Review / Photos courtesy of: Marie-Christine Quirion
The 14th edition of Shiprocked took place this past February 4th – 10th, with I Prevail as headliner as well as thirty other groups, including Beartooth, Killswitch Engage, Badflower, From Ashes to New, Highly Suspect, Black Stone Cherry, Nonpoint and several others.
It was Beartooth who had the honor of playing our sail away rocking the Carnival Magic as it left Miami under the eyes (and ears) of curious onlookers. Caleb and the famous Ohio band are no stragners to Shiprocked, as they seemed quite happy to break the ice that evening. It was under a brilliant sun that they opened the show with Sunshine! One of their most recent successes, in front of nearly 4000 Shiprockers ready to party for the next 6 days. Revisiting some of their older singles such as In Between and The Lines, we were also treated to some extracts from the most recent album including The Better Me, Might Love Myself, I was Alive and a few others.
Catch Your Breath, Crobot and From Ashes to New also had the chance to perform on different stages during the first evening.
Monday at sea also means Meet & Greet, an activity no fan wants to miss. It was also at this time that the weather started to get bad. While a few brave people were on the main deck to watch Scene Queen’s performance, that’s when the wind and rain were unleashed and a few performances had to be canceled including Scene Queen and Badflower who tried to play a few songs, but since technology and water don’t like each other very much…. The services were cut short. For those who remained dry indoors, Sleep Theory and From Ashes to New had theater fans rocking out with their powerful voices. Funny moment to mention: Sleep Theory surprised the crowd full of rockers, with a cover of the song Bye Bye Bye by famous boy band N’Sync and the crowd got into it by singing the lyrics and even expressing a few moves of the choreography.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to share the daily life of your favorite band or be stuck on a desert island with them? This is exactly the adventure that Shiprocked 2024 offered us on Tuesday during our stop in Ocho Rios, Jamaica.
Due to the wind and very strong waves, the Magic had some difficulty docking and damaged the hull. Unfortunately for the guests who had already left the boat, including certain groups including I Prevail, Beartooth and Nonpoint, the rest of the day was rather difficult since everyone was stuck without the possibility of returning to the boat seeing how it had to leave the port. After long hours in Jamaica without really understanding what was happening, the passengers were able to return to the boat and Nonpoint was brilliant enough to open their performance of the evening with the title song from Gilligan’s Island followed by their famous song What a Day. The rest of the evening was spent changing and rearranging the performance schedule as well as the rest of the cruise route.
Wednesday was a quiet day. Still stuck at the port of Ocho Rios in order to repair the damage as well as avoid bad weather offshore, games of Dodgeball, more Meet & Greets, Trivia and other activities allowing fans to meet or face some of their favorite artists, during the day went off without a hitch and it was the 2024 headliner, I Prevail, who kicked off the first concert of the day under radiant sunshine on the main deck. We were then treated to the first collective jam of the Stowaways revisiting different classics from the rock world and not so rock either! Let’s mention the great performance of Elias (Nonpoint) with his version of Wait and Bleed by Slipknot, or the cover of Butterfly by Crazy Town performed by the members of Twiztid. The deck stage was ignited a little later once again in the evening by the members of Black Stone Cherry and their southern rock sound. Playing their famous hits, Me and Mary Jane, White Trash Millionaire, Blame it on the Boom Boom as well as some excerpts from their most recent album Screamin’ at the Sky.
Thursday was a typical day at sea: Meet & Greet, Belly Flop Contest, Trivia, Beer & Bingo and other games hosted or played by certain groups and artists. The famous Cancer Sucks Chrity Auction also raised more than $100,000 in donations, bringing the grand total of contributions to more than 1 million in recent years by this charity. Several groups also gave their 2nd performance of the trip including Beartooth who gave us a completely different set, including a few slow songs and a slowed down cover with only Caleb on guitar of Mr. Brightside by The Killers.
Following the mishaps in Jamaica and the extra day spent in port, the stop in Grand Cayman had to be canceled. So, Friday was the last day and stop of the cruise in Bimini, The Bahamas. After a day at the beach having fun during the Beach Wars with the members of From Ashes to New, the Shiprockers returned “home” for one last performance by the Stowaways including only songs related to the theme from Shiprocked 2024 – horror films. The last performance of 2024 on the main deck was given by Badflower who finally had the weather on their side and had the chance to perform a full set.
Shiprocked 2024 was exceptionally exciting and filled with twists and turns due to uncontrollable external factors. Know that the Shiprockers knew how to bring out only the best and that these adventures brought fans and artists closer together in a way impossible to describe. Shiprocked is much more than a cruise or a floating music festival. Shiprocked is a family, a love of the same passion, uncontrollable laughter, themed evenings, costumes, activities where you compete or team up with your favorite group, it’s magnificent beaches and memories for life.
The 15th edition of Shiprocked will take place from January 19th – 25th, 2025. Departing from Miami and stopping in St Thomas (Virgin Islands) as well as Half Moon Cay (Bahamas). Shiprocked will sell out, as it does year after year!
Live the Shiprocked experience: https://www.shiprocked.com/
