[Godflesh]

We come from all corners of the globe for this brilliant cruise.
I would love to see more regions represented, that's all.

True, but give Skipper some credit. Many (myself included) expected this cruise to be 50% or more American bands due to the neverending Covid situation.

As it stands, America and Germany tie for band representation at 10 apiece, 6 Sweden, 5 Finland, 4 Italy.... its for me anyway, still a FAR better mix than expected!!

Absolutely THIS. I'm surprised that we've seen this much variety in band origins. Frankly, I never expected it and figured Andy would take an easier route and book a lot of North American bands. We were all expecting it and while there would have been a lot of complaining, no-one would have been too surprised.

Dragonforce is a fairly hefty add.

"I"n Extremo? "I"mmortal? (not likely, but fuck that would be awesome) "I"ced Ear-- Nahh.

Yes, we were all expecting mostly North American bands due to travel restrictions, and the opposite happened: 11 NA bands out of 55.
In the last cruise, there were 30.

[Pellaz]

True, but give Skipper some credit. Many (myself included) expected this cruise to be 50% or more American bands due to the neverending Covid situation.

As it stands, America and Germany tie for band representation at 10 apiece, 6 Sweden, 5 Finland, 4 Italy.... its for me anyway, still a FAR better mix than expected!!

Absolutely THIS. I'm surprised that we've seen this much variety in band origins. Frankly, I never expected it and figured Andy would take an easier route and book a lot of North American bands. We were all expecting it and while there would have been a lot of complaining, no-one would have been too surprised.

Dragonforce is a fairly hefty add.

"I"n Extremo? "I"mmortal? (not likely, but fuck that would be awesome) "I"ced Ear-- Nahh.

Yes, we were all expecting mostly North American bands due to travel restrictions, and the opposite happened: 11 NA bands out of 55.
In the last cruise, there were 30.

DAMN that Skipper! Always zigging when we expect him to zag.

[cegr80]

Not my cup of tea, but good for the ones who like them.

Irreversible Mechanism, Inferi or In Flames

[cowboy71]

DAMN that Skipper! Always zigging when we expect him to zag.

And that's why we love him.

He always keeps us guessing

[MuzakMaker]

Definitely a surprise announcement considering we're about a week out. A definite 2 setter and a big mood lift from a string 0 tier and 0 set bands since Dear Mother for me

[Yippee38]

"I"n Extremo? "I"mmortal? (not likely, but fuck that would be awesome) "I"ced Ear-- Nahh.

"I"mmortal or "I"ced Earth would both be friggin' amazing. (can we swear here?)

[Pellaz]

Not my cup of tea, but good for the ones who like them.

Irreversible Mechanism, Inferi or In Flames

Irreversible Mechanism would be really nifty.

[Pellaz]

DAMN that Skipper! Always zigging when we expect him to zag.

And that's why we love him.

He always keeps us guessing

For very, VERY wide definitions of "love."

[bodomdragon]

"I"n Extremo? "I"mmortal? (not likely, but fuck that would be awesome) "I"ced Ear-- Nahh.

"I"mmortal or "I"ced Earth would both be friggin' amazing. (can we swear here?)

Iced Earth, sure, very likely...

[Godflesh]

"I"n Extremo? "I"mmortal? (not likely, but fuck that would be awesome) "I"ced Ear-- Nahh.

"I"mmortal or "I"ced Earth would both be friggin' amazing. (can we swear here?)

Iced Earth, sure, very likely...

Perhaps they meant IN FLAMES.
I confuse them all the time, since I never listened to either.

[toby]

"I"n Extremo? "I"mmortal? (not likely, but fuck that would be awesome) "I"ced Ear-- Nahh.

"I"mmortal or "I"ced Earth would both be friggin' amazing. (can we swear here?)

It's relatively safe to say that Iced Earth is no more.

[rocking apple]

In Extremo
Iron Reagan and
IRON MAIDEN ;-)

[Downvod]

In Extremo
Iron Reagan and
IRON MAIDEN ;-)

Yes, Maiden does have a suspicious gap in their tour dates. I expect that Andy will announce them as we are boarding.

