement to chat for a few
minutes after one of his shows.
Leaving Maz I wormed up closer to the
front to get ready for Tesla, spotting my fellow Keel rehearsal
attendee. After Eddie Trunk’s introduction and announcements the
band got under way opening with I Wanna Live,
followed by Hang Tough from my favorite Tesla
album The Great Radio Controversy.
Unfortunately guitarist Dave Rude was not on stage with his band
mates and had remained home as he is expecting to be a dad any day
now, congrats Mr. Rude. Tommy Armstrong played instead and did a
great job. Heaven’s Trail,
Mama’s Fool, The Way It Is,
Signs, What You Give and
Love Song were all played and Tesla is just a
joy to watch live, as Jason McMaster had said in our interview from a
while back they sound just like they do on the record. I abandoned
my post down in front in favour of a trip to the washroom, after
which I left Tesla still playing and made my way to Carlo Felice
Theatre in time for John Corabi’s set. I debated skipping Mr.
Corabi in favour of food as the rumbling in my stomach was not being
quenched with beer alone and I knew that I wouldn’t have time with
a busy evening of KIX, Russ Dwarf, Y&T and Lita Ford all back to
back, but held out and got down front for Corabi.
John came out around 8:45pm and took up
residence on the lonely stool placed at centre stage, just him and
his acoustic guitar. During his half hour set which included songs
like Love, I Don’t Need It Anymore, Never
Say Goodbye, the first song that he ever wrote (which has
only one verse), Drift Away (by crowd request)
with a little Home Sweet Home in the middle, Man
In The Moon (with a little Led Zeppelin Over The
Hills And Far Away intro) and Loveshine.
John is a very charismatic performer and had the crowd singing along
with him. During his set, I overheard a fellow audience member
talking to his friend and saying the L.A. Guns have had some sort of
issue and someone or more than one have not been allowed on board,
will have to check that out.
One thing that I was very happy with by
this point in the voyage was that unlike last year I have learned how
to properly use my camera and flash and have gotten some great shots.
Last year between the adult beverage intake and not realising that
the flash was not on, most of my pictures turned out pretty crappy.
KIX rushed out in their usual all fired up fashion after a few
minutes of
stage re arranging post Corabi. Ring
Around Rosie was their lead off song and vocalist Steve
Whiteman was really into it moving all over the stage. The high
energy from all band members continued into Lie Like A Rug
followed by Red, Red Hot. The Itch,
Girl Money and Don’t Close Your Eyes
were all played as I noticed Marc Ferrari, guitarist for Keel,
watching from side stage. Unfortunately with being a bit run down
from the last couple of days and probably the beer and sun, my eyes
were quite dry and tired and as I was rubbing them I ripped one of my
already past expiration date contact lenses and had to leave KIX and
stumble back to interior stateroom #11039 for a spare.
Not letting the contact issue stop me,
I was back out on the circuit in no time riding the elevators to the
buffet and the proverbial feedbag that I should have tied on before
Corabi. On my way past the pool stage to the buffet I couldn’t
stop myself from taking a few brief moments to catch L.A. Guns. Wait
a minute….something is not quite right here and just as I’d
overheard at the Corabi show, someone was missing from the stage.
Michael Grant, the new guitarist was not there, apparently there was
some sort of passport issue and the band joked that “he had hookers
in his suitcase”, or perhaps that was not a joke but a
euphemism……either way they still put on the show and sounded
good, but maybe a little flat. I sure am glad that I got to see them
at the pool party now!
After chowing down on a ton of
carbohydrate laden food (back to the clean eating and regular gym
workouts soon) I felt I was back on track and headed off for the next
activity on my list, Russ Dwarf formerly of the KiLLeR DWaRfS.
Russ was on the schedule to be
performing from 10pm until midnight and it was my plan to catch the
last half of his set after KIX was over. It did seem a bit odd to me
at the time that Russ was slated for a two hour time slot when every
other band had between 45 minutes and an hour and 15 minute sets, but
I didn’t dwell on it. I walked into the Bar dei Poeti to the
pleasing sound of Keep The Spirit Alive.
