Rock and Romance, 80s Cruise, and my other 2024 music adventures

[Honolulu Blue]

4 hours ago, NinS said:

It is funny that the Paul Abdul Polaroid would have been retro in her heyday! But I think it's still a fun and unique twist on the usual meet and greet option.

 

Speaking of news about cruises: https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/music-festivals-on-cruise-ships

 

4 hours ago, NinS said:

And here's one that does mention TEC: https://www.chron.com/gulf-coast/article/galveston-music-cruise-ships-18588969.php

 

Yeah, Polaroid pictures had their heyday in the late 70s and early 80s and slowly fizzled as film cameras became better and film processing became more available to the masses. 35mm film was most common. Digital wasn't a thing in the late 80s or early 90s.

 

Thanks for both of those links. The two country cruises out of Galveston that were mentioned in the latter link are partial charters, unlike our favorites. That's great for those that are with the charter, not so great for the rest if the passengers who have no access to all the cool shows. ☹️

[NinS]

When you look at the partial charter schedules they're only programming 2-3 hours a day so they don't tie up venues that the rest of the ship wants to use. I think it would be a big come down from the kind of programming we're used to on the full charters.

[Honolulu Blue]

9 minutes ago, NinS said:

When you look at the partial charter schedules they're only programming 2-3 hours a day so they don't tie up venues that the rest of the ship wants to use. I think it would be a big come down from the kind of programming we're used to on the full charters.

True and true. Good points. 👍

[Honolulu Blue]

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced their newest inductees last night.  Not in any order, but Cher, Kool and the Gang, Foreigner, and Dionne Warwick made the cut - among others.

 

I saw the former lead singer for Foreigner, Lou Gramm, on The 80s Cruise last year.  And I saw the band itself on the 70s Rock and Romance Cruise this year.

 

 

 

Kool and the Gang I saw on the 2022 and 2023 editions of the UDC.  They're scheduled for the 2025 edition.  This photo is from last year:

 

 

Cara Lee did a convincing job of looking like and sounding like Cher on the UDC last year:

 

 

One of Dionne's biggest hits, "Then Came You", was with The Spinners.  They did this song without her in 2022 on the UDC.  They'll probably do the same in 2025, also on the UDC.

 

[Honolulu Blue]

FYI - StarVista Live's YouTube site has posted full All Access Passes (interviews) with several of its artists from Rock & Romance and Flower Power.  The videos include Randy Bachman (twice, for both R&R and FP), Bad Company, Dave Mason, Generation Radio, and WAR.  I'll have to remember to catch up with them when I get time.

[Honolulu Blue]

It's a rainy Sunday here in Michigan.  I'm two weeks off from my latest music cruise adventure.  The next one is in several months, though I do have a concert in about four weeks.

 

Let's hand out some silly, meaningless awards around here with pictures.

 

BEST CONCERT BY CRUISE

 

TEC honorable mentions - Stephen Pearcy, Debbie Gibson

Winner - SHEENA EASTON.  This surprised me too.  I didn't expect her to hit me as hard as she did.  And she didn't even play her GOOD songs - not many of them, anyway.

 

 

R&R honorable mentions - Pablo Cruise, Bella Donna, Lez Zeppelin, Ambrosia & Friends

Winner - GENERATION RADIO.  I did say that the more Chicago they played, the better I would like it.  They played lots of Chicago, so I liked the show a lot.  They even played "Along Comes a Woman", which is my favorite Chicago tune.  And that wasn't even the best song they played.  I'll get to that one shortly.

 

 

McDonald LaBelle Cruise winner - Well, I only attended two concerts here.  No surprise who I picked as the better of the two.

 

 

BEST SONG PLAYED LIVE BY CRUISE

 

TEC honorable mentions - "Telefone" (Sheena), "Lay It Down" (Stephen Pearcy), "Teacher, Teacher" (38 Special)

TEC winner - "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic".  80s era tribute band Jessie's Girl did this one.  It's a nice surprise; they didn't do this on the show I saw last year.  It was a good version, though the Stinger and the boys in blue can/would do it better.