[toby]

In Extremo
Iron Reagan and
IRON MAIDEN ;-)

Yes, Maiden does have a suspicious gap in their tour dates. I expect that Andy will announce them as we are boarding.

I think Steve lives at least part of the year in the Bahamas. lol

[cegr80]

Yes, Maiden does have a suspicious gap in their tour dates. I expect that Andy will announce them as we are boarding.

You are a funny fella,

Could you imagine that, tho? Iron Maiden on our precious boat?

[MuzakMaker]

Yes, Maiden does have a suspicious gap in their tour dates. I expect that Andy will announce them as we are boarding.

You are a funny fella,

Could you imagine that, tho? Iron Maiden on our precious boat?

Still more likely than the chuckleheads who think Iced Earth is ever going to play the boat again

[toby]

Yes, Maiden does have a suspicious gap in their tour dates. I expect that Andy will announce them as we are boarding.

You are a funny fella,

Could you imagine that, tho? Iron Maiden on our precious boat?

Still more likely than the chuckleheads who think Iced Earth is ever going to play the boat again

They're unlikely to play ANYWHERE ever again. I have no doubt that Jon owns the name, and he's supposedly going into Witness Protection if/when he gets out of prison.

[toby]

Yes, Maiden does have a suspicious gap in their tour dates. I expect that Andy will announce them as we are boarding.

You are a funny fella,

Could you imagine that, tho? Iron Maiden on our precious boat?

I'm wondering it they've played together without the production that is a Maiden shed show in several decades.

[Pellaz]

In Extremo
Iron Reagan and
IRON MAIDEN ;-)

Yes, Maiden does have a suspicious gap in their tour dates. I expect that Andy will announce them as we are boarding.

I think Steve lives at least part of the year in the Bahamas. lol

And of course Nicko owns a really good BBQ restaurant, Rock'n'Roll Ribs, not too far north of Miami in Coconut Creek. If Maiden isn't on tour he often stops by in the afternoons. We've missed him by less than an hour since, if we're driving, we'd stop by there on the drive up from the cruise port. And yes, there is LOTS of rare Maiden stuff on the walls.

[cegr80]

And of course Nicko owns a really good BBQ restaurant....

That's debatable. As an ex-texan, I can say those BBQ ribs are subpar at most

[toby]

And of course Nicko owns a really good BBQ restaurant....

That's debatable. As an ex-texan, I can say those BBQ ribs are subpar at most

Yeah, he was one of the artists at a metal Rock Camp early last year, and on the day he came to camp, he catered the lunch. Consensus was it was just alright. But he's the draw to the place and not the food. He's cool as hell. I think British Lion would be doable (they've done MORC once or twice), but Maiden wouldn't know how to play to a crowd as 'small' as 70K. lol

[Mudslides]

And of course Nicko owns a really good BBQ restaurant....

That's debatable. As an ex-texan, I can say those BBQ ribs are subpar at most

Yeah, he was one of the artists at a metal Rock Camp early last year, and on the day he came to camp, he catered the lunch. Consensus was it was just alright. But he's the draw to the place and not the food. He's cool as hell. I think British Lion would be doable (they've done MORC once or twice), but Maiden wouldn't know how to play to a crowd as 'small' as 70K. lol

Well, they did during the late 90's…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_XI_World_Tour

[toby]

That's debatable. As an ex-texan, I can say those BBQ ribs are subpar at most

Yeah, he was one of the artists at a metal Rock Camp early last year, and on the day he came to camp, he catered the lunch. Consensus was it was just alright. But he's the draw to the place and not the food. He's cool as hell. I think British Lion would be doable (they've done MORC once or twice), but Maiden wouldn't know how to play to a crowd as 'small' as 70K. lol

Well, they did during the late 90's…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_XI_World_Tour

We could probably easily get Blaze. But if you have to go back 20+ years to find a show that small, that kinda illustrates my point. lol

[Mudslides]

