Progressive Nation Cruise - TA/Jon/Riverside/Spock's/Devin/Anathema/Belew/more!

**ScottAM** · 02-04-2014

Two weeks from today (2/4/14) Mike Portnoy's "Progressive Nation Cruise" embarks!

I booked a cabin and can't wait! So much good music from many of my favorite bands. While I've loved going to Rosfest for the past decade, this number of artists and concerts on one ship is truly mind-boggling. I haven't been this excited for a concert event ever!

Who's going, and what are you looking forward to most?

I literally have a list of at least a dozen bands that I'm frothing at the mouth to see, from the long-standing favorites like Jon, Transatlantic, Riverside and Spock's to newer discoveries like The Dear Hunter and Haken. Not to mention the opportunities to bump into these artists on board and hang out. Oh, and some snorkeling and beach time thrown in, too!

http://www.progressivenationatsea.com/

Peace,
Scott

**Dan Marsh** · 02-04-2014

You're gonna have a great time!

**Paulrus** · 02-04-2014

Hilarious. Now there are competing prog cruises? Will Jon steer his ship into Chris'?

RAAAAMMMMING SPEEEEED!!!!

**Rufus** · 02-04-2014

I'm envious. Enjoy the trip!

Jefferson James · 02-04-2014

Have a blast, my friend, and hopefully post some reports.

**Serendipity** · 02-04-2014

Originally Posted by ScottAM

Who's going, and what are you looking forward to most?
Peace,
Scott

I'll be there. I'm dropping my kids off at my parents condo in Key Marathon then driving to Miami with my wife. She's not a prog fan, so she must really need a vacation! I'm most excited to see Transatlantic since I've been absorbing Kaleidoscope all week and really starting to dig it. Jon Anderson's solo gig is getting kinda stale IMHO, but with Transatlantic behind him, it should be great. I hope he shares some vocals or at least Neal and Roine provide some harmonies. The Portnoy, Sheehan, MacAlpine, Sherinian blu ray is great, so that's should be a good show. And of course it's an opportunity to see old favorites Spock's, TFK, POS, and King's X along with Anathema and Haken, two of my favorite newer bands. And all of this in the same week! And my blackberry won't have a signal so I can't work. What could be better?

**Dan Marsh** · 02-04-2014

Yeah!

**Rick** · 02-04-2014

SO jealous. would love to go to this. just cannot afford. would love to hear all about when you get back. i just hope they make money with this and are able to do again next year. maybe by then i could make it.

**Staun** · 02-04-2014

I'm looking forward to your good time. Pics please

.

**kristi** · 02-04-2014

My husband and I are going to be there too. And my brother, who actually lives in Louisville, CO- not far from you Scott. We are all looking forward to the cruise. See you there!

**doh** · 02-05-2014

The lineup could not be hand-picked for me any better, but family and finances make it not smart for me to go. I'll be thinking of you all.

**Sunlight Caller** · 02-05-2014

i had a business lunch last week and the conversation turned to music... "What music do you listen to?" I was asked? ... "I'm all over the place, but I have a love of Prog" I confessed... Usually this would encounter blank looks, as I'm sure you all have experienced, but this time I got the response.. "Well, you would love where I'm going on holiday in a couple of weeks, I'm off for a Prog Nation cruise"... i had to picked up off the floor at this point!

**arabicadabra** · 02-05-2014

I wish I was going to see Belew and King's X - also to kick the tires on the current Spock's Beard live. The last two lineups have been even better live than on recotrd.

**FKYES** · 02-05-2014

I will be there and can't wait. The idea that all these great bands in one place is mind blowing to me. I'm looking forward to seeing so many bands but I definitely want to catch Anathema and Haken because I haven't seen them. The flower kings, TA and Riverside are all in my top 10 of modern bands so they will be givens.

**Paulrus** · 02-14-2014

(Wow, this dropped off the first page fast.)

I guess this is coming up fast, so here's the man himself to help get more butts out there (and is it me or does it look like InsideOut is heavily behind this?)

**trurl** · 02-14-2014

Originally Posted by Paulrus

(and is it me or does it look like InsideOut is heavily behind this?)

They are utterly and entirely behind it

**thx5150** · 02-15-2014

Seeing Eumeria tonight for their very first concert and warm-up for the cruise. We will see if these guys can live up to their debut album and cruise invitation by Mike Portnoy.