Unfortunately that would be all that I would get to hear of Russ as
it was the end of his set, the schedule had been misprinted! Russ
disappeared quickly, so I’ll try to catch up with him at his next
show. Ron Keel was scheduled in here next and as much as I’d love
to see and support him, he conflicts with Y&T and as you know if
you’ve been following these rambles of mine is a bit of a sore spot
with me.
Wandering back through to the trippy
after a few drinks looking zebra print lounge aptly titled The Zebra
Bar I caught a bit of John Corabi’s electric set, hearing Loveshine
and Love, I Don’t Need It Anymore. The songs
sounded great electrically and I would actually like to catch a full
set of that if I could, but not tonight as Y&T awaits.
I arrived early in order to secure a
spot close to the front for this long awaited Y&T performance.
Can this be it? Am I finally going to get to see Y&T? Yes I
was, dammit. I have long loved Y&T’s music and I was proudly
wearing my “30 Years of The Tiger” shirt (that I bought on board
last year’s voyage even though I didn’t get to see them), leaning
on the front of the stage. They roared on after Eddie Trunk’s
introduction, blistering through Black Tiger.
Guitar player extraordinaire and lead vocalist Dave Meniketti
addressed the crowd assembled on the pool deck for this midnight
show. “We are celebrating the 30 year anniversary of our Mean
Streak album, so you may hear a few more from that one
than usual” right before Lipstick & Leather.
Their latest album, called Facemelter is so
appropriately titled as I felt that was exactly what was happening to
me after only a couple of songs! Shine On from
that release was next and I was so happy that I had finally made it
to see them and that they sounded great (Dave even stated at one
point that they “use no recordings or anything and what you hear
from the stage is exactly what they’re doing and they are very
proud of that fact”). Sometimes when you look forward to something
so much with all the hype and anticipation you get let down when it
happens, but not this time. Y&T are so absolutely friggin’
incredible live, they exceeded my high expectations and I can’t
wait to see them again in Toronto the week after the cruise! Mean
Streak, Midnight In Tokyo, I’m
Coming Home, Summertime Girls,
Squeeze, Dirty Girl and
Forever were all played and a couple more as
well during their longer than ship average set. Dave also took a
moment to make a dedication to Phil Kennemore who passed away
about a year ago. Y&T was a definite highlight of the cruise for
me this year.
After Y&T I rushed to the theatre
to catch Lita Ford which was already in progress. I walked into the
auditorium after employing the “use it or lose it” policy and
pounding back an almost full beer, forgetting that there’s no
drinks allowed in there for some unknown reason and was surprised to
be able to get quite close on the floor. Lita and the band were at
the tail end of Relentless when I joined and
they went through tracks from the newest Living Like A
Runaway record as well as the classic hits including
Living Like A Runaway, Gotta Let Go,
Devil In My Head (her newest single from the
album), Back To The Cave, Can’t Catch
Me, Out For Blood, Under
The Gun and Hate. At one point the
still beautiful vocalist and guitarist yelled out that she wanted to
drink with us and had someone bring her some white wine from the
dressing room. The wine arrived in a classy looking coffee cup and
she raised it up in cheers and salute to the crowd. Lita’s drummer
on board is none other than Bobby Rock (who I have a ton of questions
for about his days with Vinnie Vincent if I get a chance to see him).
Bobby keeps himself busy, just flying in from Japan with Alcatrazz
whom he’s playing with on board as well, but he’s also drumming
for Nelson during the cruise! A special guest of Michael Lardie from
Great White joined the band on keyboards for the last two songs of
Close My Eyes Forever and Kiss Me
Deadly. While I really enjoyed my first time seeing Lita
live and, my God she looks incredible, what was missing from the show
were maybe some background vocals as the sound was a little flat and
I’d have to say that so far out of the ladies JSRG blew me away
more.
After the show I adjourned to the
poolside bar on the top deck, pouring many more totally unnecessary
adult beverages down my throat and mingling with other cruisers and
bands until 4:30am, finally wandering the inner bowels of the ship
once again searching for my home of interior stateroom #11039.
TheMeister
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