 

 

R&R honorable mentions - "Love Will Find a Way" (Pablo Cruise), "Waiting for a Girl Like You" (Foreigner), "Baby Come Back" (Peter Beckett with Ambrosia)

Winner - "Danger Zone" (Generation Radio).  I didn't expect them to play this one.  Well played sirs.  Forgive me for not using another picture of the Radio stars; let's do Pablo Cruise this time.

 

 

McDonald LaBelle Cruise winner - "Sweet Freedom".  Yes he played it.  I wasn't sure he was going to.  Let's show the entire band this time; he had quite a few people around to make him sound good.

 

 

SONGS THAT I LIKE MORE NOW THAT I'VE HEARD THEM PERFORMED LIVE

 

TEC - "Over the Wall" (Debbie Gibson).  Cute song near the end of the "Electric Youth" album.  She played it second at this concert.

 

 

R&R - "Kashmir".  Lez Zeppelin did the honors.  A 10 1/2 minute song that captivated me throughout.  Do I really need to say more?

 

 

BEST SURPRISES (NOT CONCERT RELATED)

 

TEC - Who knew Ray Parker, Jr. liked us so much until he told us?  Also, he mentioned my podunk little town in one of his stories.

 

 

R&R - Who knew I'd like the tribute artists (like Bella Donna) very nearly as much as the bigger names?

 

 

McDonald LaBelle - Who knew that George Wallace deemed me worthy to take a selfie with him?  Sorry this isn't it. 😞

 

 

Also, I didn't find Nassau to be the horrible place that some cruisers had mentioned it would be.  The port area seemed quite nice to me.  I wouldn't mind coming back sometime.

 

 

OK, enough silliness for one day.  Thanks for indulging me. 🙂

 

 

[Honolulu Blue]

The 80s Cruise released the highlight video of their cruise a few weeks ago.  The jump cuts from video to video were mostly very fast, so I can't be absolutely sure that they didn't sneak me in there.  But I didn't get a confirmed sighting of me.

 

There were a couple of close calls.  There was a closeup of Stephen Pearcy signing a copy of his autobiography.  But it wasn't my book - the ink color was different.  And during Sheena's concert, the camera was behind me, and I can almost tell where I was standing with camera in hand... but it was dark, and I didn't see enough details to confirm my presence.

 

Oh, and former VJs Mark, Julie, and Alan did a little speech about next year's cruise.  I think it was during the late concert, because I don't remember it and I didn't see myself.

 

It's about 4 minutes long.  Have fun!

 

 

Edited May 1 by Honolulu Blue

[NinS]

Fascinating interview with Michael McDonald on NPR today. He has a new autobiography that he wrote with comedian Paul Riser.

 

https://www.npr.org/2024/05/20/1252416210/michael-mcdonald-what-a-fool-believes

 

Last week the Doobie Bros/Steve Winwood show was discounted to $25 including fees for LiveNation's concert week. Of course the seats aren't great, but I'm confident that for that price I'll be getting my money's worth.

 

And speaking of 80s acts, I've never seen frequent (if not recent) TEC artists Berlin and I noticed that they're coming to a casino about 90 minutes away this weekend. I don't have much planned and the tickets are reasonably priced so I imagine I'll go.

[George C]

17 hours ago, NinS said:

Fascinating interview with Michael McDonald on NPR today. He has a new autobiography that he wrote with comedian Paul Riser.

 

https://www.npr.org/2024/05/20/1252416210/michael-mcdonald-what-a-fool-believes

 

Last week the Doobie Bros/Steve Winwood show was discounted to $25 including fees for LiveNation's concert week. Of course the seats aren't great, but I'm confident that for that price I'll be getting my money's worth.

 

And speaking of 80s acts, I've never seen frequent (if not recent) TEC artists Berlin and I noticed that they're coming to a casino about 90 minutes away this weekend. I don't have much planned and the tickets are reasonably priced so I imagine I'll go.

We saw Michael McDonald on rock and romance cruise a few years ago , he was fantastic and we have seen him in Dallas. He had the most interesting interviews on rock and romance, his wife was with him and also one of his back up singers , they have been married about 40 years. We were only a few feet from them and got him to sign a cd afterwards definitely want to read his book and hope to see him sing again. He was on the tonight show last night with Paul Reiser.

