Day One Cruise to the Edge

The first we see of our ship from the cab.

The Atrium and the welcome band Marbin.

The pool deck.

Another cruise ship leaving port.

Saga playing during the sail away.

Karmakanic with Randy McStine, guitar and Greg Blondell on drums. both members of Steven Wilson's solo band.

The sound check with Lalle Larsen on keys and Rob Townsend on sax.

The very loud performance on the small Atrium stage.

Haken in the Stardust Theater.

Charlie Griffiths and Ross Jennings.

and Richard Hensall.

Friday, April 4th.

We had a light breakfast at a coffee shop near the hotel and then went for a walk to the beach and along it for a bit. Then back to catch a cab to the cruise terminal. Boarding was straightforward and didn’t take too long. However, we couldn’t get into our rooms until three and had to lug them around with us. First we had lunch in the buffet. We took our luggage to the Atrium and had a beer watching a nondescript band called Marbin. We went to our room and found we had one bed. I met the maid and asked her to have them seperated Then we watched the Canadian band Saga from the 80's at the pool deck. Not our choice of band but they were the sail off show. I wandered around the ship as we left the harbour. The ship had to go down the channel to a deadend and then rotate 180 to sail back up the channel and out to the sea, incredible maneuverability in a tight spot for a huge ship. We had a quick dinner in the buffet and then we went to the Spinnaker and watched Thank You Scientist at 6. Very entertaining and talented band, but there was too much trumpet and sax for my liking. Then I went back to the room to charge my phone. I went back to Spinnaker to see Karmecanic at 9 and was somehow the only fan in the room. I sat in the first row and was surprised to see Randy McStine was playing guitar with them and Greg Blondell was on drums, both have worked with Steven Wilson. Amazing to watch them set up and warm up. Only the keyboard player, Lalle Larsen and Jonas Reingold the bassist, who is the leader of the band, are actually in Karmakanic and are both from the Flower Kings. The other three including the singer have only practised twice with the music. A sax player sitting beside me told me to think of it as ‘a garage full of car mechanics.’ I got a couple of pictures with Randy. Then they let the audience in. The show was excellent but loud. I talked to a couple of people, and saw Steve Hackett in the audience and followed him to the stage where he talked to Randy and complimented him. Then back to the room briefly, where I met our room attendant who separated our two beds. Then I found Mark and we went to line up to see Haken in the Stardust Theater at 11:15. We were all given glow sticks, glasses, rings and bracelets. Haken are great players but I find it hard to like them as it seems like a wall of sound, with no melodies. We were in bed by 12:30, I read for a bit and then off to sleep with the door open and curtain closed for the air and sound of the sea.