A few hours after Day 1 was in the books, it was time to get ready for Day 2. The Boat wasn't swaying. Rather, we docked in the Bahamas, which means it was time to get up and walk around.
The cabinmates and I grabbed breakfast up on Lido and then got out of the ship to go walking around Nassau in the Bahamas. I don't do the excursions (costs money) and I don't veer off to far from the ship (the cabbies seem more sketchy down there than back home), so we found a beach and just chilled. It wasn't too sunny of a day, so our time outdoors was short.
Upon returning to the ship, we found a Starbucks. Yes, a Starbucks. Of course, I ordered NYC style and the natives working there just shook their heads. Though I did get my drink nonetheless...after they were done making all the frappucinos for those that didn't know any better. But I digress...
BACK TO THE BOAT!
I spent the afternoon up on Lido editing pics and hanging out with Jill, Kristen, Jen, Magan, Rick, Juliana, and Jess before the Tonic set.
(say, isn't that MY RED HAT???)
The Boat then leaves the Bahamas just in time for REUNION OF TONIC!!!!
On a random day, I get a phone call from some random 866 or 877 number. I leave my desk and find an empty breakout office to take the call, and it's a recorded message from not only Emerson Hart (a Rock Boat favorite), but all the other members of Tonic as well. And they were REUNITING FOR THE ROCK BOAT! Probably the most exciting moment since Hanson was announced to be on The Rock Boat.
Tonic basically took me back to the late 90s and early 2000s when they were blaring through the airwaves into my ears. Of course, I remembered "If You Could Only See," a song I still put on the jukebox at my bar to this day. But it was as if the group never broke up to begin with. They played just as the sun was setting, and thus would begin another night of rocking on the high seas.
Once Emerson Hart got the audience singing the rest of "If You Could Only See" (reminiscent of TRB-VIII, when he went solo and did that song), I had to bolt down to the Criterion Lounge for Ernie Halter's second set, a more electric set. Over the past 24 hours, Ernie put himself on gag order to conserve his voice. Heck, he even used his phone late last night to communicate w/ me. But I guess the gag ordered paid off dividends, as he stepped it up several notches from his acoustic set.
After a formal dining break, it was back up to Lido to chill w/ some of my friends and take in some of The Kin (they can throw a Lido party) before heading back to Criterion to see Sam Thacker do his first set. Sam Thacker is definitely no stranger to The Rock Boat and it was refreshing to see him come back with a more rocking electric performance (not that his intimate acoustic sets on TRB-VIII was bad). And after Sam Thacker, it was off to Palladium to do more jumping around to COWBOY MOUTH:
Once the Cowboy Mouth set ended, it was off to the Casino Stage to see Michael Tolcher do his thing...
Four years ago, in my Gavin DeGraw whoring era, Michael Tolcher was always the opening/setup act for him. And it took me however many shows to appreciate his songwriting and his stage presence, and when I started appreciating that, I started to appreciate the person that he was.
Prior to his first set, I ran into him however many times on The Boat and we caught up on old times, since it had been over a year or so since we last talked, and that was awesome. But yeah, The Tolch didn't skip a beat (even with a band that he's only practiced with ONCE), as he whipped out his arsenal of old and new favorites, as we were going into the Late Night Session:
He certainly had a crowd going by the casino, but it was a night filled with big Rock Boat acts doing their thing. Zac Brown brought his Chicken Fried goodness to round out the Palladium sets, Wideawake got everyone in Criterion going, and delivering the late night Lido Party was Hanson, loaded with fans, superfans, and those that were curious to see and hear what Hanson was all about. So wherever you went on this night, you could not lose!
And as, always, the night for me concluded w/ loads of late night partying at the casino stage, and I even took in a sunrise up on Lido before going back to bed for my nap.
TO BE CONTINUED...
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