2025 Monsters Of Rock Cruise Day 3
 Great Stirrup Cay – 3/12/25
Coverage/Pics:Â Will
I was instructed by someone, who will remain nameless, that I had to hurry up and get out my Day 3 coverage because they happen to be back home and that home is in a freezing cold climate and they needed to at least mentally get back on the boat where there was constant sunshine and music. So…without further ado…
After a Tuesday that saw me taking full advantage of the Drink Package, I had pegged Wednesday as one of the busiest days on the cruise. With my photo experiences behind me, it was full throttle on catching as many bands as I could and this was a packed day.
That Pretty Maids show that had been postponed on Day 2 was the first stop of the morning.
Pretty Maids
In 2019, singer Ronnie Atkins was diagnosed with Lung Cancer and Pretty Maids had to cancel numerous dates including a few MORC appearances. So being able to finally see Ronnie and Pretty Maids at the Joy Theater looking and sounding as good as ever was an absolute treat.
Pretty Maids are:
Ronnie Atkins – Vocals
Ken Hammer – Guitar
Allan Tschicaja – Drums
Rene Shades – Bass
Chris Laney – Keyboard/Guitar
Although primarily known for their hit, “Future World” in the States, the Danes have a killer catalog and those fans in the audience were very aware as they sang along through the whole show.
Cold Sweat
I’d like to say I saw more of their set, but I only caught a couple of songs from the back, but still wanted to grab a couple of snaps.
Tyketto
My Tyketto story in a nutshell: The band were never really on my radar. They weren’t that well known in N.Ireland in the 80’s. Yes, Danny Vaughn was known for Waysted, but at the end of the decade, Tyketto kind of got lost in the transition to the 90’s. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
However…a Few MORCs ago, I decided to see what all the Hoopla was about, and I became a believer. They’re now one of the bands that I get excited to see on the lineup and make sure to catch at least one of their shows.
Vixen
Finally had my chance to see Vixen with new singer, Rosa Laricchiuta at the helm. My thoughts on that are, I feel like Rosa brings the sounds of Vixen closer to Janet’s sound. I was (and still am) a fan of Lorraine’s vocals, but I can see one of the reasons why the band possibly made the change. (Or there was just completed madness behind the scenes, which is also a good excuse)
With that out of the way, the Vixen show was a strange one. And that has no bearing on the amazing ladies (And dude) in the band. No, Roxy (Drums), Britt (Guitar), Julia (Bass), Tyson (Keys) and Rosa were all wonderful as always.
I love the Vixen songs and I love the energy of the ladies on stage together. Here’s my beef: What the actual fuck was the lighting person smoking?! You know that time when the guitarist goes to rip a solo and the spotlight hits them while often the singer and bassist go hang out in front of the drum kit?! Yeah. Well anytime Britt’s solo would come up, the lighting dude would follow Rosa and/or Julia wherever they went while Britt stood in the dark. A one song mistake, yes. But this lasted for almost all of the set. Someone got some ‘splainin’ to do.
Other than that, on the left side of the stage Julia’s bass rig was “intense” to say the least. The bass was cranked up and that’s mostly what I heard over everything else. The crew for this show did the band a disservice. And hey, maybe I was one of few that noticed any of this. With all that said…I’m a big fan of all of them and look forward to catching them sometime soon where I’m sure everything will be rectified.
Extreme
The Extreme Joy Theater show. The late one. Yes, due to whatever was going on during Sound Check, this show pushed everything else back. Was it worth it?
Of course! It’s Extreme. And Extreme can’t put on a bad show.
I’ve almost lost count of the amount of times I’ve seen the band over there years. There weren’t really any surprises in this set. If you saw the band on the previous cruise, or tour the setlist was pretty similar.
I’d imagine that anyone reading this already know that Gary, Nuno, Pat and K-Fig are top shelf musicians, but I will reiterate that Gary Cherone is still the premier frontman in rock music today. I can’t think of one person who delivers the same type of athletic stage “performance” while maintaining close to pristine vocals. Outside of a short break during “More Than Words“, the dude doesn’t stop moving.
