09/??/07 Soulive @ Temptress ROCC, New York, NY

This Concert Cruise was my first time witnessing the unimpressive pairing of the trio with the vocalist Toussaint, who would later briefly join the group.

On the bright side, the underrated underground emcee Breez Evahflowin joined in for some freestyling. Also, there was a Zeppelin cover.

09/26/06 Phix @ Half Moon ROCC, New York, NY

Rocks Off Boat Cruise, New York NY, 9/26/06
Set 1: Theme from the Bottom > Ghost, Reba, Poor Heart, Prince Caspian*, Vultures, Drowned
Set 2: Split Open & Melt, Get Back on the Train, Limb by Limb, Stash > Wading in the Velvet Sea > Stash, Harry Hood
Encore: Punch You in the Eye, Roses are Free
*1st time played

I used one of my last free boat cruises to catch this Phish cover band in the waning days of summer. I took my friend who I had met in my Rock & Roll Film class.

They played a number of nautical themed tunes.

08/28/06 Bustle In Your Hedgerow @ Temptress ROCC, New York, NY

One of my best friends from back in Rockland got married, so I took her and her husband on a Rocks Off cruise. They just made it before the boat left the dock.

BIYH is a Led Zeppelin cover band consisting of the Benevento/Russo Duo, Scott Metzger of Rana and Dave Dreiwetz of Ween.

My friends enjoyed the cruise, but wished there were vocals.

08/25/06 Amon Tobin @ Temptress ROCC, New York, NY

I went to this show primarily to treat some friends using my free passes.

The music was great, but riding around Manhattan on a boat free of charge was better.

I remember a security guard threw my cigarette overboard because he thought it was a joint. In all fairness, I was drying it with a lighter. Ironically, i had been smoking a bowl on a Rocks Off boat with Rocks Off employees just several weeks prior. The man who tossed my stoge passed away about a year later.

08/11/06 Sound of Urchin @ Half Moon ROCC, New York, NY

Having just started my internship at Rocks Off, I decided to take advantage of the free admission to the boat shows and join my friend on the Sound of Urchin cruise.

I think they played at least one song I knew. Unfortunately, two internships left me with so little energy, I almost fell asleep during the show.

The encore of The Price Is Right theme woke me up a bit.

08/04/04 ulu @ Half Moon ROCC, New York, NY

An ulu is an Inuit all-purpose knife traditionally used by women. It is utilized in applications as diverse as skinning and cleaning animals, cutting a child's hair, cutting food and, if necessary, trimming blocks of snow and ice used to build an igloo.

The Halve Maen (Half Moon) was a Dutch East India Company ship which sailed in what is now New York harbor in September 1609. It was commissioned by the Dutch Republic to covertly find an eastern passage to China. The ship was captained by Henry Hudson who was an Englishman in the service of the Dutch Republic.

05/08/04 Matisyahu @ Half Moon ROCC, New York, NY

Rocks Off are concert promoters based in NYC. The owner used to book talent at the Wetlands. He also has some awesome and hilarious tattoos including the unicorn/dolphin rainbow pictured above, which has become somewhat of an Internet meme.

I interned for them for a summer and change in 2006, but this was my first concert cruise.

Matisyahu would later become a pretty big star for a "Chassidic Reggae Superstar" as he was billed. We found out about this show from a slightly creepy old hippie Jew who was scheming on my friend's erratic Israeli cousin.

I have to say I was quite impressed with his band, his energy and his beatboxing skills. There's no stage on the boat, so the band plays on the same level as the crowd. At one point, Matisyahu pulled my friend "on stage" to dance it out.

The concert cruise experience is such that it doesn't even really matter who's playing, although Rocks Off books consistently entertaining acts. A boat ride around the island of Manhattan, taking in sights like the Brooklyn Bridge and the Statue of Liberty, is enough of a that the music is just gravy.