Holy Ship! We're Stuck (Maiden Voyage 2012)

Imagine a place where you can wake up in the Bahamas and find yourself on a private beach listening to Dave Nada playing moombahton or running into Brodinski as you leave the Fools gold rap party to grab some soft serve ice cream before you go see Zedd. A place where one can win the Steve Aoki poker tournament then set up shop at the breakfast buffet at 6 am and play electro for 4 hours. A place where controllerism and tableism can co-exist as A-Trak scratches over Skrillex. A place where music fans and artists alike eagerly await the 6 am breakfast buffet. A place where you can get DJ lessons from A-Trak after playing whisky mini-golf with Dillon Francis. This place exists. It’s Vacay happy boat time or as Gary Richards and company would like to call it Holy Ship! I gotta give it up to Gary and the good people of Holy Ship! as this great idea was executed almost flawlessly. There were a few Vacay Villains, albeit rather insignificant. The Villains of the trip were the bartenders, sushi waiters, Danny Brown, JDevil and non 24/7 soft serve ice cream machines.

Holy Ship Day 1 – Sail Away

After a fairly smooth embarkation process, team Vacay set up shop in one of the suites. Although a bit overpriced, it was well worth it as getting around the ship was a breeze from our room. Diplo kicked things off on the pool deck, followed by Skrillex’s filler set for Boys Noize, which he appropriately opened with & Down dropping it into Scary Monsters & Nice Sprites. Enter Rusko. The clear cut Most Valuable Vacayer (MVV) of Day 1. The man put together almost an entire set of unreleased tunes. Combine that with his energetic and kooky stage presence and you get one of the more entertaining sets of the voyage.

rusko | electronic music blog — Rusko Day 1 @ Holy Ship!

The recently engaged Laidback Luke followed up with his standard breed of massive house tunes and bootlegs. Up next was the most anticipated set of the weekend for me, as it was my first taste of Gesaffelstein live. Although I wasn’t thoroughly impressed, I certainly wasn’t disappointed. There’s no questioning Gesaffelstein’s production talent and taste in music. However, I shared the same sentiments that A-Trak did regarding his mixing ability at times. Brodinski couldn’t fight off his bromantic urges and hopped on the decks for much of the latter part of Gesaffelstein’s set. Check out some forthcoming Gesaffelstein below…The Hacker – Shockwave (Gesaffelstein Remix) soon.

The BNR party struggled without boys noize. S32 Disco was rather empty but far from dead. Oliver and Arthur Baker both put together stellar sets that was enjoyed by a select few. The majority of ship mates were at Zedd in the sweaty baby making Zebra Lounge. I made my way to the casino, which you could still hear the zebra lounge from, and found team Vacay, some drunkards, and many frenchmen taking over blackjack tables & roulette tables. After an unfathomable number of champagne bottles and shenanigans with Drunk Dan, I made my way to the breakfast buffet at around 6 am. Shortly after getting back to my room from the buffet, the boat started shaking pretty violently… The boat had run aground and the early morning tides were now shifting.

zedd | electronic music blog — Zedd Day 1 @ Zebra Lounge on Holy Ship!

Holy Ship Day 2 – Port Lucaya, Bahamas

We all woke up to the announcement made by the captain reassuring us that the boat was fine and that we should pull free in the evening when the tide rises. We started our day with A-Trak’s DJ lesson. Also attending the class was DJ Craze, just returning from whisky mini-golf, and Laidback Luke and his fiance Gina Turner. Alain was extremely entertaining to say the least. His humour and ability to make scratching look clownishly easy made for a fun couple hours.

a trak | electronic music blog — A-Trak Dj Lesson on Holy Ship! Day 2

After many rounds of soft serve ice cream, we made our way onto the pool deck to catch Destructo set the tone for the evening with some crisp and raw tunes. A-Trak really got the party started and Fatboy Slim took it to the next level.

Steve Aoki took the stage with an army of rowdy artists behind him and a massive crowd of ravers in front of him. Many shots, champagne bottles, cakes, and of course soft-serve ice creams later we we’re ready for Dita Von Tease. After missing out on her brief show the night before we left Aoki early to make sure we didn’t miss out. She was everything I expected and more. Being the Queen of burlesque dancing, every movement of hers was paralyzingly sexy. Next up was the Paris Social Club party with Gesaffelstein, Brodinski, and Club Cheval. After some dark french beats, a bit of skrillex, and soft serve ice cream, I called it a night while the rest of Team Vacay continued on at the casino.

Holy Ship Day 3 – Private Island Beach Party + Sail Away Show

After spending 2 days at a buoyant rave in the middle of the bahamas, we got off the ship to enjoy some Vacay happy beach time with beats courtesy of Dava Nada, Dillon Francis, Diplo, and Fat Boy Slim. It was nice.

diplo | electronic music blog — Diplo @ Private Island Beach Party - Day 3

Brodinski loves playing music and I love Brodinski. After listening to him for a while, we headed over to the Theatre to get ready for the surprise party. First up was Jonathan Davis’ new solo project JDevil, which needs a lot of work on the performance front in my opinion. I quickly jetted back up to the pool deck to catch most of Justin Martin, a San Fransiscoian Dirty Birder. I ran into Team Vacay in the casino, surprise surprise, and heard that Alvin Risk had taken the stage at the surprise party. Alvin had resurrected the whole theatre after JDevil had nearly dissipated everyone shortly before. If you don’t know about Alvin Risk yet you will soon. This DC native is slated to explode onto the scene in Skrillex-like fashion.

alvinrisk | electronic music blog — Alvin Risk @ Surprise Party - Day 3

Fools Gold Rap Party time. Yes, I was excited for rap music. Leave it to some of the best EDM DJ’s to throw down the best rap party. Craze absolutely murked it. He had the whole place chanting in unison to all of the classic rap tunes. Too bad Danny Brown had to go on to virtually end the party until A-Trak took back control of the tables. We headed back over to the theatre to catch Dillon Francis fill in for a sea sick Rusko. Would have loved to see him for a second time…

rapparty | electronic music blog — A-Trak dancing at Fools Gold Rap Party - Day 3

After Laidback Luke closed off the main stage, the party moved to Disco32 in the back of the ship. Zedd went all in as Diplo, armed with a bottle of Jack, decided to push the limits of Vacay. Maximum Vacay was attained.

Laidback Luke – Holy Ship! Super You & Me Set (Download)

Holy Ship Day 4 – Embarkation

Embarkation was a breeze as we shwiefed our way to the front. Remember to opt for self-embarkation next year…then schwief, schwief hard. Holy Ship is one of the most unique experiences one can have in edm for both artists & fans. Oh and the sound was prime at all venues, including the beach party… I’ll definitely be back on the ship next year for Vacay Happy Boat Time round 2.