Setlist:
Krokus
Another band (potentially?!) on their last run. Krokus announced in 2019 that they were going to hang it up and head out on a farewell tour. Well, Covid put a dent in the schedule and after a couple of years they re-started the “Adios Amigos” tour.
It’s now 2025 and the band are celebrating their 50th anniversary and as far as the eye can see, Krokus are continuing their journey. As they say, it aint’ over ’til it’s over. That’s a win for all the yanks on the boat who once again got to see the Swiss band tear it up on the MORC. A win for everyone really, but it’s highly unlikely that Krokus will ever embark on a U.S. Tour.
And for all those who may not have caught the show and were curious. There was a long stick. However it did not go Boom.
Rose Tattoo
Yet ANOTHER band who are bringing it all to an end. The first of (again, we’ll go with possibly) the last 2 shows that Angry Anderson and Rose Tattoo will play for an American audience.
I’m not sure if everyone knows how truly blessed we are to have the opportunity to catch this legendary band. Born in the large dark shadow of AC/DC, outside of Australia and Europe, Rose Tattoo never really got the accolades they were due. It wasn’t until Guns N’ Roses included a cover of their classic “Nice Boys Don’t Play Rock n Roll” on LIES, that some people got their first sniff of the band.
The 4 times I’ve now seen them on MORC have all been amazing shows. The kind that have people talking. For this final go around Rose Tattoo are Angry Anderson (Vocals), Mick Arnold (Guitar), Ronnie Simmons (Guitar), Paul DeMarco (Drums) and they have enlisted the talents of the sinister, yet beautiful, L.A. Guns bassist, Johnny Martin.
I’m not sure if people outside of Australia/Europe know that Angry Anderson had his biggest success as a solo artist in 1987 with a ballad called “Suddenly“. It was recorded for the huge Aussie Soap Opera, “Neighbors” and reached number 2 and number 3 in the Australian and U.K. pop charts, respectively. I was going to urge everyone to search it out. But I’m a nicer person than that. Check it out:
RIGHT?!?!?
Sisters Doll
Out of a LOT of bands on the boat, Sisters Doll were a name on a lot of people’s lips. If you read my Day 2 coverage, you’ll remember that the Mileto Brothers caused quite a stir with the ladies during their photo experience.
Brennan (Vocals/Guitar), Bryce (Drums/Vocals), Austin (Guitar/Vocals) and Sage (Bass/Vocals) are as nice, as they are purdy, as they are talented. Their 3 shows on the boat caused a stir each time with people praising their performances prompting early calls for them to be included on next year’s cruise.
As a threesome (yet to be joined by Sage)Â I saw Sisters Doll open up for The Quireboys at the Whisky in 2022. Whisky headliners usually have 5-6, often forgettable openers, but they caused a stir that night and were the only band on the bill to make me take notice and realize that they just might have something going on. I saw it then, and I’m happy that so many others now had the opportunity to check them out.
L.A. Guns
A funny thing happened on Wednesday. As we were set to depart Stirrup Cay, L.A. Guns were all set to be the Sail Away band. However, if you showed up at 5pm you were informed that their Pool Stage show had now been rescheduled to 11:15pm in the Atrium and that Nerd Halen would now be replacing them. (Great show from Nerd Halen by the way).
Basically the Guns went from the largest stage to one of the smallest. It’s no secret that Tracii has had some issues with extreme heat in the past and it was an intensely hot day. Well what resulted from the move created one of my *SHOWS OF THE CRUISE.
The Atrium was PACKED creating a small, sweaty, club environment. In turn making it an intimate, up-close and in-your-face rock show. From the opening shot of “Cannonball” it was apparent that this was going to be something special. Now, I did NOT get but a few pics from this gig as I was too busy rocking out. (You can check out my upcoming Day 4 coverage for a full galley from their second show in the Manhattan room).
Phil, Tracii, Ace, Johnny and Shawn created something special on this night.
And that concludes my Day 3 coverage. If you know her, you can thank that “person who shall remain nameless” for prompting me to get this all finished up.
Stay tuned for Day 4 coverage, Coming Soon!
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