SPILL LIVE REVIEW: ON THE BLUE CLASSIC ROCK MUSIC CRUISE 2024

ON THE BLUE CLASSIC ROCK MUSIC CRUISE 2024

EXPERIENCING IT THE RIGHT WAY!

APRIL 5 – APRIL 10, 2024

There’s nothing like doing something for 10 years, only to realize you’ve been doing it all wrong.

That’s how I felt during last week’s On the Blue Cruise, a floating classic rock music festival that debuted in 2013 as The Moody Blues Cruise and somehow manages to squeeze about six months of the typical music fan’s concert schedule into five days.

This year’s sailing, aboard Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Pearl, features many of the same bands and artists that graced the ship’s stages in the past: The Moody Blues’ Justin Hayward, The Zombies, Alan Parsons, Al Stewart, Hendrix channeler Randy Hansen, Vanilla Fudge, Fernando Perdomo, tribute band Mellow Yellow Band, Starship featuring Mickey Thomas, and more. The difference now is that I am determined to see and experience everything instead of lazing in the Caribbean sun, rallying only 15 minutes before a favorite artist’s show.

Let me explain. This time I am sailing On the Blue with Meg, a friend I haven’t seen in 40 years, and one who has never experienced a cruise, let alone a music cruise. Suddenly I feel like a proud parent about to show her precious toddler a puppy for the very first time and I want the experience to be lifechanging.

What I discover in my uncharacteristic deep dive into this almost-annual music cruise is that on past cruises I’ve missed a helluva lot of fun bypassing artist Q & A sessions, “optional” experiences, dance parties and, most importantly, unfamiliar bands.

This time, you might say, I intend to experience On the Blue again…but for the very first time:

THE HEADLINERS…WHAT EVERYONE’S HERE FOR

Justin Hayward, Alan Parsons, Al Stewart and The Zombies. No question, those acts are, and have long been, On the Blue’s greatest draw. And it is only those shows in the Stardust Theater that are assigned seating. They have to be. With 2,500 rockers aboard and the Stardust Theater’s capacity being 1,043, it is necessary for On the Blue to divide us into two groups—red or blue, identified through our lanyard—with these headliners performing a separate show for each group. Your assigned seat is largely determined by the category of stateroom you’ve booked:  Those who’ve booked the swanky Haven, suites and penthouses are designated “VIP,” while those of us not ensconced in the high-rent district are merely “guests,” with less desirable assigned-seat locations. The good news is that when space allows, it is possible for those in the “blue” group to be admitted to a “red” group show and vice versa—simply line up outside the theater…and pray that there are no-shows.

It’s the day following embarkation when Parsons and his band take the stage. Parsons hovers above his band like a specter as PJ Olsson knocks it out of the park with powerful vocals during the hour-long show. The crowd is on its feet during “Eye in the Sky” and remains there as Olsson ends the show with “Games People Play.” And for those who can’t get enough of Parsons, drop by the ship’s casino and you’ll likely find him at the blackjack table where he seems to spend hours each evening.

The Zombies clinched an assigned-seating spot in the Stardust Theater following a legendary pool stage performance on the inaugural Moody Blues Cruise that convinced even the greatest non-believer that this 60s band was no nostalgia act but one whose current material is just as powerful and relevant as its oldies. Today, they continue to convince us, with Colin Blunstone’s voice as pure and powerful as it was when he was in his 20s, and Rod Argent’s keyboards on an extended version of “Hold Your Head Up” pure magic.  Best of all, new releases like “Life is a Merry Go Round,” are received just as enthusiastically as classics like “She’s Not There”.

Al Stewart is an On the Blue staple—in fact, somehow, he even ended up on the company’s progressive rock sailing, Cruise to the Edge). He is an artist who can dazzle with his hilarious stories even those who turn the radio off when “Year Of The Cat” starts to play. With a set list of songs that are filled with intelligent lyrics, images of history, culture and even wine, Stewart, backed by Empty Pockets, is a consistent, eye-opening delight.