[Honolulu Blue]

Sorry for not posting much here lately.  I'll have some news to report in a few days.  Please be patient.  Thank you.

Edited May 25 by Honolulu Blue

[Honolulu Blue]

On 5/21/2024 at 11:29 AM, George C said:

We saw Michael McDonald on rock and romance cruise a few years ago , he was fantastic and we have seen him in Dallas. He had the most interesting interviews on rock and romance, his wife was with him and also one of his back up singers , they have been married about 40 years. We were only a few feet from them and got him to sign a cd afterwards definitely want to read his book and hope to see him sing again. He was on the tonight show last night with Paul Reiser.

 

Thanks for your comments.  As you're aware, I saw the man himself  on his cruise last month.

 

 

I missed almost all of his interview onboard.  I'm sure he covered a lot of the same stuff that he'll cover in his book.  

 

Speaking of his book, a hardback copy of it came in the mail today.  I bought it through PBS.  It came autographed, which was nice.  It cost a lot less than that cruise. 🤑  The book actually has TWO autographs as Paul Reiser also autographed it.

 

 

The plan is to put this book into storage with my Stephen Pearcy autographed book and Lou Gramm autographed T-shirt.  I'll get another copy on Kindle and read it sometime this summer.

 

P.S. I don't know if his wife accompanied him at this concert.  He did have a lot of professional help.  @George C, do you happen to see her in this photo?

 

 

 

[George C]

2 hours ago, Honolulu Blue said:

 

Thanks for your comments.  As you're aware, I saw the man himself  on his cruise last month.

 

 

I missed almost all of his interview onboard.  I'm sure he covered a lot of the same stuff that he'll cover in his book.  

 

Speaking of his book, a hardback copy of it came in the mail today.  I bought it through PBS.  It came autographed, which was nice.  It cost a lot less than that cruise. 🤑  The book actually has TWO autographs as Paul Reiser also autographed it.

 

 

The plan is to put this book into storage with my Stephen Pearcy autographed book and Lou Gramm autographed T-shirt.  I'll get another copy on Kindle and read it sometime this summer.

 

P.S. I don't know if his wife accompanied him at this concert.  He did have a lot of professional help.  @George C, do you happen to see her in this photo?

 

 

 

No she doesn’t appear to be there , she also wasn’t there last time we saw him in Dallas. Hopefully we will see him again in the future.

[Honolulu Blue]

Last night I attended the Chicago concert at one of our state's Native mega casinos. I went for the VIP experience, which meant great seats, a goodie bag, and a photo with the band.

 

Let's go over the goodie bag. I got a regular poster, a photo/poster, a towel or blanket, a souvenir book, and a tote bag to put everything in. 

 

I didn't unwrap the poster or the blanket. The photo was kind of neat. Remember those Cracker Jack prizes with photos with the funny reflective like surface? Or those Kelloggs baseball cards? This photo is similar. 

 

 

The photo book looks nice. I'll have to review it later.

 

 

The tote bag seemed a little small and a little flimsy. I'm sure it's suitable for ordinary use.

 

 

The photo experience was interesting. It was basically go in, wait in line, go up on stage, pose with the band, and sit down (or whatever). That was fun. This photo isn't of me, but mine were similar (but much better, even the ones taken on my phone).

 

 

There was a wait while the arena filled, not completely, and the show began!

 

 

They had a lot of members playing. I counted nine on stage including three wind instrument players and dual percussionists.

 

 

 

It was all very impressive, but I couldn't help being a little underwhelmed. 

 

For some reason, the singers weren't very loud. Normally the singers are considerably louder than the instruments. That wasn't the case here.

 

Also, they seemed to reach deep into their catalog of songs. Or maybe they played some of their newer stuff. Either way, it took them a little while to get to the songs I knew and loved. Which they did, though not all of them.

