Audio By Carbonatix
Stretch your sea legs and sharpen those soul patches: Sugar Ray’s Mark McGrath is hosting the biggest 90’s radio rock revival of all time upon the warm waves of the Atlantic, and even from here I can smell the salty goodness of Clinton-era prosperity.
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Unlike the hip contemporary musical fare of last month’s S.S. Coachella, the Mark McGrath & Friends Cruise is a three-day departure back to 1996, when frosted tips were at their spikiest and moody white guys with lightly distorted guitars ruled the charts. Aboard a Carnival Cruiseliner set to depart from Miami, Florida on Oct. 18, guests will be treated to an all-star line-up of alt rock royalty, headlined by the guys who wrote that song “All Star.”
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Smashmouth and McGrath-led Sugar Ray will be joined by the Valley’s own Gin Blossoms, Spin Doctors, Vertical Horizon, The Verve Pipe, Marcy Playground and Cracker. To mellow things out, acoustic sets by Live’s Ed Kowalczyk and Collective Soul’s Ed Roland are also featured.
As a deep apologist for 90’s alt rock nostalgia, I’m actually surprised this kind of thing hasn’t come together sooner. Classic rock cruises with bygone hit-makers are nothing new, and it was about time this particular generation of radio rockers got their time in the tropical spotlight before hitting the casino circuit. Did I mention there will be a casino (as well as an art gallery?) on the ship?
I have one complaint: there’s buffets and karaoke, but how could the granddaddies of adult alternative rock, Third Eye Blind, not be on this bill? I implore Mark McGrath to do whatever it takes to stow Stephen Jenkins aboard, and I’ll be first in line with flannel swim trunks.