It isn’t until the final night of the cruise that Meg and I catch Justin Hayward with our “red” group. This Moody Blues icon with backing that includes the superb Julie Ragins (who helps Justin out with the high notes) and the mesmerizing guitarist Mike Dawes, delivers the expected and the unexpected and is, without doubt, the main reason so many On the Blue guests are here.  Just days after Hayward was forced to cancel several UK shows due to a throat problem, his voice is strong as he delivers Moody Blues classics as well as rarely performed songs like “Blue Guitar”, “One Lonely Room”, and a jaw-dropping medley of the even more obscure. Still, rumors abound. Will he be back next year? Scuttlebutt centers around his On the Blue contract expiring and negotiations in progress while others insist that the organization is searching for a new headliner. While Hayward’s performance is outstanding and he participates in a Q&A session this week, unlike previous years, no photo op with him is offered.

NORWEGIAN PEARL

MIND-BLOWING DISCOVERIES

Even with my determination to catch every act on board, scheduling conflicts, hangovers and just plain exhaustion result in my inability to do so. As we disembark, I realize that I missed Deep Purple’s Glenn Hughes and Uriah Heep whom others loved. I caught just a smidge of Ricky Nelson offspring Matthew & Gunnar perform a tribute to their dad, Rare Earth, The Little River Band, and Starship with Mickey Thomas; and I completely missed The Bottom Feeders, The Skatalites, John Ford Coley, and All Hat No Cattle, the latter intentional, as I hate country music and can’t figure out why they were even aboard.

But the acts I did catch were consistently outstanding, particularly Vanilla Fudge (with original members Vince Martell, Mark Stein, and Carmine Appice) kicking off their general admission Stardust Theater set with their own take on The Zombies’ “She’s Not There” and, later in the week, Martell joining Randy Hansen for a dual celebration of Jimi Hendrix.

And then there were the mindblowers, the bands I caught for the very first—and definitely not the last—time:

The Colin Blunstone Band:  Hey, it’s The Zombies’ Colin Blunstone so there’s no way I would miss this but it’s Blunstone as nobody has seen him before, shedding his Zombie suit in order to front a band tight as a drum despite this being their very first public performance. Backing his flawless vocals is a line-up that includes ex-Strawbs Chas Cronk and Dave Bainbridge, Zombies’ drummer Steve Rodford and Robin Bibi who has worked as a session man with The Pretty Things, Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, Ben E. King and more. You won’t hear Zombies tunes from the Colin Blunstone Band—just his magnificent voice on his own and others’ compositions (tonight’s show included Chris White’s “Andorra” from Blunstone’s 1972 LP Ennismore).  A debut digital EP, Less is More, is available now via various streaming services.

The Young Dubliners:  Me??  Falling in love with a Celtic band??  Not bloody likely, as our English friends would say.  In the past, Celtic bands always sounded repetitive and the singer like Popeye the Sailor. Not here. This is Celtic rock, with the emphasis on rock—contagious high energy that has the audience literally jumping up and down, which I can only assume is some sort of Irish dance. Lead singer and original member Keith Roberts is a riotous performer sprinkling irreverent humor between remarkable songs.  Who else would dedicate a song to the Filipino bartenders at the ship’s O’Sheehan’s Bar & Grill to thank them for keeping the band in drink all week?

Mike Dawes:  As a writer and not a musician, my mantra is “No lyrics, no interest.”  Mike Dawes, who is part of Justin Hayward’s band, changed all that with a hypnotic solo acoustic set that showed why he’s been named Best Acoustic Guitarist in the World Right Now. How can he possibly make a single guitar do all that?? Meg even bought a copy of Dawes’ instructional set for her guitarist husband.

The Weeklings:  I hate the name, and in the past, that would have been enough for me to take an afternoon nap instead of catching the band’s pool stage show.  Lead singer Glenn Burtnick looked familiar from the get-go and it was a while before I realized I’d not only seen him before with Styx and on previous On the Blue Cruises when he performed magnificently with The Orchestra, but this week, the guy was in the cabin next to ours.  By skipping that nap I was rewarded with a phenomenal celebration of ‘60s music, along with original Beatles-inspired tunes like “In the Moment” and “Brian Jones”, a song with references to the Stones. Loved them!

