We are pleased to announce the inaugural, 2019 On The Blue Cruise, featuring special performances by your host, Justin Hayward of The Moody Blues, along with one of the finest Classic Rock lineups in the history of our company. This incredible 5-night Classic Rock Cruise, sails from Miami, Florida February 10-15, 2019 for five days and nights, visiting Nassau/Paradise Island, Bahamas and the Private Isle of Labadee!
Expect all the great events and production that sets our cruises apart from the rest. This is going to be a cruise to remember, showcasing the talents of Justin and our featured Artists and Bands!
Our line-up rivals any in our history and includes not only Justin Hayward, but, The Zombies, Dave Mason, Steve Hackett, Al Stewart, Wishbone Ash, POCO, Vanilla Fudge, Colin Blunstone, Danny Seraphine from the band Chicago, Rick Derringer, Randy Hansen and our favorite Irish band, the Young Dubliners…with more to come soon!
We are delighted to announce that our home for the 2019 On the Blue Cruise is the magnificent Royal Caribbean, Mariner of the Seas. This is one of our favorite ships for Music Festivals at Sea because it has not just one, but two, huge music venues inside the ship. No chance of rainout on the concerts you don’t want to miss!
In addition, the Mariner is getting the biggest facelift in the history of Royal Caribbean Cruise Line. This is a stem to stern makeover of epic proportion…over $100 MILLION! Even better, they will be completing the renovation before we sail, giving us a pristine vessel for the kickoff of the inaugural On the Blue Cruise!
The new Mariner of the Seas has more ways to play, delicious new dining concepts and a few surprises to thrill even the boldest cruisers. Launch yourself into a virtual world on a new bungee trampoline experience — Sky Pad. Hang ten on the newly added FlowRider surf simulator or race down The Perfect Storm waterslides. Have a tiki-chic rendezvous over rum punches in The Bamboo Room or bond over family-style Tuscan eats at Jamie’s Italian by Jamie Oliver. This is going to be a “WOW” ship with some of the finest music and events featuring some of the greats in Classic Rock…what a show!
Tickets will go on sale to our past Moodies Cruise Alumni on Tuesday, March 6, 2018, at 2 pm Eastern. Alumni will receive an email prior to this date with their personalized booking link. Later in the month, our general on sale to new guests will open up at www.OnTheBlueCruise.com/booknow so be sure to grab your spot aboard!
On The Blue Cruise is a playground for the serious fan where music and a luxury cruise unite for the vacation of a lifetime.
We are pleased to announce that Peruvian band Flor de Loto have been signed to ROSFest also for 2019.
Following a spectacular performance at last year’s RoSfest, we have decided to bring Peruvian band Flor de Loto back also for the 2019 edition of our festival. For a number of reasons: Their concert last year was brilliant, and many desired to see them again sooner rather than later. Some missed out on the show, and from what they heard from others they knew they had missed something good. Hence we see to it that this situation is resolved. And finally Flor de Loto have now signed with US label Melodic Revolution Records, a label that are longtime friends of RoSfest, and they are releasing Flor de Loto’s new album Eclipse.
As we stated last year: Progressive Rock is alive and well on the South American continent, and one of the most popular progressive rock bands in South America is Flor de Loto from Peru. They have built a steadily growing fan base all over the continent since they first appeared in 2005 with their self-titled debut album, with a solid presence as a live band for more than a decade and seven (soon eight) studio albums to their name cementing their reputation as a high-quality band.
Their take on progressive rock is one that resides somewhere in between Jethro Tull and Iron Maiden, incorporating elements from metal, Andean folk music and, chamber music into their compositions alongside nods towards hard rock and psychedelic rock. This results in a sound and style with a broad appeal: This is a band with fans also from outside of the progressive rock universe.
Alonso Herrera, Alejandro Jarrin, Pablo Alayza, Alvaro Escobar, Pierre Farfán and Gabriel Iwasaki are members of a band that has a reputation as a quality act on all levels. We are eagerly looking forward to being able to once again experience one of the top progressive rock bands from the South American continent performing live at ROSfest 2019.
