Tuesday, April 02, 2013

Prog on the High Seas - Cruise From The Edge is a Success

There are some ideas that look good on paper and turn out to be terrible in execution. Then there are ideas that just sound so comically bad, you throw up in your mouth a little but then shockingly they turn out OK!

The Cruise to the Edge cruise, where numerous prog bands set sail around the Caribbean (led by Yes, hence the name) on a five day tour of prog rock and elbow rubbing with FANatics is such an example.

When I heard about this idea, I thought it was five rungs below Vegas. But the Notes From The Edge blog had someone who attended and posted every day. I’d encourage you to read through the five posts, but it sounds like it was actually a really cool cruise. Start here with Day One and poke around to find the rest.

I had wondered if the artists would be cordoned off in their rooms in between sets to avoid 'the little people' but from the reports, passengers were able to run into and chat up some of prog’s most revered artists, including Steve Hackett, Chris Squire, Carl Palmer and John Wetton.

There were full concerts in what looks like a pretty nice indoor theater (see below), as well as less formal poolside and bar-esque indoor venues. Then there were question and answer sessions with musicians but also guys like Roger Dean, who designed most of Yes’ album sleeves.

The lineup was impressive – really a who’s who of 70s prog. Apparently the food and service were so-so and the seas were very rocky, but the bands kept it light and everyone was amused by the fact that they were all on a boat, hanging with each other and jamming for the obviously very devoted fans.

If they do this again I just might consider attending! Below are a some videos I was able to find.

Steve Hackett solo


Steve Howe and Jon Davison from Yes


Yes playing Turn of the Century, sounding shockingly good on this very difficult song w/no Rick Wakeman or Jon Anderson!

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