 

 

Don't tell anyone, but I liked Generation Radio better. 😲

 

This ends my report on Chicago. My next concert looks to by the NKOTB and friends show in August in Columbus. I'm looking forward to that. I also have a VIP experience there with Paula Abdul. I want that Polaroid!! 😁

[NinS]

1. Great report, HB.
2.  
3. Friday I saw Berlin in what I suspect was a much smaller casino venue. It was an excellent show, and by waiting until 30 minutes before the show I scored a ticket for $16 on StubHub! (This was just a 1400 seat theater so even though I was in the back the seat was fine.) Besides Terri Nunn there were two other longtime members of the band, David Diamond and John Crawford. Although there was no opener the show was just an hour long. Now since their songs aren't that long they had time to get through all of their hits, a few songs I didn't know, and two covers, and since I had a long drive home I didn't really mind. The only song I would have liked to hear that I didn't would have been "Blowin' Sky High," which was a newly recorded song they put on their Greatest Hits album, but it wasn't really a big hit itself and according to Setlist.FM they never perform it live.
4.  
5. My next "bands I might see if I ever went on TEC" possibility is July when the Totally Tubular Tour comes to town. Right now I could get a $35 (including fees) ticket and see this lineup: Thomas Dolby, Thompson Twins’ Tom Bailey, Modern English, Men Without Hats, The Romantics, Bow Wow Wow, Tommy Tutone. I don't like all of those groups, but I like enough of them to go. This is at a large night club with standing room in the front and assigned seats in the balconies. The question is whether I should get the $35 standing room ticket now or wait and see if one of the seats end up on the secondary market for a low price closer to the show. In general I prefer to stand at shows when possible, but this will be a long show! Or maybe not that long if I don't stay until the end, as if they go in reverse order I could skip the Thompson Twin and Mr. Dolby...

 

Edited May 26 by NinS

[George C]

3 hours ago, Honolulu Blue said:

Last night I attended the Chicago concert at one of our state's Native mega casinos. I went for the VIP experience, which meant great seats, a goodie bag, and a photo with the band.

 

Let's go over the goodie bag. I got a regular poster, a photo/poster, a towel or blanket, a souvenir book, and a tote bag to put everything in. 

 

I didn't unwrap the poster or the blanket. The photo was kind of neat. Remember those Cracker Jack prizes with photos with the funny reflective like surface? Or those Kelloggs baseball cards? This photo is similar. 

 

 

The photo book looks nice. I'll have to review it later.

 

 

The tote bag seemed a little small and a little flimsy. I'm sure it's suitable for ordinary use.

 

 

The photo experience was interesting. It was basically go in, wait in line, go up on stage, pose with the band, and sit down (or whatever). That was fun. This photo isn't of me, but mine were similar (but much better, even the ones taken on my phone).

 

 

There was a wait while the arena filled, not completely, and the show began!

 

 

They had a lot of members playing. I counted nine on stage including three wind instrument players and dual percussionists.

 

 

 

It was all very impressive, but I couldn't help being a little underwhelmed. 

 

For some reason, the singers weren't very loud. Normally the singers are considerably louder than the instruments. That wasn't the case here.

 

Also, they seemed to reach deep into their catalog of songs. Or maybe they played some of their newer stuff. Either way, it took them a little while to get to the songs I knew and loved. Which they did, though not all of them.

 

 

Don't tell anyone, but I liked Generation Radio better. 😲

 

This ends my report on Chicago. My next concert looks to by the NKOTB and friends show in August in Columbus. I'm looking forward to that. I also have a VIP experience there with Paula Abdul. I want that Polaroid!! 😁

Very cool . We always get vip when available have vip seats for Todd Rundgren next month then Christoffer Cross in august I believe. Another plus is they have security so nobody is allowed to stand in front of us . Currently in New York City and saw Hamilton and Back to the future.

[Honolulu Blue]

1 hour ago, George C said:

Very cool . We always get vip when available have vip seats for Todd Rundgren next month then Christoffer Cross in august I believe. Another plus is they have security so nobody is allowed to stand in front of us . Currently in New York City and saw Hamilton and Back to the future.

Thank you for the notes on your past and future experiences. 

 

I like the VIP experience personally, what I've had of it. It makes it easier to justify a ticket to an artist that I would have to travel some distance for.

