Not sure whether to spend your vacation on a cruise or at a music festival? What if you could do both at the same time? From genre-driven excursions focusing on country, heavy metal or the blues to artist-centric voyages like trips helmed by everyone from KISS to Paramore to Kid Rock to Florida Georgia Line, music-themed cruises are growing in number and popularity.
"I think one of the reasons is that it's a mini vacation," guitarist Alex Skolnick, who will perform on the inaugural guitar-themed Axes & Anchors in February and has played with Testament on Motorhead's Motorboat cruise, told HNGN recently.
"What you've seen with these music cruises is a little bit like what happened with Las Vegas. Las Vegas used to be this place purely for vice. You wouldn't bring your family there. It's for gambling and who knows what else. And I think in a lot of ways metal concerts are like that. Who would bring their family to a metal concert? But you actually can bring your family to one of these cruises. It's got the music element. But it also has the whole resort element, just like nowadays you go to Vegas and the rest of your family can go shopping and take in some shows and all kinds of other extracurricular activity. I think the cruises provide that for music, and particularly heavy music. At one time, who would imagine a cruise headlined by Motorhead?"
Steve Howe, the guitarist of Yes, which in November will headline its third-annual progressive rock-themed Cruise To The Edge, warmed up to the idea of the floating concerts after some initial skepticism.
"I did a solo cruise in 2000 actually, which was quite surprising, with a small number of people who just came to see me - I think it was about 50 or 60, on a big cruise of about 2,000 people - so I always thought cruises were kind of like weird," Howe recently told HNGN. "But I was assured that when Yes did the first one that it was going to be quite different than the first one I did, and it was. We have some privacy, we have some fun, there's lots of acts to mingle with and be a part of, so I'm surprised, but we can only hope that we keep finding it pleasant and we keep finding it doable."
With a slew of musical acts and activities - Country Cruising, for example, includes a sea lion encounter, and Skolnick said he went snorkeling with his girlfriend during a Motorboat off day - the cruises can be as event-packed or laid-back as you'd like. To help you navigate your music-cruise experience, here's a roundup of 15 of the best trips on the high seas (in order of departure). Bon voyage!
COUNTRY CRUISING
Dates: March 5-9
Destinations: Cozumel, Mexico
Ship: Norwegian Pearl
Performers include: Paramore (More TBA)
Website: www.parahoy.com