ROSfest 2019 will take place on May 3rd through 5th 2019 at the Sarasota Opera House, Florida. The final line-up and schedule for the festival are still TBA. Confirmed bands to appear so far are: Riverside (headliner), Karmamoi, Cryptic Vision, Prideaux, Martin Barre (performing 50 Years of Jethro Tull), Edge of Reality, Entransient, and Traverser
Multi-instrumentalist and singer Marco Ragni is back with his latest album, and what an album it is. While he provides vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, bass, keyboards, mellotron, piano and mandolin he has also been joined by Dave Newhouse (sax, clarinet, flute, keyboards and woodwinds arrangements), Peter Matuchniak (lead guitar), Jeff Mack (bass) and Maurizio Antonini on drums, plus a few guests adding different nuances. This means this album includes members of The Muffins, Bomber Goggles, Scarlet Hollow and Barock Project, so it is a given that the guys all know their ways around their instruments. What this has enabled them all to do is to relax completely, and the result is an album which in many ways is the loosest I have ever come across. We often talk about how tight a band is, how they are right on top of each other, but here they sound as if there is a great space between them all and between the layers, allowing the music to fully breathe and go where it desires.
The album title is apt, as there is a feeling of a great sky and a bleak landscape, and the travelers knowing not where they are going when they are likely to reach the destination, or even if it really matters. This is a musical journey that is given a very middle eastern feel at times with the use of the oud, while it is also often reflective, with a great deal of restraint. It is an album which demands to be savored like a fine brandy: take the time and let all the nuances and textures hit every sense. It is progressive, it is psychedelic, it is nearly New Age (but not quite, they don’t inhale), it is World, it is delicate, but there is an inner strength and core which keeps everything moving in the same direction.
Often it is just Marco singing in a reflective manner, but during “Promised Land” there is even room for many singers and for Peter to become more direct in his approach. Maurizio is also one of those drummers who understand that there are times to play, and time to listen to the band with everyone else, and that restraint also has a key part to play. This is quite some album and is well worth discovering by all good music lovers.
‘Origins’ is a collection consisting of compositions and recordings from keyboard player Lisa LaRue from as long ago as 1992, up to 2016. stemming from 1992 through 2016. It is incredibly varied, as it includes pieces such as a spoken word/keyboard collaboration with Gilli Smyth of Gong, some she composed and recorded for modern ballet, selections with John Payne (Asia Featuring John Payne, GPS, Dukes of the Orient), Michael Sadler (Saga), Ryo Okumoto (Spock’s Beard), a collaboration with Italian composer/keyboardist Federico Fantacone, and solo pieces. Other musicians involved include Mitch Perry (Talas, Aerosmith), Don Schiff (Rocket Scientists, Kracked Earth), John Baker (Forever Twelve, Mars Hollow) as well as Steve Adams, Brenda K, Michael Wheeler, Merrill Hale, Svetlan Raket (Par Lindh Project), John “Yafke” Timothy, Michael Alvarez.
It is a wonderful collection of work, containing so many styles that one never knows what is going to happen next. “256 Leagues Above New Orleans” combines jazz-style electric piano with shimmering synths and wonderful flute to bring together thoughts (at least in my mind) of Native Americans riding over the plains, and then there are others where Steve Adams provides incredibly fluid electric guitar, while it is always a pleasure to hear Don Schiff in the mix. There is so much going on that the album could have become disjointed, spread over two discs it is nearly two hours in length, yet there is always the desire to know what ideas are going to come through next, how it is going to come together.
LaRue isn’t a flashy “look at me” extravagant player in the realm of Wakeman or Emerson, but instead has a strong understanding of arrangements and what is needed where. There are a few numbers that drift into delicate New Age territory, but there are many others which are far harder, with real presence. The album ebbs and flows, and the result is that listeners such as myself, who haven’t previously heard much from LaRue, will feel inspired to search out more of her back catalog Now that she is with MRR, I am sure we will all be hearing quite a bit more of her activities, and I for one am very pleased about that.
The Pineapple Thief have launched their brand new video for “Try As I Might”, the new single from their forthcoming new studio album Dissolution. The highly anticipated follow up to 2015’s Your Wilderness, is the band’s second album to feature King Crimson and Porcupine Tree drummer Gavin Harrison.
(photo credit James Cumpsty)
Vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist Bruce Soord explains his dystopian view “The video follows the theme of the song and the album – if you sign up to this hyper-connected world we live in, then you have to live with the consequences. Try as you might to get out of it.”
WATCH THE VIDEO FOR “TRY AS I MIGHT” HERE
The futuristic clip was created by Blacktide Phonic/Visual (www.black-tide.co.uk) director George Laycock, who expands on how he created the film “When The Pineapple Thief came to me with their track ‘Try as I might’, they had a broad basis for an idea for a music video that dealt with a social media obsessed ‘connected’ world.
