Written by:	D.T. Metal
Published:	January 11, 2015
Event:	70000 Tons Of Metal 2015 (Website)
Location:	Liberty Of The Seas, Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA
Organizer:	Ultimate Music Cruises
Galleries:	70000 Tons Of Metal Cruise 2015 - Day Four by D.T. Metal (251) 70000 Tons Of Metal Cruise 2015 - Day Three by D.T. Metal (265) 70000 Tons Of Metal Cruise 2015 - Day Two by D.T. Metal (313) 70000 Tons Of Metal Cruise 2015 - Day One by D.T. Metal (243)

Dear winter in Colorado - you suck and will NOT be missed. The countdown to this year's 70000 Tons Of Metal cruise is thankfully in full swing.

Metal Storm has been covering this annual event for a couple of years now and the 2015 edition will be no different. And once again I drew the short straw and have been tagged with soaking up the sun while spending a couple days at Miami's famous South Beach before boarding a cruise ship at Fort Lauderdale's Port Everglades.



Nah, just kidding; I wouldn't want to miss this and neither should you since 70000 Tons Of Metal is one of those 'bucket list' items and those who attended the cruise in prior years will attest to its awesomeness. For a quick refresher on WHY this event should be on your list, check out my reviews from prior years (70K 2014, 70K 2013 and 2012's off-brand cruise Barge To Hell). Once again, Matthew Zinke over at matthewknowsphotos will be joining me on the cruise and between the both of us we hope to be able capture the visual aspects of the voyage.






Sounds like fun? Hellz Yeah! And maybe even more fun this time around since the organizers (UMC; short for Ultimate Music Cruises out of Vancouver, BC Canada) made some significant changes for the upcoming voyage:

New Ship - we will sail on Royal Caribbean's Liberty Of The Seas which is a much bigger vessel than her Majesty Of The Seas. For complete details check out the first installment of this series: Getting Stoked - New Ship

New port - while the prior cruises sailed out of the Port Of Miami, the new ship will embark about 30 miles north, at Fort Lauderdale's Port Everglades

More bands - instead of 40 there will be 60 bands to enjoy

More passengers metalheads - an additional 1000 folks will be part of the spectacle; 3000 instead of the usual 2000 headbangers.

While the destinations were always some very nice Caribbean location, this year's Port of Call is actually one of The Skipper's (Andy - head honcho at UMC and cruise mastermind) dream location, but due to the speed of the ship, never feasible. We are finally going to JAMAICA. Not getting into details on what all the island has to offer but will invite you to check out the second installment of this series: Getting Stoked - The Destination.

With all this being said, now it's time to get stoked about the bands playing and other music related activities for the upcoming 5th Edition of 70000 Tons Of Metal - The Original! - The World's Biggest Heavy Metal Cruise!

Workshops and clinics taught by artists

All-Star Jam - hosted and put together by Annihilator's Jeff Waters; a whole bunch of musicians from different bands playing classic metal songs. When he did this in 2013, it was just a blast to watch. Just recently the songs were voted on by ticketed cruisers and you can see the results here.

Metal Karaoke - always one of the highlights. Watch the 'rockstars' as well as us mortals make fools of ourselves. In all fairness, there is also some real talents behind the mic, unfortunately not me.

Bars which never close, and now that we are on a bigger ship there will be more of them.

The ever so entertaining Belly-Flop contest at the Main Pool- a handful of 'rockstars' will judge which one of the contestants should get crowned as the winner.

Speaking of the pool area; once again the lovely Pool Girls will be on hand to apply some much needed sunscreen to those who might need it. They were also seen at some select Festivals during the summer; check 70000tons.tv and watch some of their interviews with attending artists and concertgoers alike.

This year's Pool Girl 'uniforms' have been designed and made by none other than Gwar's newest frontwoman Vulvatron. A veteran cruiser herself, she is not only a metalhead through and through but also a kickass seamstress. Do check out Kylla Custom Rock Wear and make sure you give her business a "like" over at their Facebook page.

All-Star Jam in 2013 featuring Mille and Doro among others

Ok, enough with the rambling, let's check what bands are playing on the boat. Twice mind you - yes, each and every band will have two chances to rock the socks off their fans. Quick math: 60 bands times 2 sets = 120 gigs. Sleep? Probably on the way home in the plane. See - again, the sacrifice I am willing to make.

As of press time, 43 out of the 60 bands have been officially confirmed and for the complete list please check HERE. Whaaat? This close to the cruise and not all bands are known? No worries, it will all work out in the end and Skipper Andy mentioned in an interview over the summer that this tactic is a 70000 Tons Of Metal trademark of sort. Well played Sir, well played! One thing is for sure, UMC has always delivered a GREAT product, and I see no reason why it would be any different this time around.

