I am digging this gig. I am currently at an internet cafe in Civitavecchia, Italy, soon to hit up a beach for a chill afternoon. My quartet plays tonight for a couple of hours, and other than what was hopefully my last training session this morning, I have the day off.
Two days ago, we stopped at Ville de France, the tiny port in between Nice and Monaco. I tried to coordinate with Amy and Stu to go to hang in Nice, but it didn't end up working out, so I went in by myself. I took a 10 minute bus ride over to Nice. My first priority was to find the main square and hotel where I hung out in 8th grade with the French Class trip from Potomac School. To my own general astonishment, I found it within 10 minutes of getting off the bus! I took a bunch of pictures so those will be coming soon.
Next on the list:
-have a crepe, preferably some kind of fruit or sucre
-find the ice cream place that shapes the ice cream into a flower using a spatula
-find a Fragonard store (the best perfume)
-get some lavender bags (or something else) to combat the "2 dudes in a tiny room" smell
-walk around explore
I had a crepe and walked up this fortress mountain thing (complete with a waterfall) and got kind of lost, but I made it back to the ship with plenty of time. It was an amazing day overall, and I hope that the pictures will tell more of the story. I didn't get to do everything, so I guess I have to go back...wooo!
-Andrew
And if anyone wants to mail anything to me, you need to send it to the Cruise's headquarters in Florida, and then they forward it to the ship. Apparently it takes 3-4 weeks, so mail it early!
Crew Mail
Andrew Green
Lounge Musician
2935 West Corporate Lakes Blvd
Weston, FL 33331 USA
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Day 1: Arrival
Here's the post I should have made at the beginning of the blog: I may talk about more stuff from the first week, but it'll have to wait til later.
Day 1: We arrived at the ship on July 13th and after waiting for them to check our passports, we stood in another line on the dock underneath the passenger gangway (which is a skyway to Deck 5) to actually board the ship. There is heavy security on the ship to deter any sort of crime and/or terrorism, so all of our stuff went through metal detectors and scanners. British Airways had lost one of my bags flying to Barcelona, and in retrospect this made it much easier to carry everything to the ship. I over-packed, so picture me with a roller duffel, a cymbal bag, a small duffel, and a laptop backpack, plus a garment bag (the lost one). I don't see how I could have managed it with all that stuff, but it worked out OK in the end.
Once on the ship we were led to a small theater-ish space to take care of medical and contract paperwork. Several important people said things, none of which I can remember, but I think it was something like a “welcome to the ship” talk. We met our bandmaster, Jeff, and he took us on a tour of the more relevant areas of the ship and gave us all of the training session info, room keys, and our schedule for the night. The tour included Mingles (the non-smoking crew bar and hang) Connection (the internet spot) the crew mess, and culminated in finding my room.
I’m rooming with Tim, our bassist, and our room is pretty small. If it ever looks marginally clean, maybe I’ll take a picture, but I assure you, its tiny. After unpacking a bit, Tim and I went exploring the ship, resulting in the pictures that you see. We ran into Tom, a glassblower from the US, who we had met at the hotel before getting on the bus. He had lots of helpful info and we hung with him up for awhile up on the Lawn Club, next to the glassblowing studio.
We then went to the soundcheck/rehearsal for the “Welcome Aboard” show in the Solstice Theater. We met a bunch of people very quickly (the production cast, the specialty acts, the stage managers, the other musicians, etc.) and I still can’t remember a lot of their names. Small world though- Natasha, the dance captain, is originally from DC (and actually DC, not “near DC”) and we talked for a bit. Everybody was really nice, which was great as I was feeling fairly overwhelmed by the whole thing.
Our quartet has a bit in the show, doing “Slow Boat to China” at breakneck speeds. Amy and Stu rise out of a hydraulic lift (with the piano on it) at the front of the stage, and Tim and I are setup in the back with the Solstice orchestra. I’m behind plexi-glass shields with no monitor and Amy and Stu are at least 20 feet away, so this proves to be a challenge.
The Welcome Aboard show is pretty spectacular in general, with a couple of fly rigs that maneuver in the air around the front seats, an aerial bar that lifts 4 of the dancers that do crazy things 20 feet above the stage. The production cast does a song from Wicked called Defying Gravity which is no small feat, especially for Jana H, who sings lead while flying around the room.
That night, our quartet played a set in the Ensemble Lounge on Deck 5, which is our usual playing spot. It was only the second time that we had actually played together (not counting the soundcheck), and it was the first time we had performed so we were still feeling each other out, but it was a lot of fun. During the set we started to feel the boat rocking back and forth, and when we went to perform in the Welcome Aboard show, Tim and I both started to feel pretty sick. It turns out that the theater is right at the front of the ship, so the motion is exaggerated. After a brief rest and some water, we started to feel better and played the second show. After, we were all tired but excited to be on the ship, so we went up to hang out on the top deck to check out the stars. Then it was off to bed, we had lots of training and stuff the next day.
