What is the BB Kings?

[Hflors]

As my title says.... What is the BB Kings? Is it the band that replaces the "Halcats"? I keep seeing the name on each of the ships. What kind of music do they play?

[Lady Arwen]

BB King Band plays R&B, Motown, etc. Very talented singers and musicians. Best band I've seen on a cruise ship. They are not the ship's house band. They perform in their own venue. We saw them on Koningsdam in May and they were great.......although very loud.

[bUU]

There are a bunch of YouTube videos from the branded venues aboard Holland America cruise ships, including:

[blizzardboy]

The BB King Blues Review plays in the Queen's Lounge usually 6 out of 7 nights, depending on itinerary port departure timing. Some groups choose to play 3, one-hour sets, others two, 90 minute sets. Some have been better than others, but all were very talented musicians. They do tend to play pretty high-energy shows with dancing encouraged. They were never designed to replace the HAL Cats, who were usually made up of 3-4 of the main-theater show band and played in the Atrium if I remember correctly.

[Hflors]

Thank you for all your responses. Now I know what people are talking about.

[Occy]

Some of the best entertainment we have ever seen, on any cruise line. They do switch around from ship to ship so your never guaranteed you'll get the same musicians in the band. The Motown group we saw in Sept. on the NA were just fantastic. Great way to end an evening and we're looking fwd to this venue on our next cruise.

[Hlitner]

The HAL "BB King" band is similar to the HAL Cats in that it is a "pick-up band" Hence you can have a "BB King" Band on every ship...with different musicians...all using the same name...and all playing different music. The one disappointment for me as that the HAL BB King Bands play very little BB King (or other Blues) music. That being said, we enjoy their rock, soul, disco, etc. Given the right crowd (this happened on our Oosterdam cruise last summer) the BB King venue can be a loud, fun place with lots of folks having fun. It is not everyone's cup of tea.....but we suspect that many HAL cruisers that dislike the BB King concept are among those in bed by 10pm (or earlier).

 

We became friendly with one of the BB King musicians (when on the Oosterdam) who was from the Atlanta area. He told us that working on HAL was a great "gig" because he got to travel to a lot of interesting places while being paid. He also explained that he had to go through an audition process to get the job...and thought the quality of the other musicians was quite good (we agreed). When I asked him if they could do more "Blues" he said that on our cruise...it seems like the folks would rather hear rock and disco. He further explained that the band would change what they performed based on how the audience reacted to the music. On our cruise we had a lot of European teens (and younger) and those kids just loved dancing to the 70's and early 80s disco sound. It was fun to again hear Donna Summer stuff...and not sure anyone missed the sleepy Glenn Miller sounds of the HAL Cats. We are looking forward to again hearing the BB King band (although it will be a totally different band) on our upcoming cruise.

 

Hank

[debsjc]

We thought BB Kings were 10 times better than the Halcats, really talented musicians and vocalists. They appeal to a wide demographic, playing music from the 60's right up to present time. I think they all have 2 main vocalists, which makes it more interesting the just 1 person singing every number.

[Krazy Kruizers]

JOO -- WAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too loud.

We walked by the Queen's Lounge one evening and they were so loud that in the hallway the music hurt my ears.

[cayman09]

Best band of talented musicians and singers I've ever heard on a cruise or resort for that matter. Loud? Yes, but appropriate for that music and energy. DW and I saw every show.

[debsjc]

They need to be loud to drown out the rude guests that sit there and try and shout over the top of them, I really can't understand why people wouldn't go somewhere else for a chat.

[Cruising-along]

We've enjoyed BB Kings on the Zuiderdam and Koningsdam. Love their shows and try to go every night they perform. Way better than the typical HAL entertainment IMHO.

[teacher06]

Unfortunately we had to endure the BB Kings Group on the Maasdam for 55 Days last Fall, I hope and pray they are not on our upcoming GrandAsia Cruise.

[57redbird]

We loved the group that played in BB Kings on our 1st Caribbean cruise -- we went every evening...wish we could say the same about the band on our 2nd one., we went the 1st 2 nights & decided that was enough of this one.

[dockman]

Riley Ben King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer, electric guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. King introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending and shimmeringvibrato that influenced many later electric blues guitarists.[2]

King was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, and is considered one of the most influential blues musicians of all time, earning the nickname "The King of the Blues", and one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" along with Albert King and Freddie King.[3][4][5] King was known for performing tirelessly throughout his musical career, appearing at more than 200 concerts per year on average into his 70s.[6] In 1956 alone, he reportedly appeared at 342 shows.[7]

King was born on a cotton plantation in Berclair, Mississippi, and later worked at a cotton gin in Indianola, Mississippi. He was attracted to music and the guitar in church, and began his performance career in juke joints and local radio. He later lived in Memphis, Tennessee, and Chicago, and toured the world extensively. King died at the age of 89 in Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 14, 2015, from congestive heart failure and diabetic complications.