This had nods to previous films and television like ‘The Truman Show’, ‘Black Mirror’, the ‘Big Brother’ landscape and its preceding shows, so it was about creating a storyline using these broad influences and encapsulating into an obscure 3-minute film on a budget.
I was interested in the concept of ‘in eye cameras’, scary technology I am sure isn’t too far away from us. We decided to go down the optical medical route and follow our character on a journey from first pre-operation, to surgery, recovery and then trying to battle the decision he has made, whilst battling with the corporation he has signed up too. The film hopefully leaves the viewer to create their own conceptions on his outcome.
We filmed it all on the Dorset/Devon coastline around where I live and were fortunate to be able to secure great locations to shoot in with a few favors, including a remote seaside post-modern house, a private beach and a real working hospital and opticians.
To keep the cast down to a minimum I decided that the camera that is watching Bruce would become the main supporting actor and his nemesis, appearing in scenes without anyone operating it. This allowed us to see the cameras point of view and tell the story to the fictional viewer. This old broadcast camera weighed an absolute ton, and carrying through remote woods, down a mile-long steep cliff path to a beach was a challenge on some of the hottest days of the year. Filming in the water at the end was a welcome refreshment.
Many thanks to all those who helped with the film, especially everyone involved at Yeovil hospital for allowing us such amazing access, and to Bruce for being so amenable about having scalpels inches from his eyeball.”
The Pineapple Thief have grown to become one of the leading lights of Europe’s experimental rock domain, Your Wilderness produced 4m+ album streams, a #7 in the UK Independent Charts and two extensive headline European tours culminating at London’s Islington Assembly Hall where the concert was recorded for the live release Where We Stood, and their new album Dissolution promises to propel the band to even greater heights.
Dissolution tracklisting
Not Naming Any Names [02:05]
Try As I Might [04:26]
Threatening War [06:37]
Uncovering Your Tracks [04:29]
All That You’ve Got [03:27]
Far Below [04:36]
Pillar of Salt [01:25]
White Mist [11:05]
Shed A Light [05:20]
Dissolution will be released in the following formats – all available to pre-order now HERE https://thepineapplethief.lnk.to/DissolutionPR CD Black LP –pressed to audiophile 180g vinyl Limited Edition Crystal Clear LP edition – pressed to audiophile 180g vinyl Blu-ray – features a 16-page booklet, the album plus bonus music in a 24/96 DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround sound mix and 24/96 hi-res stereo audio Deluxe 4 disc edition – features 52 pages containing exclusive additional artwork, the original album on CD plus a second CD of bonus music, and is topped off with a DVD and Blu-ray featuring the album and bonus material in a 24/96 DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround sound mix and 24/96 hi-res stereo audio. All digital & streaming platforms
The Pineapple Thief will be taking Dissolution on the road starting in September 2018, with new dates added for March 2019. This tour includes their biggest show to date at London’s prestigious O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire – tickets are on sale now and selling fast: http://www.pineapplethief.com/tour/ ;
The Pineapple Thief – Dissolution Tour 2018/2019
Sep 15 – FR – Paris – La Maroquinerie
Sep 16 – BE, Brussels- La Madeleine
Sep 17 – DE, Bremen – Schlachthof
Sep 18 – DE, Hanover – Musikzentrum
Sep 19 – DE, Berlin – Lido
Sep 21 – PL, Warsaw – Stodola
Sep 22 – CZ, Olomouc – S-Klub
Sep 23 – CZ, Prgaue – Rock Cafè
Sep 25 – AU, Wien – Szene
Sep 26 – DE, Munich – Backstage Werk
Sep 27 – DE, Aschaffenburg- Colos-Saal
Sep 28- DE, Cologne – Live Music Hall
Sep 29 – NL, Amsterdam – Melkweg
Oct 4 – UK, Edinburgh – Liquid Rooms
Oct 5 – UK, Sheffield – Leadmill
Oct 6 – UK, London – O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
2019
Feb 22 – IT, Roma – Largo Venue
Feb 23 – IT, Milano – Santeria Social Club
Mar 3 – DK, Copenhagen – Vega
Mar 5 – SE, Stockholm – venue tba
Mar 6 – NO, Oslo – John Dee
The Pineapple Thief are:
Bruce Soord – vocalist, guitarist, composer
Gavin Harrison – drums
Jon Sykes – bass
Steve Kitch – keyboards
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