Day 1: We arrived at the ship on July 13th and after waiting for them to check our passports, we stood in another line on the dock underneath the passenger gangway (which is a skyway to Deck 5) to actually board the ship. There is heavy security on the ship to deter any sort of crime and/or terrorism, so all of our stuff went through metal detectors and scanners. British Airways had lost one of my bags flying to Barcelona, and in retrospect this made it much easier to carry everything to the ship. I over-packed, so picture me with a roller duffel, a cymbal bag, a small duffel, and a laptop backpack, plus a garment bag (the lost one). I don't see how I could have managed it with all that stuff, but it worked out OK in the end.
Once on the ship we were led to a small theater-ish space to take care of medical and contract paperwork. Several important people said things, none of which I can remember, but I think it was something like a “welcome to the ship” talk. We met our bandmaster, Jeff, and he took us on a tour of the more relevant areas of the ship and gave us all of the training session info, room keys, and our schedule for the night. The tour included Mingles (the non-smoking crew bar and hang) Connection (the internet spot) the crew mess, and culminated in finding my room.
I’m rooming with Tim, our bassist, and our room is pretty small. If it ever looks marginally clean, maybe I’ll take a picture, but I assure you, its tiny. After unpacking a bit, Tim and I went exploring the ship, resulting in the pictures that you see. We ran into Tom, a glassblower from the US, who we had met at the hotel before getting on the bus. He had lots of helpful info and we hung with him up for awhile up on the Lawn Club, next to the glassblowing studio.
We then went to the soundcheck/rehearsal for the “Welcome Aboard” show in the Solstice Theater. We met a bunch of people very quickly (the production cast, the specialty acts, the stage managers, the other musicians, etc.) and I still can’t remember a lot of their names. Small world though- Natasha, the dance captain, is originally from DC (and actually DC, not “near DC”) and we talked for a bit. Everybody was really nice, which was great as I was feeling fairly overwhelmed by the whole thing.
Our quartet has a bit in the show, doing “Slow Boat to China” at breakneck speeds. Amy and Stu rise out of a hydraulic lift (with the piano on it) at the front of the stage, and Tim and I are setup in the back with the Solstice orchestra. I’m behind plexi-glass shields with no monitor and Amy and Stu are at least 20 feet away, so this proves to be a challenge.
The Welcome Aboard show is pretty spectacular in general, with a couple of fly rigs that maneuver in the air around the front seats, an aerial bar that lifts 4 of the dancers that do crazy things 20 feet above the stage. The production cast does a song from Wicked called Defying Gravity which is no small feat, especially for Jana H, who sings lead while flying around the room.
That night, our quartet played a set in the Ensemble Lounge on Deck 5, which is our usual playing spot. It was only the second time that we had actually played together (not counting the soundcheck), and it was the first time we had performed so we were still feeling each other out, but it was a lot of fun. During the set we started to feel the boat rocking back and forth, and when we went to perform in the Welcome Aboard show, Tim and I both started to feel pretty sick. It turns out that the theater is right at the front of the ship, so the motion is exaggerated. After a brief rest and some water, we started to feel better and played the second show. After, we were all tired but excited to be on the ship, so we went up to hang out on the top deck to check out the stars. Then it was off to bed, we had lots of training and stuff the next day.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Cast of Characters
I realized that if I'm going to talk about a lot of people and throw around names I should provide some sort of list so that you guys can follow a bit. As I talk about more people, groups, and places in the blog, I'll update this list.
-----
Amy Yassinger - vocalist, leader of the jazz quartet I play with
Stuart "Stu" Seale - pianist in the jazz quartet
Tim Ipsen - bassist in the jazz quartet, roommate
Jeff - bandmaster and general head of music stuff
Richard - drummer in the Solstice Orchestra
Jana Seale - guitarist/vocalist on the ship
Liam - production dancer and dance instructor
Jana Henly - production vocalist, Liam's fiancee
Brandon - A/V tech (our sound guy) and generally sweet dude
Natasha - dance captain, from DC
Iurii - Stu’s roommate, violinist in the string trio
Tom - glassblower
Aric - glassblower
Bob - glassblower
Groups:
Blend Tech – a cappella quartet
Impreza Trio - string trio
Solstice Orchestra – 8-piece house band for theater shows
Headlines Party Band – 6-piece band from the Philippines
-----
Amy Yassinger - vocalist, leader of the jazz quartet I play with
Stuart "Stu" Seale - pianist in the jazz quartet
Tim Ipsen - bassist in the jazz quartet, roommate
Jeff - bandmaster and general head of music stuff
Richard - drummer in the Solstice Orchestra
Jana Seale - guitarist/vocalist on the ship
Liam - production dancer and dance instructor
Jana Henly - production vocalist, Liam's fiancee
Brandon - A/V tech (our sound guy) and generally sweet dude
Natasha - dance captain, from DC
Iurii - Stu’s roommate, violinist in the string trio
Tom - glassblower
Aric - glassblower
Bob - glassblower
Groups:
Blend Tech – a cappella quartet
Impreza Trio - string trio
Solstice Orchestra – 8-piece house band for theater shows
Headlines Party Band – 6-piece band from the Philippines
Day 12: One down, 3.6 to go
Just kidding, there a bunch more than that...but, I made it through the first cruise! I'm currently sitting in a Starbucks in Barcelona with Tim, sipping apple juice and grabbing internet and we start our next cruise, to Venice, tonight. This week I'll be adding a couple of back entries to this blog to cover some of the events of the first cruise.