Yeah, he was one of the artists at a metal Rock Camp early last year, and on the day he came to camp, he catered the lunch. Consensus was it was just alright. But he's the draw to the place and not the food. He's cool as hell. I think British Lion would be doable (they've done MORC once or twice), but Maiden wouldn't know how to play to a crowd as 'small' as 70K. lol

Well, they did during the late 90's…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_XI_World_Tour

We could probably easily get Blaze. But if you have to go back 20+ years to find a show that small, that kinda illustrates my point. lol

Indeed, haha. Back to reality…

[meshuggah]

In Extremo
Iron Reagan and
IRON MAIDEN ;-)

INXS

[Andy]

The pioneers of slam, INTERNAL BLEEDING, will make their way through the Caribbean onbroad 70000TONS OF METAL and deliver two crushing performances, once on our way to beautiful Bimini and once on the way back!

Up next we have something truly special... three bands representing three different genres of metal from three countries that have never had Artist representation onbroad our event before. With so many people from so many nations and a multitude of cultures all mixed together on our mighty vessel we truly are the United Nations of Heavy Metal at Sea!

[progsteph]

hm...so could have been in flames, in mourning or in whatever....after the three band announcement, one more left (or still one more after that). wonder which countries/bands never been on, if there is a name i know already...

[toby]

Why not Myrath?

[progsteph]

myrath would be very cool, but also worth a single announcement

[creptorstatus]

Somebody's gotta have a list of countries with bands never been on the cruise.. can't imagine its too big.

Any South African bands ever been on? Vulvodynia would be sick.

[eddie_beast]

Somebody's gotta have a list of countries with bands never been on the cruise.. can't imagine its too big.

Any South African bands ever been on? Vulvodynia would be sick.

Same question, I'm putting Skyforger from Latvia, Lords of Black from Spain and XJapan, but mot sure if those countries had been represented before.

[creptorstatus]

XJapan

Would be a dream but there has already been a Japanese band on before - Gyze.

[cegr80]

Somebody's gotta have a list of countries with bands never been on the cruise.. can't imagine its too big.

This is clearly a job for @cowboy71, aka STATSMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!

[cowboy71]

haven't had a Kiwi band before - kids from Alien Weaponry would RULE.

[toby]

myrath would be very cool, but also worth a single announcement

Just the first band that came to mind that 1) has never been onbroad, 2) is from a country not yet represented, and 3) has been on my wishlist lol

[cowboy71]

Somebody's gotta have a list of countries with bands never been on the cruise.. can't imagine its too big.

This is clearly a job for @cowboy71, aka STATSMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!

The list is freaking massive actually. According to my spreadsheet, we've only had 35 countries represented in total.

A couple that come to mind straight away:

New Zealand - Sojourner, or Alien Weaponry
Ukraine - Ignea, (Jinjer would be cool too but they are ruled out)
Serbia - The Big Deal

[MuzakMaker]

Easily my favourite clue in a while just for all the spreadsheet fun I had

I'm hoping for Alien Weaponry (New Zealand), Bloodywood (India), and Infected Rain (Moldovia)

And here's some bonus "First Time Country" stats since I collated it anyways

Past First timer country totals
2011: 10 (Canada Faroe Islands, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, UK, US )
2012: 6 (Belgium, Denmark, Isreal, Norway, Scotland, Switzerland)
2013: 4 (Brazil, France, Hungary, Italy)
2014: 1 (Austria)
2015: 3 (Australia, Colombia, Poland)
2016: 2 (Greece, Iceland)
2017: 0
2018: 2 (Estonia, Japan)
2019: 1 (Andorra)
2020: 1 (Mexico)
2023: 5 (Slovenia, Spain, X, Y, Z)

[cowboy71]

35 countries represented to date, and according to google there are 195 countries in the world - quite a few options!

[mindgrind]

haven't had a Kiwi band before - kids from Alien Weaponry would RULE.

I think this is a shoe in. they are on Napalm Records.. and a great band..How many bands would that make from Napalm, 12 or 13 ?

[cegr80]

2015: 3 (Australia, Colombia, Poland)

Who played from Australia in 2015? I know Wikipedia is not accurate, but I do not see an australian band in that year's lineup