**martiprog** · 02-17-2014

God, between this & CTTE I am so jealous! However, Scotland to Miami (even just the once) for a cruise while leaving the wife & kids behind, would probably mean I got back to find the locks changed & the "for sale" sign outside the house. On balance, it might not be worth the risk.........

Even worse (from the wife's perspective) would be taking her with me - it's a coin-toss as to whether she'd throw herself overboard or me!

**ScottAM** · 02-23-2014

Well, after a week sailing the high seas, here's a little report for those of you who would like to know about it. If you were there, please chime in!

First off -- if this cruise happens again next year (chances are good) and you like the bands involved ----> GO!!! Start saving the money now if that is the issue...start negotiating with the wife now if that is the issue...but do whatever you have to in order to not miss it. This was easily the most amazing prog music "experience" I've ever had. I've been to Rosfest about 8 or 9 times now, but a cruise like this must have upped the ante at least a dozen-fold, if not a hundred-fold (all props & love to Rosfest, too!). It seriously is that good.

Not only are you inundated with non-stop music from your favorite bands, but you're literally tripping over them on board the ship. Seriously, as soon as we pulled up to the ship, I ran into Adrian Belew, Jonas from Flower Kings, John Wesley (who was *attending* the cruise, not performing), all of Anathema, offered to take Ryo's (from Spock's) picture of himself & his parter with his camera, and that's all before I even got on board! Many more interactions awaited inside. It's insane! 5 stages of music, a beautiful ship, unlimited and tasty food available at all hours, gorgeous surroundings, even beach time (we went for an excellent snorkeling adventure right off the beach). Meeting tons of new friends who all love the music you love. And lots of surprises. It's every proggers wet dream, in the best sense of the word!

Some performance notes:
Spock's Beard was my favorite. They were such a flawless band. Brought Rich Mouser along for the live mixing, which was a great call -- they sounded the best of all the bands, I thought, the bass was especially bright and punchy. Perfect setlists for their two sets. Dave was on fire on bass, Alan offered one of the most outstanding guitar performances on the ship, Ryo was a delight and Jimmy amazing on the drums. Ted gave a perfect performance of new material, plus covering Neal and Nick's lead vocal parts -- amazing! The second set had Neal come out for a 2 song over-the-top performance. I'm even more in love with this band.

Jon Anderson - a great solo performance which was spiritually enlivening, as well as a nice stripped-down counterbalance to the onslaught of full rock bands in other sets. Fun stories, and great selection of material. He also did a more intimate Q & A session with more music, and I got to ask him a question about Olias (as did many others), it was a very special time.

Transatlantic -- excellent sets, really top notch. Did an opening set of the entire new album (including a moving Beyond the Sun, first time performed live), and a closing set of Whirlwind, Stranger/All of the Above, We All Need Some Light, and a fantastic version of Indiscipline with Adrian Belew guesting with them! Then the closing with Jon opened with The Revealing Science of God -- what!?!?!? Yes, it's true. Totally unexpected. After the shock/surprise, honestly it was not the best choice to open with, a very challenging piece for everyone, but they pulled it off pretty well. Followed by Long Distance, and then And You & I and closing with Starship Trooper. By the last two songs the band and Jon were really hitting their stride, full of smiles and felt like they were warmed up and could have continued...perhaps they should have opened with those ones instead. It was triumphant and very moving for everyone.

Haken -- one of the biggest successes of the cruise for me and many of us...their set on the Pool Stage was epic and won tons of new fans.

Anathema -- excellent sets and heartfelt connection with the audience.

The Dear Hunter -- a personal new favorite. Not exceptionally prog, but a fantastic band which was a perfect alternative to many of the other bands.

Flower Kings -- great sets as always.

Riverside -- these guys are great. Their first set had a number of technical issues but they still were excellent.

There was just so much music it's hard for me to recap it all. Other great sets from King's X, Pain of Salvation (without Daniel -- yes I know, crazy but true), Thank You Scientist, Portnoy/MacAlpine/Sherenian/Sheehan, Bigelf, etc...). Others can chime in with their favorites!

Hopefully this will be the first year of many for Portnoy's ProgNation cruises. It was epic. It was monumental. It was prog at its best!

**PotatoSolution** · 02-23-2014

I mostly echo what Scott said.

A few additional observations:

- Doug Pinnick is really, really skinny.

- Pete Trewavas is really, really short.

- After hanging out near the pool, I've seen enough fat white guys with their shirts off to last me a lifetime.

- Speaking of which, I remember when this prog cruise was announced, there were some smug people on this very forum (I know, hard to believe) who insisted the whole thing would be a giant failure. Well, those people were dead wrong, the boat was PACKED. I am curious, though, how financially lucrative the whole thing was.

