This is the 5th voyage of the Progressive Rock cruise, featuring lots of bands, and it’s the 3rd time that Stick Men has been invited.

We’ll be joined by a special guest, David Cross (a great violinist and alumnus of King Crimson) for our two shows. But first, there’s lots of wandering around the ship to do, and bands playing in multiple venues.

Looking back a few days, the trip began for us when Markus came to Kingston to join me and run through some of the material we’d be doing. We’ve made a live album with David Cross, called Midori, but some of the material hasn’t been played in awhile, and we won’t have rehearsal time on the ship.

In my lovely new (roomy) home studio…

Back to the present, our first show is in one of the clubs onboard. Later we’ll be up at the outdoor ‘pool stage’.

Soundcheck is in front of a few folks who came early. And the odd fan coming up… hey, wait a second, isn’t that…

Backstage with John Kirkman, who will introduce the show.

A very nice start for us.

Things don’t stop at 11pm, when the shows do… the people who’ve been attending these cruises comprise some darn good players, and the ‘jams’ go on into the night. They’re playing progressive rock covers, too, which are quite complex pieces.

I think the best part of the cruise for me might be these late night shows. Everyone’s having such a ball making music.

Alas, I can’t hang on as long as they do… not even close! So I’ll end the first day at sea, and soon enough, find a great sunrise view from my cabin. Some Prog group ought to write a song about it. (LOL)

That was Adrian I saw at our show, and I got to catch the Adrian Belew Power Trio up on the pool stage. Really great.

The ship goes into ports on a couple of days. I don’t generally care about going ashore, but did one time, mainly to get a picture of the ship.

It’s quite magnificent looking.

Hey, wait a minute… I’m looking that picture over, and now I think I understand how the ship gets around so fast in the ocean.

There’s a galley of Stick Players down there… rowing the boat!

I believe they’re Grand Sticks… 12 strings, just like mine!

Well, that explains the tapping noises I was hearing from below deck… I thought it was the engine.

I’d better end this page before it gets any sillier.

Lots more pictures to show from this cruise… I’ll update in a day or two with more.