The Rock Boat Continues to Deliver Experiences for a Lifetime

After getting off The Rock Boat, I always have so many friends and family ask me how it was. I often repeat the line I’ve heard over and over again from Ken Block, lead singer of Sister Hazel: “For those on the outside looking in, it’s hard to understand. For those on the inside looking out, it’s hard to explain.” And, believe me, I’ve tried to explain it before, as I did in my 2014 post, “The Rock Boat at the Center of the Universe.”

Perhaps Sixthman, the event company that manages The Rock Boat and over a dozen other music-themed cruises each year, jotted that note down about calling The Rock Boat “the center of the universe” back in 2014 because this year’s Rock Boat theme was “Planet Rock Boat.” And this is one planet that the sun actually revolves around (further evidenced by the dramatic sunsets every day).

The Rock Boat was first conceived by Sister Hazel, who took their fans on vacation back in the year 2001. They were part of a larger contingent on a cruise ship. They had some concerts and you had to have the ticket package for that to be let into those shows on that particular cruise. After that, they filled entire boats and one of their longtime friends started Sixthman as a company to manage The Rock Boat and the entire experience that goes along with it.

And Sixthman has this entire experience down to every detail. They remind me of great companies like Disney that think about making sure every detail matches the thematic experience. They only have a few hours to go on board and re-decorate the Norwegian Pearl, during the ship’s quick turnaround from the last group of passengers, but they dress it up in every way possible and did so even more impressively to fit this year’s “Planet Rock Boat” theme.

While the banner across the stage in past years has always said “Welcome to the World’s Greatest Floating Music Festival” it was adapted to this year’s theme and said, “Welcome to the Galaxy’s Greatest Floating Music Festival.” The elevators all over the ship were decorated to look like you were getting into some kind of spaceship launcher. And, on the inside walls of the elevator, were lyrics from different bands playing on The Rock Boat, with only lyrics from songs that had anything to do with space, the galaxy, the stars, the sun, the planet, you get it. I regret not taking more photos inside the elevators to show all these great examples.

Speaking of elevators, as the day and night goes on, elevator parties heat up. Sometimes there are even musicians on board playing you song requests. Everyone is dressed up in whatever the theme for that night is. Everyone is so welcoming on The Rock Boat; you make new friends very easily. Everyone is in good spirits, often times filled with good spirits. And we come from all over. Rock Boaters have come from all 50 states and many foreign countries. This year was The Rock Boat XX (20!) and on TRB XX, there were people from 44 different states and 10 foreign countries. We departed out of Miami with port stops in Norwegian’s private Harvest Cay in Belize and the island of Roatan in Honduras. From beaches to sloths to snorkeling, the port stops were amazing. But the port stops are just a blip in your memory of The Rock Boat experience. For me, these were great stops because Belize and Honduras were two new countries for me, bringing me to 23 total in my lifetime global trek.

This year’s theme nights included: Planet TRB, The Roaring XX’s (creative because we are now back in the 20’s in 2020 but also on TRB XX!), Epic Movie Night, Let’s Glow Crazy, and Rock Boat Rewind (where you were encouraged to wear any throwback items from previous Rock Boats or from artists on previous Rock Boats). Theme nights differ from year to year but are advertised well in advance, so Rock Boaters have time to prepare to bring on proper outfits and accessories.

Can you tell how hard it is to explain The Rock Boat from the inside out? Let’s just get to the music. Last year, when I went on TRB XIX, it was my sixth Rock Boat. I was not sure I was going to go on TRB XX. But at the conclusion of every Rock Boat, there is a finale show with Sister Hazel. During the finale, they announce the dates, the location, and the first five artists they have already booked for the next Rock Boat. When it was announced that Needtobreathe and Melodime would both be on this boat, I looked at my friend Kristen and we both said: we’ll be back! Those are two of our favorite bands and they also have special Rock Boat significance for both of us as we have seen them on this boat many times before. Neither were on TRB XIX and something felt like it was missing. They both had amazing performances back on TRB XX.