 

Have fun with Todd and Chris. Please don't wear out Mr. Cross. He's due on our 80s Cruise next year. 🤪

[Honolulu Blue]

2 hours ago, NinS said:

1. Great report, HB.
2.  
3. Friday I saw Berlin in what I suspect was a much smaller casino venue. It was an excellent show, and by waiting until 30 minutes before the show I scored a ticket for $16 on StubHub! (This was just a 1400 seat theater so even though I was in the back the seat was fine.) Besides Terri Nunn there were two other longtime members of the band, David Diamond and John Crawford. Although there was no opener the show was just an hour long. Now since their songs aren't that long they had time to get through all of their hits, a few songs I didn't know, and two covers, and since I had a long drive home I didn't really mind. The only song I would have liked to hear that I didn't would have been "Blowin' Sky High," which was a newly recorded song they put on their Greatest Hits album, but it wasn't really a big hit itself and according to Setlist.FM they never perform it live.
4.  
5. My next "bands I might see if I ever went on TEC" possibility is July when the Totally Tubular Tour comes to town. Right now I could get a $35 (including fees) ticket and see this lineup: Thomas Dolby, Thompson Twins’ Tom Bailey, Modern English, Men Without Hats, The Romantics, Bow Wow Wow, Tommy Tutone. I don't like all of those groups, but I like enough of them to go. This is at a large night club with standing room in the front and assigned seats in the balconies. The question is whether I should get the $35 standing room ticket now or wait and see if one of the seats end up on the secondary market for a low price closer to the show. In general I prefer to stand at shows when possible, but this will be a long show! Or maybe not that long if I don't stay until the end, as if they go in reverse order I could skip the Thompson Twin and Mr. Dolby...

 

Thanks for the report on the Berlin concert. It's good to know that they've still got it. I saw them on TEC 2022. I don't think they played Blowin Sky High at our show, which was, IIRC, about an hour and 10 minutes. 

 

 

I was tempted by the Totally Tubular tour, but I decided to pass. I liked the Twins back in the day and I really like The Romantics. Tommy Tutone was on this year's TEC. I didn't go see him.

 

The only concert in recent years I've stood up for is Sheena Easton. I tolerated it because she's Sheena Freaking Easton. I generally prefer a seat when I can get one.

 

 

 

[Honolulu Blue]

While listening to the radio, within a 30 minute period, I heard three very familiar songs that all started with the letter H - "Hold On Loosely" by 38 Special, "Heaven Is a Place On Earth" by Belinda Carlsile, and "Hotel California" by The Eagles.  By now I think you know where I'm going with this... 

 

I saw 38 Special about 3 months ago on The 80s Cruise and they played it.

 

I fondly remember Belinda from the 2022 edition of The 80s Cruise.  She had to play this one, and she did.

 

 

Tribute band Hotel California closed with this song on Rock & Romance a couple of months ago.

 

 

 

[Honolulu Blue]

I just added another musical adventure.  With a helpful post from the main TEC site on FB, I looked up the Abducted by the 80s tour and liked what I saw.  They featured a rotating cast of which I will go to see Wang Chung, Men Without Hats, The Motels, and Naked Eyes.  MWH never did much for me, but the others I like to a greater or lesser degree.  Of course, I just saw Wang Chung on TEC three months ago:

 

 

I'll be catching these guys on June 8 in Decatur, Illinois.  The amphitheater they have there looks and sounds nice, from the info I was able to gather on it from the Web.  And they're offering a VIP session after the show, where I get to meet a couple of Chungers and Martha Davis from The Motels.  The VIP package offers autographs, pictures, a laminate, and a poster.  Not bad.

 

It was $62 for the tickets (either front row or 4th row...surprisingly hard to tell) and $125 for the separate VIP package.  The hotel and fuel will be extra.  I'll have to decide whether I want to go around Chicago or around Indianapolis on the way there.

[George C]

On 5/26/2024 at 12:29 PM, Honolulu Blue said:

Thank you for the notes on your past and future experiences. 

 

I like the VIP experience personally, what I've had of it. It makes it easier to justify a ticket to an artist that I would have to travel some distance for.

