SHIPROCKED WRAPS UP “LUCKY #7”
With almost 3,000 guests on board the illustrious Norwegian Pearl, ShipRocked completed its 7th annual voyage. This is not your average cruise filled with the tranquility and relaxing environments that most ships offer–it’s better! This year’s ShipRocked took place on board a sold out cruise from Miami to Costa Maya, Mexico. Forget the Piña Coladas, teen clubs, and cheesy musical entertainment, ShipRocked literally rocked the sea, featuring performances from incredible rock ‘n roll talent! (Although the typical cruise ship amenities are still present including an on-board casino, spa, bowling alley, fitness center and more).
ShipRocked concluded its sold-out seventh voyage on this past January 22, 2016 after four days and nights of rock ‘n’ roll revelry and sailing the seas onboard Norwegian Pearl. This mayhem was led by surprisingly awesome talent with headliners including Five Finger Death Punch along with Seether, Halestorm, Hellyeah and more. ShipRocked celebrated “Lucky #7” with close to 3,000 guests (all of whom, for the most party, managed to snap at least a selfie with Halestorm drummer Arejay Hale), more than 20 bands, an all-day long beach party in Costa Maya, Mexico, and a jam packed schedule of fun theme nights, artist-hosted activities and even meet and greets. The highly coveted staterooms for ShipRocked–which is undoubtedly the ultimate rock ‘n’ roll cruise–sold out more than seven months in advance! (Heads up for next year!)
This year’s madness didn’t begin upon boarding the Norwegian Pearl. Instead, it started prior; Staying true to their “Rock Hard. Vacation Harder,” mantra, ShipRockers gathered at the famed Clevelander in Miami’s iconic South Beach for the Official ShipRocked 2016 Pre-Party on Sunday, January 17. The party hosted acts such as The Dead Deads and Lukas Rossi, and even a surprise, unannounced acoustic set from Halestorm.
(Halestorm Day 1 on Monster Energy Deck Stage)
Halestorm started ShipRocked 2016 appropriately with a raucous start with this being their ShipRocked debut on the Monster Energy Deck Stage as the illustrious Norwegian Pearl departed from Port Of Miami on Monday, January 18. Festivities came to an unofficial end on Thursday night with back-to-back theater shows by ShipRocked veterans and massive headliners–Five Finger Death Punch, while ShipRocked’s own all-star band The Stowaways held court at midship with a variety of special guests throughout and a set of familiar rock and metal classics that stretched into the early hours of Friday morning.
In between this epic beginning and end of the fest, guests were lucky to witness over 40 performances on four different stages from a lineup that included rock ‘n’ roll stars like Five Finger Death Punch, Seether, Halestorm, Hellyeah, 10 Years, Nonpoint, Helmet, We Are Harlot, Red Sun Rising, Like A Storm, Avatar, Islander, ’68, The Glorious Sons, Stitched Up Heart, Children 18:3, The Dead Deads, Biters, The Standstills, Doll Skin, plus ‘80s cover band Rubix Cube, Java Monster Mornings with Tim “Ripper” Owens, all-star band The Stowaways, a number of afterhours parties with DJ Lippy Rage, as well as live tapings of The SDR Show with Ralph Sutton. ShipRocked allows for the attendees to not only see some of their favorite bands live, but also interact with them on a personal level through Q&A’s, Meet & Greets, and selfies pictured below because, ‘pics or it didn’t happen’:
(Artist Q&A with Shaun Morgan/Seether, David Ellefson/Megadeth, Vinnie Paul/Hellyeah, Lzzy Hale/Halestorm, Zoltan Bathory/Five Finger Death Punch and Danny Worsnop/We Are Harlot)
(Ivan Moody with guests at Five Finger Death Punch meet & greet)
(Seether meet & greet)
(Selfies with Arejay Hale of Halestorm–it happened)
(10 Years on Monster Energy Deck Stage)
ShipRocked all-star band The Stowaways featured David Ellefson of Megadeth; Marcos Curiel and Wuv Bernardo (P.O.D.); John Tempesta (The Cult, Motor Sister); Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal (Bumblefoot, Guns N’ Roses); Jonny Hetherington and Tavis Stanley (Art of Dying); Lukas Rossi, Josh Newell, and Miles McPherson (The Halo Method); Carly Smithson (We Are The Fallen); Dave Buckner (ex-member of Papa Roach); Oli Herbert (All That Remains); Joey Duenas (Anew Revolution, ex-member of Unloco); and various other special guests to make this seventh annual ShipRocked truly unforgettable.
