A music cruise is a type of cruise ship tourism whose purpose centers around a musician, band, or musical lineup with performances by the act or acts and interaction between the cruise-goers and the stars. Music cruises can be thematic in genre, such as jazz, blues, rock, a musical era such as the 1980s, country, and others, or may center around a particular musician, band or related bands. [1] Music cruises feature musical performances by the act or acts, and involve social activities between fans and cruise performers such as Meet and Greets, question and answer sessions, and parties. [2]
A cruise ship is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages when the voyage itself, the ship's amenities, and sometimes the different destinations along the way, form part of the passengers' experience. Transportation is not the only purpose of cruising, particularly on cruises that return passengers to their originating port. On "cruises to nowhere" or "nowhere voyages", cruise ships make 2-to-3 night round trips without any ports of call.
A music genre is a conventional category that identifies some pieces of music as belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions. It is to be distinguished from musical form and musical style, although in practice these terms are sometimes used interchangeably. Recently, academics have argued that categorizing music by genre is inaccurate and outdated.
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, United States, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and developed from roots in blues and ragtime. Jazz is seen by many as "America's classical music". Since the 1920s Jazz Age, jazz has become recognized as a major form of musical expression. It then emerged in the form of independent traditional and popular musical styles, all linked by the common bonds of African-American and European-American musical parentage with a performance orientation. Jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and improvisation. Jazz has roots in West African cultural and musical expression, and in African-American music traditions including blues and ragtime, as well as European military band music. Intellectuals around the world have hailed jazz as "one of America's original art forms".
Music cruises have grown in popularity significantly in the United States since the 1990s, to the point of popular music festivals such as Coachella [3] [4] are offering at-sea versions of their concert series and band such as KISS, Weezer, Motörhead, and solo acts like Kid Rock have done music cruises. [1] [2] [5] While music cruises usually have an older demographic, there are still concerns about alcohol-related incidents taking place on board. [2] [5]
The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Inland Empire's Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert of California. It was co-founded by Paul Tollett and Rick Van Santen in 1999, and is organized by Goldenvoice, a subsidiary of AEG Live. The event features musical artists from many genres of music, including rock, pop, indie, hip hop, and electronic dance music, as well as art installations and sculptures. Across the grounds, several stages continuously host live music. The main stages are the Coachella Stage, Outdoor Theatre, Gobi Tent, Mojave Tent, and Sahara Tent; a smaller Oasis Dome was used in 2006 and 2011, while a new Yuma stage was introduced in 2013 and a Sonora stage in 2017.
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973 by Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Peter Criss, and Ace Frehley. Well known for its members' face paint and stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid-to-late 1970s with their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood-spitting, smoking guitars, shooting rockets, levitating drum kits, and pyrotechnics. The band has gone through several lineup changes, with Stanley and Simmons the only remaining original members. The original and best-known lineup consisted of Stanley, Simmons, Frehley, and Criss.
Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo, Patrick Wilson (drums), Brian Bell, and Scott Shriner.
Examples of music cruises include Holy Ship! – held annually since 2012 – and Jam Cruise – held fourteen times since 2004 – both of which sail out of PortMiami.
Holy Ship! is an annual electronic dance music festival held aboard a 4,000+ capacity cruise ship, with two back to back sailings leaving out of Port Canaveral, FL with stops in the Bahamas. 2019 will mark the event's eighth year since its inception in 2012, debuting two sailings in one year.
PortMiami, formally the Dante B. Fascell Port of Miami, is a major seaport located in Biscayne Bay in Miami, Florida. It is the largest passenger port in the world, and one of the largest cargo ports in the United States. It is connected to Downtown Miami by Port Boulevard—a causeway over the Intracoastal Waterway—and to the neighboring Watson Island via the PortMiami Tunnel. The port is located on Dodge Island, which is the combination of three historic islands that have since been combined into one. It is named in honor of 19 term Florida Congressman Dante Fascell.