 

Have fun with Todd and Chris. Please don't wear out Mr. Cross. He's due on our 80s Cruise next year. 🤪

Christopher Cross had a very bad case on Covid that almost killed him . We saw him when he finally started touring again and did several songs while sitting on a bar stool. One of my all time favorite concerts was Christopher Cross , Todd Rundgren, Jason Schiff , Denny Lane ( who recently passed ) and Joey Molland, doing songs from from Rubber Soul and Revolver , they all sang a couple of there individual hits . We got as our vip tickets two posters signed by all 5 artist and our picture taken with Todd , Jason and Joey , I was wearing a rock and romance T-shirt and Todd told me that looks familiar and put his had on my shoulder for the picture. We have the poster and picture framed in our den , definitely looking forward to seeing Todd and Christopher in next couple of months. 

[Honolulu Blue]

Christmas came early this year.  🎅  Here's the story:

 

I got an e-mail from ECP saying that people that had already booked The 80s Cruise (like me!) would be able to book a cabin on The 90s Cruise at 10% off.  At first, I grumbled about the unfairness of it all (I had booked both a long, long time ago), but then I spotted the fine print - for those in my situation, they seemed to be offering 10% off the booking I made later.  In my case, I booked TEC as soon as it came available in February, which was about 3 months after I booked TNC.

 

Anyway, I e-mailed ECP to see if my interpretation was correct.  A couple of hours later, they e-mailed a new bill with about $300 lopped off - 10% of the bill for my TEC cabin.  It seems I was correct after all.  😁  This was very nice and very unexpected.  Thanks, ECP!

 

I also got an e-mail from ECP's High Seas Rally cruise.  That one also had a $250 cabin discount for new bookings.  It had a video by Lou Gramm announcing this and other things.  There's also a 5% cabin discount plus $250 in OBC for active and retired military for new cabin bookings.  Neither offer is combinable with any other.

 

We had a little thunderstorm roll through, which spoils the Christmas feeling.  But I'm still feeling pretty good. 🙂

[Honolulu Blue]

The Sands, which offers annual all inclusive experiences with bands mostly from the 80s, continues to fill out its lineup.  This year's edition will be November 4-9 at the Planet Hollywood in Cancun.  I actually went to the one three years ago.  Let's just say that I didn't make the most of my experience, even though it wasn't all bad.

 

Anyway, here are a few comments about who's going to be playing there:

 

• Bret Michaels - on TEC last year.  I ignored him then, would ignore him here
• Rick Springfield - yum yum.  😛  He's a favorite of mine.
• The Fixx - one of my favorite bands.  I cried a bit when I saw this. ☹️
• Level 42 - I'm on a level above them, or below them.  Whichever.
• Ace Frehley - he and his former band aren't kissing cousins of mine.
• Billy Ocean - due to be on the UDC last year but couldn't make it.  I think he's worth making time for.
• Lou Gramm - saw him on TEC last year and enjoyed him.  I certainly would like to see him again before he fades away for good.
• Mark McGrath - kinda fly, I suppose.  He'd be good for TNC next year or in '26.
• The English Beat - they were on TEC this year.  Despite Sting's endorsement 40+ years ago, I have little interest.
• John Cafferty - I saw him on TEC back in 2022.  I'd certainly like to see him again.
• Johnny Hates Jazz - I think they were on TEC last year.  It didn't shatter my dreams to miss them.
• Young MC - He can bust a move for others
• The Producers - I'm sorry, but who?
• Cherie Currie - see above
• Technotronic - OK, but I prefer others to pump up the jam
• Original Mary Jane Girls - They'll be on next year's UDC and version 1.0 of 2025's Old School Cruise.  I'd like to visit their house, wherever they're shacking up these days. 🙂
• Strangelove - Depeche Mode tribute that I missed on TEC back in 2022.  I think they'd be all right, but if I die before I get to see them, that would be all right.
• The Reflexx - 80s era tribute band #1.  I've heard good things about them.
• Sunset Blvd - 80s era tribute band #2.  I missed them on TEC last year.  I'd like to see them sometime, though I have higher priorities.
• Julie, Mark, and Alan - they're all on TEC and Julie will be on TNC.  They're fine.

 

Now that I've taken a closer look at this lineup, I actually really like what they're selling here.  Alas, I have a conflict with another cruise, so I can't make this event.  I doubt I'll be able to make it in '25 either, but I'm sure I'll take a look at what they have then.