Highlights from The Stowaways’ two performances included:
- “Hunger Strike” (Temple Of The Dog): David Ellefson (bass), Oli Herbert (guitar), Miles McPherson (drums), Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal (guitar), plus guest vocalists Lzzy Hale of Halestorm and Meta Dead of The Dead Deads
- “Hello” (Adele): Miles McPherson (drums), Josh Newell (bass), Lukas Rossi (vocals), Tavis Stanley (guitar), plus guest Hella Dead (keyboards) of The Dead Deads
- “Vasoline” (Stone Temple Pilots): Tribute to the late Scott Weiland with Wuv Bernardo (drums), Marcos Curiel (guitar), Jonny Hetherington (vocals) and Shaun Smith (bass)
- “Peace Sells” (Megadeth): David Ellefson (bass), Oli Herbert (guitar), Tyler Hughes (guitar), John Tempesta (drums), plus guest vocalist Tim “Ripper” Owens
- “For Whom The Bell Tolls” (Metallica): Oli Herbert (guitar), Josh Newell (bass), Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal (guitar), plus guests Robb Rivera of Nonpoint (drums – Wednesday night), Arejay Hale of Halestorm (drums – Thursday night) and Tim “Ripper” Owens (vocals)
- “Ace Of Spades” (Motörhead): The entire Stowaways band paid tribute to the late Lemmy Kilmister (R.I.P) for this Wednesday night finale, led by David Ellefson (bass), Oli Herbert (guitar), Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal (guitar), John Tempesta (drums), with guests Chad Gray of Hellyeah and Robb Rivera of Nonpoint on additional percussion.
This year’s voyage was filled with unanticipated greatness. Though each sailing has been one for the books, lucky number seven definitely takes the cake. Check it out for yourself in the official 2015 after-movie below:
Other highlights from ShipRocked 2016 included:
· Artist Q&A hosted by Kayla Riley and featuring Zoltan Bathory, Shaun Morgan, Lzzy Hale, Vinnie Paul, David Ellefson and Danny Worsnop (pictured above)
· Beach Wars hosted by Like A Storm and Deck Wars hosted by Nonpoint
· Budweiser Beer Pong hosted by Red Sun Rising and Stitched Up Heart
· Rounds of Bingo hosted by 10 Years and The Dead Deads
· The second annual Shippy Awards
· Drunk Spelling Bee
· Rock My Yoga
· Tattoo Parlor provided by Spaded And Jaded Tattoo Co. of Tulsa, OK.
· Last, but definitely not least, was the annual charity auction held on board by CancerSucks!
This year’s CancerSucks! (www.cancersucks.com) charity auction raised nearly $100,000, all of which is to be donated to Gateway For Cancer Research in memory of the late Lemmy Kilmister. This annual auction features one-of-a-kind rock memorabilia from current and past ShipRocked bands and more, all of which helped raise the money donated this year.
Here’s what the press are saying about their experience on ShipRocked 2016:
“…one of the biggest and baddest rock cruises sailing the high seas…”
–Liz Ramanand, Loudwire.com, January 24, 2016
“The cruise provides a unique experience for diehard rock fans to get up close and personal with their favorite bands on the high seas…These rock ‘n’ roll fans mean business.”
–Amy Harris, AXS.com, January 24, 2016
The Norweigan Pearl where ShipRocked is hosted – (Photo: Norwegian Cruise Lines)
We couldn’t agree more with the press, along with the rest of the attendees that continue to return year after year. Combine the luxury of a beautiful cruise ship with the essence of rock ‘n’ roll and you get ShipRocked. There are no other festivals that provide the type of intimacy and personal experiences that ShipRocked does. Produced by ASK4 Entertainment–a premier rock music theme cruise/destination event producer responsible for ShipRocked, Motörhead’s Motörboat, and ShipRocked Summer Camp–ShipRocked is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It is filled with unique performances and musical collaborations that essentially give guests the unique opportunity to vacation with some of their favorite bands while discovering new ones, meet new friends, and reunite with old ones year after year. On any given day while on the ship, guests may very well find themselves dining, drinking, rocking out, swimming, working out, or gambling alongside some of their idols. The full-ship charter provides a one-of-a-kind experience for guests to have the time of their lives with thousands of like-minded friends. ShipRocked special onboard and beach activities include photo meet and greets with some band members, poolside games, artist Q&A sessions, trivia challenges, game shows, parties, contests and way more. In addition, the aforementioned ShipRocked Cancer Sucks! onboard charity auction raises funds for innovative medical research and finding a cure for cancer–this year in honor of a legend gone too soon.
Look for details about ShipRocked 2017 to be announced soon and visit www.ShipRocked.com for more information. Don’t wait until it sells out!
Note: All photos by Chris Bradshaw unless indicated otherwise.
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By FestPop Senior Editor & Social Media Director
Courtney Young