Bands ? variety is the spice of life and there is plenty of variety on the ship. A lot of bands will be touring after the cruise so there will always be another chance to see them. Of course the ambience will be different since, let's face it ? cruise ship, warm weather - no comparison to a regular venue.

the 'extreme' listener will probably enjoy sets by: 1349, Arch Enemy, Behemoth, Cannibal Corpse, God Dethroned, Jungle Rot, Kataklysm, Masacre (COL), Napalm Death and Origin

the 'a little bit more melody please' crowd most likely get into Amorphis, Einherjer, Ensiferum and Melechesh while I can see Lake Of Tears, Threshold as well as recently announced German prog outfit Abandon Hope appealing to such as well.

if one seeks fun on stage while having a great time singing some of the lyrics, bands such as Alestorm, Equilibrium, Korpiklaani and Trollfest won't disappoint. And I feel comfortable to add In Extremo to this list as well. (me personally, I am looking forward to get my rock on during their set )

Apocalyptica can't be easily placed, but since for one reason or another I am always out of town when they are here, I am really looking forward to finally checking them out.

the 'easy-listening' crowd will totally appreciate the vast amount of rock, heavy, melodic and power metal bands onbroad: Blind Guardian, Crucified Barbara, D-A-D, Divided Multitude, Grave Digger, Michael Schenker Group's Temple Of Rock, Pretty Maids, Primal Fear, Tank, Therion and Triosphere

Speaking of Primal Fear; since longtime drummer Randy Black left the band a while back, I am really looking forward to checking out ex-Angra's Aquiles Priester behind the kit.

As a special treat, the semi-classic Rage lineup of Peavy Wagner, Manni Schmidt and Chris Efthimiadis will treat us to their first official show as Refuge.

Thrash 'till Death - Annihilator, Artillery, Destruction, Heathen, Xentrix - Hell Yes! And as an added bonus, since it's the 25th Anniversary of Annihilator's highly acclaimed 1990 album Never, Neverland, then vocalist Coburn Pharr will join them on the cruise. Double Hell Yes! Municipal Waste will for sure be seen by most of the thrash crowd as well.

Pool Deck on her Majesty Of The Seas - we will miss her

Without listing each and every band on this year's cruise, you can see that the variety is pretty good already and any band which will get announced before we set sail will just be a bonus. And speaking of bonus - below are some special events happening on the cruise.

God Dethroned - Reunion Henri Sattler said the following: "our first shows will be where we played our last ones three years ago, on the 70000 Tons Of Metal cruise."

according to their official website, Tank will do an exclusive performance to debut their entire new album (due in March 2015) as well as a second show of their classics from the past 30 years. Since apparently Doogie White is also on board with Michael Schenker Group's Temple Of Rock I wonder if he will sing a song or two with his old band. And speaking of singing, I really, really want to hear how those Tank classics sound with their new vocalist, ex-DragonForce frontman ZP Theart.

Artillery has stated in an interview that they will play their 1985 debut Fear Of Tomorrow in its entirety on the cruise.

and last but not least, Venom does a world premiere of their new album From The Very Depths on board.

There might be some more bands who plan to perform a special set, but the above stood out. And yeah ? about that standing out stuff? we already had:

- Sabaton's frontman Joakim being carried by the crowd from the stage to be thrown into the pool during the last song of their set
- DragonForce's shredder Herman Li running from the stage, jumping into one of the hot-tubs to finish his solo
- The first ever chair mosh pit during Municipal Waste's set on Barge To Hell and
- the lounge chair wall-of-death during Bonded By Blood's set

The Official Origin Pillow

But this year one of those shenanigans is officially sanctioned by UMC, the [url= http://70000tons.com/voyage/special-onboard-events/]70000 Tons Of Pillowfight[/url]. And which band would be most suited for this? Yes, you guessed it, Origin. For real now, the band will even provide special pillows for the event so no Royal Caribbean property will be used. I hope this doesn't interfere with one of my "can-not-miss" bands, since I am planning to videotape this 'fluffiness'.

In closing, you might wonder what I am most stoked for. Well ? there is no official headliner on the cruise, but for me there is ? the band I am most looking forward to watch is ? Blind Guardian.

They are on the verge of releasing their newest opus Beyond The Red Mirror the end of January and rumors has it that there might be a listening party for it on board. Kick ass if this should happen. Check the video below to get a feel of things to come.

And there you have it - this is why I am getting stoked for 70000 Tons Of Metal. The variety of the bands, the comradery of fellow Metalheads, the tropical destinations all wrapped up in this perfect package.

It is not too late to join the adventures, there are still cabins available (check here for booking info), but if you can't make it this year, do make plans for 2016. Trust me - you won't regret it.

Written on 11.01.2015 by D.T. Metal Former boss lady. Now just a professional concertgoer... dangerously armed with a camera!

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