Nostalgia is a self-renewing energy source.
There will always be a group of young adults who now have established careers and disposable income, and that are willing to shell out a bit extra to not just see a band that they grew up loving but to really make it an experience.
Festivals, package tours, Las Vegas residencies, and cruises built around people with cash to spend who want to make a special trip out of it are nothing new. But for cultural observers, it’s always illuminating what is now considered nostalgic.
Last month saw the debut of Las Vegas’ When We Were Young Festival, which will return next year. That festival leaned on the pop-punk and emo bands that broke through via MySpace in the early 2000s, including Paramore, My Chemical Romance, and Bright Eyes. To many people, this now qualifies as the defining music of their youth.
Maybe you have a nostalgic attachment to this stuff; but if you don’t, someone else does. And plenty of people had the money to justify a weekend trip to Vegas to scream along with immortal bangers such as “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)” and “Lover I Don’t Have to Love.”
A When We Were Young cruise ship hasn’t been announced (yet). But until then, another MySpace-era rock band has announced their own cruise, in partnership with Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH).
What Band has a Cruise Line?
Classic rock cruises have been a thing for a while If you are so inclined, next year you can go see The Zombies, The Lovin’ Spoonful, Moody Blues singer Justin Hayward and something billed as “Starship featuring Mickey Thomas” next year on the On the Blue classic rock music cruise on Norwegian Pearl from January 28-February 2nd.
While it may seem surprising to people that even Coheed and Cambria now qualify as classic rock, and are popular enough to have their own specialty sailing next year, well, that’s just how it goes.
For the uninitiated, Coheed and Cambria are a rock band from Nyack, New York that released their first album “The Second Stage Turbine Blade” in 2002. Based on the band’s love of heady, sci-fi concept albums (most of their work tells the story of intergalactic battle called the Amory Wars), singer-bassist Claudio Sanchez’s high voice and the band’s heavy chops, they are often compared to prog rock legends Rush.
This band isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but lasting for 20 years and making 10 albums with a highly idiosyncratic approach is an impressive achievement. To celebrate their career, and the 20th anniversary of their commercial breakthrough, the 2003 album “In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3” and its hit single “A Favor House Atlantic,” the band has announced that next year, it will partner with Norwegian for its second-ever cruise.
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What Will Be on This Cruise?
The second edition of Coheed and Cambria’s cruise series will be named the S.S. Neverender – Raiders Of Silent Earth:3, and will sail from Miami to Plata in the Dominican Republic from October 23 through the 27th, aboard the Norwegian Pearl.
Tickets are available for pre-sale now for $1,641 for a single person, though prices can change (and go higher and lower) depending on how many people are in your group and what type of room you would like; an installment plan is available with a $100 down payment.
The ticket includes a chance to get a photo with the band, two unique sets, and what’s called the The Amory Wars Experience, which is basically an immersive cosplay experience.
Even if Coheed isn’t your thing, the band has brought with it an impressive undercard. Coheed are not true emo, but the secondary headliner, the recently reunited Sunny Day Real Estate, are the best emo band of all time, so this cruise is Officially True Emo.
The bill also includes long time scene stalwart Anthony Green (formerly of Circa Survive and Saosin), the genre-blending indie-emo-r&b artist Bartees Strange, melodious Philadelphia punk group Mannequin Pussy and fast-rising hardcore band Militarie Gun. Also included are Animals As Leaders, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, Thank You Scientist, Davenport Cabinet, Joey Eppard, Brand Of Sacrifice, and Kaonosh.
So if this is your thing, have a good time. This really does seem like the sort of experience where “you’ll laugh, you’ll cry” truly applies.