[blizzardboy]

The HAL "BB King" band is similar to the HAL Cats in that it is a "pick-up band" Hence you can have a "BB King" Band on every ship...with different musicians...all using the same name...and all playing different music. The one disappointment for me as that the HAL BB King Bands play very little BB King (or other Blues) music. That being said, we enjoy their rock, soul, disco, etc. Given the right crowd (this happened on our Oosterdam cruise last summer) the BB King venue can be a loud, fun place with lots of folks having fun. It is not everyone's cup of tea.....but we suspect that many HAL cruisers that dislike the BB King concept are among those in bed by 10pm (or earlier).

 

We became friendly with one of the BB King musicians (when on the Oosterdam) who was from the Atlanta area. He told us that working on HAL was a great "gig" because he got to travel to a lot of interesting places while being paid. He also explained that he had to go through an audition process to get the job...and thought the quality of the other musicians was quite good (we agreed). When I asked him if they could do more "Blues" he said that on our cruise...it seems like the folks would rather hear rock and disco. He further explained that the band would change what they performed based on how the audience reacted to the music. On our cruise we had a lot of European teens (and younger) and those kids just loved dancing to the 70's and early 80s disco sound. It was fun to again hear Donna Summer stuff...and not sure anyone missed the sleepy Glenn Miller sounds of the HAL Cats. We are looking forward to again hearing the BB King band (although it will be a totally different band) on our upcoming cruise.

 

Hank

Hank - If you want to hear a true blues man (opened for BB King and Muddy Waters as an eleven-year-old prodigy in 1989) with a "pick up" band, google "Joe Bonamassa acoustic show" and watch a couple of the youtube videos that pop up. He has done two major acoustic shows, one at the Vienna Opera House about 4 years ago, and the one just finished at Carnegie Hall in May (he's known as an electric blues-rock guitarist). In both cases, a few core musicians were from his band (like Hall-of-Fame keyboard player Reese Wynans of Double Trouble or Anton Fig, drummer from Letterman's band), but several others were playing together for the first time after meeting just 3 days prior. Great musicians don't need long to sound great together. Remember, the BB King musicians rehearse and play together for months, so they usually put on pretty solid shows, although it stands to reason that they would get "tighter" towards the end of their contracts.

I agree that they should play more blues, but they do indeed play to the crowd, at least the good ones do. We were on the Z'dam in 2014 and the Oo'dam in 2016 with a gent named Darryl Stanley fronting the band both times. He is a master at figuring out the personality of each cruise and adjusting the band's song sheets accordingly.

bb

Edited July 9, 2017 by blizzardboy

[kazu]

 

<snip> The BB King Blues Review plays in the Queen's Lounge usually 6 out of 7 nights, depending on itinerary port departure timing. Some groups choose to play 3, one-hour sets, others two, 90 minute sets. Some have been better than others, but all were very talented musicians.

 

The only exception is on the Rotterdam. BB Kings performs in the Crow's Nest on that ship. (I really liked that venue too).

 

<snip>The HAL "BB King" band is similar to the HAL Cats in that it is a "pick-up band" Hence you can have a "BB King" Band on every ship...with different musicians...all using the same name...and all playing different music.

 

Hank

 

Bolding is mine. BB Kings is NOT on every HAL ship. On the Vistas, Signature and Pinnacle Class ships. Not on the Prinsendam or S & R ships with only one exception - Rotterdam.

[57redbird]

Darryl Stanley was the front man on our 1st C. cruise & yes, that group & what they played was over the top! He really seemed to enjoy entertaining us.

[Copper10-8]

Darryl Stanley was the front man on our 1st C. cruise & yes, that group & what they played was over the top! He really seemed to enjoy entertaining us.

 

 

Darryl Stanley is awesome and so are Tempest Barnes, Tabitha Speight and Tim Timmons

[SonnekeH]

LOUD....and not my kind of music

[Oregonpoppa]

Loud? Yes, but you get used to it. We went on our first cruise a couple years ago to Alaska and the BB King group was one of the highlights. We caught them every night (twice a couple of times). I haven't seen our particular combo on any of the youtubes yet. Surprisingly, my wife, who can't usually handle loud music, can't wait to see the BB King group on our December Caribbean cruise.

[Cruising-along]

Unfortunately we had to endure the BB Kings Group on the Maasdam for 55 Days last Fall, I hope and pray they are not on our upcoming GrandAsia Cruise.

 

Since BB Kings doesn't play on the Maasdam maybe you're thinking of someone else? :confused:

[Copper10-8]

Since BB Kings doesn't play on the Maasdam maybe you're thinking of someone else? :confused:

 

Excellent eye, as always, Cruising along! ;) The only non-Vista, non-Signature and non-Pinnacle-class HAL ship, the BB King All-star band currently perform on is R-class ship Rotterdam. They've never played on Maasdam

[Niagarawine]

 

Darryl Stanley is awesome and so are Tempest Barnes, Tabitha Speight and Tim Timmons

Can't wait,can't wait, can't wait! Main reason I booked on Hal

[Lady Arwen]

Unfortunately we had to endure the BB Kings Group on the Maasdam for 55 Days last Fall, I hope and pray they are not on our upcoming GrandAsia Cruise.

Please rethink your comment as the BB King Band has never been on Maasdam. Perhaps a different rock band?