The big headliner for TRB XX was Switchfoot, who were announced a few months after the last Rock Boat. I had never seen them in concert but always heard they were great. A few of their songs, including “We Were Meant to Live,” have been some of my all-time favorite rock songs. I mean the guitar intro on that song alone just makes you want to rock! Many times, I have seen a big band on their level come on The Rock Boat and not quite “get” the Rock Boat right away. But Switchfoot did immediately.

Even before their first show, the band members of Switchfoot were down by the stage talking to fans. Their lead singer, Jon Foreman, jumped into the audience to sing many songs, in their opening show in the Stardust theater and in their daytime and nighttime sets on the Pool Deck. I’ve never seen a band on that level “get” The Rock Boat experience right away. They said several times that their friends in Needtobreathe persuaded them to come on The Rock Boat. Jon Foreman had never been on a cruise ship in his life until now. Neither had I before I first came on TRB X in 2010. He called The Rock Boat a “transformative experience” for him and his bandmates in Switchfoot – a band that has been around over two decades. They delivered on every performance. I came off the boat thinking that they may have been my favorite band on The Rock Boat – and that’s saying something considering how much I love Needtobreathe and Melodime. I just have an entirely new appreciation for Switchfoot.

It was so great to see artists like Wideawake, Red Wanting Blue, Gaelic Storm, the Alternate, “surprise stowaways” Will Hoge and Stephen Kellogg, and many others back on The Rock Boat, for this, the 20th anniversary year. I especially enjoyed seeing Amy Gerhartz and Tony Lucca, both of whom I have previously had on my Agents of Innovation podcast. And the nights always end up at the silent disco, where you put on headphones and dance around to one of three different channels being run by the DJs in the club. Shut Up and Dance ran the “silent disco” this time around.

There were also some other surprises on The Rock Boat. I had seen The Brevet before, but just in passing, back on TRB XVI in 2016. This time around they seemed much better and because I still wasn’t that familiar with them, I give them my favorite “new to me” band on The Rock Boat – I went to all three of their performances. However, the best first-time artist performance I’ve ever seen on any Rock Boat has to be Hero the Band, who just took over the Atrium on the Saturday night at sea. I had only heard a few of their songs on The Rock Boat XX Spotify playlist, but nothing is like seeing a band live and they had us all in their grip as they rocked away past midnight in a packed Atrium. Every Rock Boat needs a hero, and this boat literally had one!

I also enjoyed seeing the band Motherfolk – who have so much energy and aren’t anything near folk music. They rocked our socks off while they were on stage. And, they were standing just in front of me at two Switchfoot performances. You can tell the members of this band are huge Switchfoot fans because they had so much energy from the floor as they were watching Switchfoot. I told their drummer Ethan later, “I can’t tell if you all have more energy performing on stage or off stage watching Switchfoot.”

That’s another great thing about The Rock Boat. The artists don’t just stick to themselves. They are out hanging with other artists or with fans, many of whom they form friendships with. Many of these fans will come to their shows across the country, host house parties for them, and promote them to their own friends and families. The Rock Boat is such a great community that music simply brings together.

One of my friends was talking to a member of the event security. You know, those guys with the yellow shirts that you often see at concerts and other special events. One of the head security people told my friend that he and his team look at The Rock Boat as a vacation for them too because they’ve never had a single incident on The Rock Boat. People here don’t fight. They are so joyous. They say our country and world are as divided as ever, about politics or whatever viewpoints one might have. You wouldn’t know that on The Rock Boat where we are all brought together. As Switchfoot might sing: “We are one. We are one. We are one tonight.”

One experience I’ve never really had on any of the previous six Rock Boats I had gone on was a cabin show – which is where an artist or band comes into your stateroom and plays a private show. When my friend Sean and I were boarding this Rock Boat we talked about hosting a cabin show. We just were indecisive about which artist we wanted to invite to do that. But when we later found out that Zach Myers, lead guitarist for Shinedown was on this boat (playing as part of Allen, Mack, Myers, Moore), we immediately said: let’s get him!