- Devin Townsend is utterly hilarious and completely deranged. He mentioned on his Twitter before the cruise that he was a terrified with social anxiety to be stuck on a boat with all these people for four days, and he reacted by making fun of the whole thing. I think he pissed a lot of people off who didn't get his jokes but I thought it was funny. Both of his sets were blistering and aggressive and amazing.

- Spock's Beard. Wow. Just wow. See the "Neal Morse w/SB" thread for my thoughts. Absolutely the best of the cruise.

- Jon Anderson has still got it. In his acoustic solo sets, the old dude showed these young whippersnappers how it's done. He also told terrific stories between songs.

- Riverside was the biggest disappointment of the cruise. Not the band themselves, but the technical issues that nearly sank (heh, boat pun) their set. First the keyboards wouldn't work, then the vocals crapped out for nearly two whole songs, then the lead guitar. The band were visibly frustrated, which is totally understandable, but they forged ahead as best as they could. I was looking forward to seeing this band more than practically any other, and they didn't get the chance to show how good they are. A pity.

- Also, it was hilarious to see Mariusz Duda of Riverside walking around the pool in a black long-sleeved t-shirt and rolled up jeans. I don't think guys from Poland know what to do in actual sunlight.

- Haken was good, but they had their bass turned up to 11+. I could feel my internal organs vibrating, the bass was so freakin' loud. It kind of turned their set into a mushy mess.

- Anathema was great. Their tone of their albums are kind of solemn, but their stage presence was surprisingly energetic.

- Pain of Salvation forged ahead with a great set. They played a short video of Daniel Gildenlow from the hospital apologizing for not being there, which was very sweet and sincere. The band called Daniel "our hero" during the set. The Road Salt albums have really grown on me, and they sounded great live.

- Portnoy, Sheehan, MacAlpine, Sherinian had the most NPS (Notes Per Second) than any band on the cruise. Both of their sets were instrumental bliss.

- Bigelf was very entertaining. Love a lead singer who also plays vintage keyboards on either side of him.

- I got to see Adrian Belew play "Dinosaur", my favorite 90s-era KC song. Wow wow.

- Keep an eye on Thank You Scientist. These extremely talented young guys from New Jersey had the biggest crowd of anyone in the Bar City stage. I think they have the potential to break through to some real success.

- These bands were "not my cuppa": The Dear Hunter, Safety Fire, Periphery.

- Oh yeah, there also this one obscure little band called Transatlantic. Has anyone here ever heard of them?

**NogbadTheBad** · 02-23-2014

Originally Posted by PotatoSolution

- Keep an eye on Thank You Scientist. These extremely talented young guys from New Jersey had the biggest crowd of anyone in the Bar City stage. I think they have the potential to break through to some real success.

They were the hit of ProgDay last year & they'll get a lot of converts at ROSfest. They're definitely on their way.

**beano** · 02-23-2014

Aside from the GREAT Prog music/meeting Prog artists/etc, how was the cruise itself?..Rooms/Meals/Facilities/ship overall..?? I know there were issues in the past regarding prog attendees vs. folks who had no clue there was a prog thing going on...any comments??

**PotatoSolution** · 02-23-2014

Everyone on the cruise was a part of the Progressive Nation. There were no "normal" cruisers, so to speak.

They had a map showing where everyone came from. Most of the cruisers were from the U.S., obviously, but there was also a large group of proggers from South America, predominantly Brazil, Argentina, and Chile. There were also proggers who came from Japan, Australia, the UK, Scandinavia, India, and even South Africa.

The cruise itself was fine. The ports, honestly, were not all that interesting. The first port, Great Stirrup Cay, is a made-up place. It was created by the cruise lines to be a self-contained, sanitized tourist trap. I didn't even get off the boat for the second stop, Freeport, which is just essentially nothing more than ... a big port.

The dining was freestyle, which I liked. Other cruises I've been on made you eat at specific scheduled times, but on this one you could have a nice sit-down meal any time you wanted, as well as the buffet.

The rooms were clean and well-maintained, the crew was very friendly.

Oh, and the show schedules ran like clockwork, everything started mostly on time, which is an admirable accomplishment when you have about 30 bands performing all over the place.

**Poisoned Youth** · 02-23-2014

Interesting that there were no "normal" cruisers. That said, do you think it was profitable for the bands by any stretch that they'd be motivated to do it again outside of it being a self-indulgence?