Dueling Pianos:  One of those acts I’d missed year after year.  Big, big, big mistake. Tyson Leslie and Will Doughty are two keyboardists/vocalists who can somehow channel some of the biggest names in pop and rock. A duo managing to exactly duplicate “Bohemian Rhapsody”?  How can you not be impressed?  We stayed for their entire set.

Leonid & Friends:  A bunch of Russians performing the hits of Chicago…seriously?? And yet here I am, bopping along to “Saturday in the Park” and really enjoying it.  Even before sailing, there was buzz surrounding this rather unique group, so much so that Meg and I attended their Q&A session and learned the impact western rock music had on the members of the band as they grew up in oppressed circumstances.  and powerful!

OTHER STUFF

Who knew? On the Blue isn’t only rock concerts! End the evening at Late Night Karaoke or participate, as we did, in Bruce Sudano’s Old School Dance Party, a dance extravaganza that lets you get down to rock and disco songs while giant inflatable disco balls bounce around the dance floor.  We kick, elbow, and head the damn things like we’re part of some flamboyant soccer training camp while boogying to songs like “19^th Nervous Breakdown”.

But if you’d prefer to focus on the artists, attend the Q&A sessions of your favorites and learn the stories behind the songs, the amazing—or downright dull—things your favorite artists do when they’re not performing or, in the case of The Zombies’ Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone Q&A, be purely entertained with humorous and fascinating anecdotes from their 60-yr history.

I’m determined to do it all this cruise, so Meg and I actually stand in line (for quite a while, I may add) for one of the “Photo Experiences,” ours with The Zombies, Gunnar and Matthew Nelson, and Mickey Thomas.  I’ve never done this before, maybe because the artists are pretty much all over the ship, happily agreeing to posing with fans. At this “organized” photo op, Meg and I find ourselves ushered in to the Bliss Lounge, placed between Gunnar and Matthew, snapped and directed over to the next artist…all in a span of seconds. Shortly after we return from the cruise, the photos will be available to download at no charge, or for purchase in a variety of formats.

On the Blue also offers a handful of “optional” experiences as well.

Al Stewart and Alan Parsons co-host “Wine Tasting & More,” priced at $100 per person. Stewart is the acknowledged expert, bringing the humor of his on-stage stories to the event while Parsons, it is obvious, prefers to merely sit, sip and not reminisce, as Stewart does, about things like a 1970 Beaulieu Vineyards Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon or the cellars of historic French wineries. It is entertainment, humor, wine, and cheese…and a peek at another side of two of my favorite performers.

For those with an artistic flair, the cruise offers “Painting with Rock Stars”, also at $100 per person. A highly misleading title, Meg and I booked the “David Bowie Portrait” session with The Young Dubliners right after seeing their astounding performance at the Spinnaker Lounge the night before. We assumed the band would host and even just a touch of the humor they exhibited on stage would make this a riotous session. Nope. The Young Dubliners, we discovered, sat at a table, painting along with us and never saying a word (but, hell, it was 10:00 a.m. so they were probably quite fragile). No art skills are required for these sessions as the concept is similar to a coloring book: a canvas with a black and white line image of Bowie is set in front of you along with paints and paintbrushes while an “art instructor” suggests the colors that will result in a Ziggy-Stardust-like portrait… which both Meg and I found was a bit too large to fit into the typical carry-on.

OH YEAH…THE PORTS

During On the Blue, Norwegian Pearl called at Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic and Nassau, Bahamas.  Nobody cared. Many didn’t bother to disembark.  In fact, most of us would have preferred a purely musical cruise to nowhere.

The 2024 sailing just might have been the very best On the Blue in the cruise’s history!  Either that, or I finally learned to do it right!

Details for the 2025 On the Blue Cruise have yet to be announced.  Check onthebluecruise.com regularly for updates.

(Photography by Judi Cuervo)

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