A day later, my friend Shoshana ran into Zach. She had a wonderful conversation with him and told him how we were interested in a cabin show. He said he would think about it as he’s never played a cabin show or a house show! The next day, our last full day on the boat, I was at the pool around 12:45pm and someone asked if we had booked him yet. We didn’t know where to find him. But then someone said: Zach is at the meet and greet. I jumped out of the pool, dried off, and told my friend Kristine: let’s go find him! The meet and greet room was filled with half of the artists on the boat but we tracked down Zach. He was very friendly, but he didn’t feel comfortable committing to a cabin show. He seemed nervous about it…he told us to talk to his manager Matt, who we waited for about 5 minutes.

Once Matt came over, he was also very friendly and said he thinks Zach should do the cabin show but told us that Zach has a lot of social anxiety in small groups like that. He said it’s funny: the guy has played festivals where Shinedown has performed in front of 100,000+ people, but a cabin show for 10 or 20 people? He has lots of anxiety about that. He also told us that Zach always sings / plays with his eyes closed. Kristine really put on the charm and told Zach: Look, we’re not asking for a lot. We’re asking for 30 minutes – and we’ll pay you (about the norm for a cabin show). He said: I don’t need to get paid, but maybe I could play if you donate the money to St. Jude’s Children’s hospital or something. We told him: you can do whatever you want with the funds. Finally, he agreed. We made our request around 1:15pm. We agreed to a 3:30pm cabin show. And we were so happy our friends Paige and her husband John offered to host it in THEIR cabin, a very large suite on the back of the boat. We fit about 25 people in there.

Zach Myers didn’t just play for a half hour, but for about 50 minutes, telling us stories and singing us many songs, along with one of his bandmates Zack Mack joining him for the gig. Once he did it, he loved it. I think his anxiety went totally away (but he still played with his eyes closed). He half-joked about 20 minutes in: it looks like I’m not going to get murdered, so I’ll stay longer. He also said: I’m not going to just play for 30 minutes. I don’t do anything for just 30 minutes. And he said he’d have played longer than the 50 minutes, but he had to go do a rehearsal with Sister Hazel, as Zach was being brought on stage during the finale of the entire ROCK BOAT XX. It seems that we have about as good of taste as the guys who started THE ROCK BOAT!!

We heard about perhaps the most talented artist on board and we secured him for our first cabin show. He also said it was his first – and only – cabin show ever. We’ll see, but for now … it totally is. Zach also told us that while we were on the boat, it was a special week for Shinedown, which just became the rock band with the most all-time top 10 songs in the history of Billboard Mainstream Rock songs.

When they say you can’t describe The Rock Boat from the inside out, they really mean it. I’ve done my best to write about it, but it is something that has to be experienced. I have now been on The Rock Boat seven times. I’m sure one day I will get to ten. I haven’t yet decided if I will go on TRB XXI. However, I am doing something else new this year.

I am already signed up to go on my first ever non-Rock Boat Sixthman cruise, when I get on the Keeping The Blues Alive at Sea Mediterranean cruise this August, departing out of Barcelona with port stops in Genoa, Italy and Cannes, France. While the destinations are great, it’s the experience I am going for, with my all-time favorite artist Jonny Lang as one of the headliners, along with Joe Bonamassa, TRB alum artist Marc Broussard, and many others. I don’t know how it could possibly live up to the intensity of The Rock Boat, but I have few doubts that Sixthman will provide a great experience and let me enjoy one of my favorite genres of music, the blues.

As a final note, I should mention that if you ever want to go on The Rock Boat or any of the Sixthman cruises, you should sign up for the pre-sale right now because the last few have sold out during the pre-sale. TRB XXI is planned for January 27 to February 1, 2021, sailing out of Miami to Ocho Rios, Jamaica and Grand Cayman. Sister Hazel is always on board and the first five artists have been announced as part of the lineup. You can expect around 30 artists in the final lineup.

While I can’t go on The Rock Boat every year, I have no doubt that The Rock Boat and Sixthman will continue to be a part of my life-long vacation experience. One of the Sixthman signs I saw as I exited The Rock Boat said, “Thank you for trusting us with your vacation.” I like that acknowledgement to the customer (who is spending thousands of dollars to be here). I smile every time I see it because as long as Sixthman provides experiences like this, I indeed will continue to trust this company – this community – with my vacations, hopefully for the rest of my life.