The Rock Boat Niner Blog #3 - Day 1: It's Time to Set Sail!

Day 1 starts rather early. I check out of the hotel around 9:30am to avoid the Rock Boater checkout rush, as is always the case at the Rock Boat Host Hotel. Claire breaks out the getaway SUV, and Miriam and I get on board to grab some breakfast and coffee (good thing Einstein Bros. was right next door to Starbucks ["Riz, you and your NYC orders!"]) and then head over to the airport to grab Manda before dropping the vehicle off and heading over to the port to board.

Boarding is a mix of anticipation and fun all at once. Once you drop your bags off w/ the porter, you pose for Will Byington's (The Rock Boat Official Photographer) camera and then you step inside the port and you wait in line. But that's ok, you get to look around and see musicians mixed in with fans who are wearing custom-made t-shirts, all of who are dying to get on that Boat.

Once all four of us got through the lines and we activate our Sign and Sail cards, we finally got on board. I was home.

And we didn't waste any time in getting our first drink on the Boat. The four of us got up to the Lido Deck to meet up w/ friends and we got our Hurricanes (First Drink: Hurricanes was something that my concert partner-in-crime Julie and I first instituted that on our very first Rock Boat, and it's something that we'll continue to do on every Rock Boat we do.)

Oh yeah, my friend Rachel decides she wants to deliver something to me from the Lido Deck:

Around 4pm was the Mustard, I mean Muster, Drill. It's where you go to your emergency station and put on your lifejackets. It's always a spectacle to see every passenger put on one of these things and lineup real tight within the station. In my station, Stephen Kellogg passed by and everyone applauded for him wearing a lifejacket and being safe!

Once the Muster Drill was over, it was back up to the Lido Deck for the Sail Away Set, and the NAME OF THE BAND IS COWBOY MOUTH. They are from Louisiana and led by a drummer, yes, a drummer, named Fred Le Blanc. Their live sets are full of energy and they want their audience pepped up on every song they deliver. They are no strangers to The Rock Boat, and it was fitting for them to deliver the energy just as the Boat left the dock (after all the other boats took off before us):

Right after the Cowboy Mouth set, it was off to the Criterion Lounge to catch Ernie Halter's first set on The Rock Boat. It was Ernie's first Rock Boat, and he fit in very well all throughout. His first set was acoustic, and he delivered his songs with the same passion at sea as he has on land in the few years I've gone to his shows:

Soon after that, I took all my cabinmates to the first formal dining session of The Rock Boat. And while the food was kickass, formal dining is all about one thing...

WARM CHOCOLATE MELTING CAKE! Every veteran Rock Boater knows you can't finish formal dining without this decadent dessert!

Ok, back to the action.

The first set at the main Palladium stage belonged to David Ryan Harris, also no stranger to The Rock Boat. David Ryan Harris has played guitar for John Mayer on tour and has co-written a lot of songs with a number of singer/songwriters, and thus is a fan favorite and industry favorite. He always delivers every set w/ the precision only he could bring, and it never fades with every succeeding Rock Boat:

Soon after, it was back up to Lido for Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers' first set. I honestly never get tired of them. They know how to get an audience going. They know how to make you smile, laugh and cry all at once. They have provided some of the most beautiful moments of The Rock Boat. And in their second Rock Boat, they showed that they were essentially the heart beat that keeps The Rock Boat going strong.

Well, the night would've ended there, but it didn't! There was plenty of action going on late at night in the casino area. Everyone's gambling, drinking and rocking out to covers and originals by random artists who also wanted to keep the party going. And late night #1 was going strong. Real strong. If I can recall, Zac Brown led the way with others on that small stage. And the late night kept going for me until about 6am, as the Boat was approaching the Bahamas...

TO BE CONTINUED.