My favorite out of the ports was Mykonos, Greece, where we rented ATVs and drove around the island to a couple different beaches. Paradise beach was situated in a small cove and was fairly small and quiet, with calm water and chill patrons. There was a harrowing incline to get down to the beach, and I felt a bit like "the little engine that could" on the way back up. We hung there for awhile, I got a t-shirt and we headed to Super Paradise beach, which was much bigger but equally as cool. Out on the reef/sand-bar type thing, Stu ran into a girl that he went to Columbia with, who was on her honeymoon on a different cruise ship. Crazy coincidence! In general, I've never seen so many amazing looking people anywhere. And ATVs are super fun.
The seas were pretty rough yesterday and I was already kind of nauseous when I woke up. Going up to eat in the Oceanview Cafe on deck 14, where the motion is exaggerated, was not the best decision I've made. With some help from Liam, one of the production dancers and generally hilarious British dude, and his fiance Jana, a production vocalist, I finally figured out how to find the medical center and the ever important sea-sickness pills. After taking two of those and a brief nap, the rest of the night went much better. We played 3 sets in the Ensemble Lounge and had some fun. Apparently one of the guys who runs Monster.com in Chicago was on this cruise and talked to Amy about booking some big corporate gigs when we get back to the States.
Two nights ago, right after we finished playing Moon River, a older guy came up to Amy and said, "You guys can't play a waltz, can you? That was too slow." Amy handled it very well, saying something about how its hard to bring the lyrics of that song across if the tempo was any faster, thanking him for the comment, smiling, and walking away. Its good that she's the leader, because I would have responded with something much more along the lines of, "If you want a viennese waltz, go find an orchestra. We're a jazz quartet, not a dance band. Cool? K Bye." Amy's approach is much more friendly. During the next tune, the same dude came up like 6 feet from Amy and took a picture of us. Weird.
Ship life is pretty strange overall, but I'm slowly getting used to it. There are these "crew only" doors all over the ship to access the 5 crew staircases and 2 elevators, and I feel like I'm in a weird mix of Hogwarts and Star Destroyer going through the "secret passages" (secret to the passengers). The main door that Tim and I use on deck 5 to get from our room to the Ensemble Lounge (where our quartet usually plays) has a kind of touch button that initiates the door to slide out from one side. Tim dubbed it the "Jedi door" and makes the "these aren't the droids you're looking for" motion whenever he opens it. Awesome.
-Andrew
from Barcelona
My favorite out of the ports was Mykonos, Greece, where we rented ATVs and drove around the island to a couple different beaches. Paradise beach was situated in a small cove and was fairly small and quiet, with calm water and chill patrons. There was a harrowing incline to get down to the beach, and I felt a bit like "the little engine that could" on the way back up. We hung there for awhile, I got a t-shirt and we headed to Super Paradise beach, which was much bigger but equally as cool. Out on the reef/sand-bar type thing, Stu ran into a girl that he went to Columbia with, who was on her honeymoon on a different cruise ship. Crazy coincidence! In general, I've never seen so many amazing looking people anywhere. And ATVs are super fun.
The seas were pretty rough yesterday and I was already kind of nauseous when I woke up. Going up to eat in the Oceanview Cafe on deck 14, where the motion is exaggerated, was not the best decision I've made. With some help from Liam, one of the production dancers and generally hilarious British dude, and his fiance Jana, a production vocalist, I finally figured out how to find the medical center and the ever important sea-sickness pills. After taking two of those and a brief nap, the rest of the night went much better. We played 3 sets in the Ensemble Lounge and had some fun. Apparently one of the guys who runs Monster.com in Chicago was on this cruise and talked to Amy about booking some big corporate gigs when we get back to the States.
Two nights ago, right after we finished playing Moon River, a older guy came up to Amy and said, "You guys can't play a waltz, can you? That was too slow." Amy handled it very well, saying something about how its hard to bring the lyrics of that song across if the tempo was any faster, thanking him for the comment, smiling, and walking away. Its good that she's the leader, because I would have responded with something much more along the lines of, "If you want a viennese waltz, go find an orchestra. We're a jazz quartet, not a dance band. Cool? K Bye." Amy's approach is much more friendly. During the next tune, the same dude came up like 6 feet from Amy and took a picture of us. Weird.
Ship life is pretty strange overall, but I'm slowly getting used to it. There are these "crew only" doors all over the ship to access the 5 crew staircases and 2 elevators, and I feel like I'm in a weird mix of Hogwarts and Star Destroyer going through the "secret passages" (secret to the passengers). The main door that Tim and I use on deck 5 to get from our room to the Ensemble Lounge (where our quartet usually plays) has a kind of touch button that initiates the door to slide out from one side. Tim dubbed it the "Jedi door" and makes the "these aren't the droids you're looking for" motion whenever he opens it. Awesome.
-Andrew
from Barcelona
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)