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Friday, February 22, 2019

70,000 TONS OF METAL!! LET'S DO THIS!!!! Part 3

The ship docked on the shore in Haiti early in the morning. The cruise line had purchased a small tip of the island and turned it into a recreational area, with scuba diving, jet skis, parasailing, and of course shopping and food/bars. While the rest of the country was freezing, we were basking in the sun!







At night, as we were sailing again, Max and I went to check out Dark Funeral. Man, what a show they put on! They played on the outdoor pool deck. Some of the jacuzzis were open, on stage left, but the ones around the pool were shut down for the evening. What an exotic location!!




Max, Richie, Zyon and I went to a restaurant at night and devoured lobster and steak! Damn what a day! It was an adventure for sure!!



One remaining day on the sea left and it was going to be major league! The All Star Jam and Return to Roots closing our adventure! Stay tuned!!

Class dismissed....

Friday, February 15, 2019

70,000 TONS OF METAL! Let’s DO this! Part 2

Let’s talk cruise ship! Metal 24/7 with the coolest clubs, shops, restaurants and jacuzzis all full of Metalheads!! After years of organizing the cruise, Andy and Co have got things down! The second day the ship held a meet and greet with all your favorite artists. I took Soulfly and Iggor and Tony, of Return to Roots, at the same time. The fans definitely liked that! I do admit they had this lineup had longest line and the meet didn’t slow down for one minute!






The promenade had cool shopping, some high end, some beachy and lots of restaurants and bars. The best pizza flowed out of the ovens like a constant gust! Damn that crunchy crust kept that line permanently long!






At night we watched Obituary. Max actually was able to blend into the Theater, wearing a hood over that well known tree trunk connected to his skull! Much different vibe than being on the stage!




We headed to our cabin but soon saw that an intruder had snuck in and was making himself company!






Class dismissed.....

Saturday, February 9, 2019

70,000 TONS OF METAL! Let’s DO it!

We met Iggor, Tony Campos and Iggor’s tech, Blake, at our hotel in Ft Lauderdale and headed to Port Everglade early in the morning. The most famous Metal cruise in the world awaited us! 70,000 Tons of Metal!


We sent our gear in and boarded, getting in the line along with thousands of other Metalheads, sprinkled with band members. Once last customs, we headed to our various cabins. Soulfly would play later in the day so we had to get moving!



Max sat down for a minute and look who was on TV! Our son Igor, belting out Bloodshed!!






A hawk glided gently over the port, several times passing our balcony. There were two of them circling near us. It was an amazing sight!


Soon after, the boat began its journey towards Haiti. Calm water and our own electric excitement combined as we headed away from the last dots of land. The ship called for an evacuation drill to Level 4, where the lifeboats hung neatly above us. I left Max in the room and evacuated myself. Lol! Last cruise I took him to the drill and there was a bit of mayhem!



No time for romping today! The crew headed to the Royal Theater to set up. The theater is indoors with different levels of seating and a super tall ceiling. Big roomy stage and lots of commotion! The show was a banger and the crowd easily filled the theater up! One problem...Zyon’s tech Kyle felt sick and got taken off the stage and to the infirmary. Diagnosed with pneumonia, he was quickly quarantined! But the show must go on!





Gear packed up, we went to our cabins and crashed. Some of the adventurous hit up the other stages and checked out the bars. Trust me! This cruise is definitely the definition of Metal!! Bands playing in the several clubs all through the hours of the day! Everywhere you look you see nothing but black clothes, logo popping Metalheads!!! Everyone is geared up and excited with anticipation of the days to come!!! And we were too!!!!




Class dismissed....

Friday, February 1, 2019

NEW ORLEANS MARDI GRAS MEETS SOULFLY

Max and I always wanted to go to the Mardi Gras! All the parades and craziness is super inviting!! We watched that old Richard Gere/Kim Bassinger movie, No Mercy, so many times!! That swampy vibe... Well we got our wish! We were in the bus when all of a sudden a brass band started blasting outside our bus, drums pounding sprinkled with laughter. We looked outside and by God, there was the Second Line Parade passing right by us!!







Max decided we would walk to the horse and buggies a few blocks away and take a ride. I am allergic to horses lol, but what the heck, we wandered off. It was super interesting and our guide was really full of stories. The creepiest though, was the dude that came up behind the buggy, on a dark, street and started talking about a bloodbath of hung nuns near a church. Our driver got the horse to prance off quickly.



The streets were full of spirits wailing, beads gleaming and Saints shirts talking crap about the Rams haha!! I love walking through the French Quarter and hearing the crying of the blues coming out of a windowless pub.. And the food is drool-able, gumbo, beans and rice, sausages, greens and hot buttery bread. Throw in a Po Boy or two!





And now, here we sit in Ft Lauderdale about to take off on the 70,000 Tons of Metal Cruise. No wifi hopefully haha..... See you next week, Students!

Class dismissed...