Well here we are, the last night of the first Sailing Southern Ground cruise. Because there are so many things going on every day simultaneously in different areas all over the ship, and you can only be in one place at a time, I imagine everyone will come away with their own unique experience of the cruise. Your overall experience of it may overlap in places with others, but there are also moments that are just your own. For me as a Sixthman employee, time rather runs together during a cruise into one long continuum of talking with guests, watching over things, problem solving and trying to think of new and different ways to create special moments for folks that will last a lifetime. Thus, there aren’t that many free moments during the cruise left for reflection.
But me being me, I can’t help but reflect back to the beginning. On the very first day, which seems like a long time ago, but I guess was just this past Thursday, Zac and the band got together on the Lido Deck stage to raise a glass to everyone present and the journey on which we were all about to embark. During his toast, Zac mentioned that he hoped everyone on board would enjoy the ZBB shows but also check out some of the other artists on board that they might not have had the pleasure of having heard yet. He said that he hoped everyone would be open to something new and let the music touch their hearts. If I remember correctly, he might have even used the phrase, “heal your hearts.” Then Zac and the boys launched into the first set of the cruise as we sailed away from Tampa and out into open water.
Fast forward a couple of days to Saturday, when I once again found myself on the Lido Deck watching a sail-away show. This time the artist was Michael Franti and Spearhead performing as we left from the port in Grand Cayman. Though Michael and Spearhead have been making influential and inspiring records for a long time, for many of ZBB’s country music fans, this was their first exposure to the group. And boy was it incredible. They began the show by coming out onto the deck from an entrance on the far side, across the pool from the stage. While playing the first song, they walked across the deck towards the stage, serenading those in their path along the way up close and personal while the rest of us danced to the amplified sounds. Michael even got into and out of two hot tubs and the pool with his guitar, while playing and singing, without missing a beat. For the entire show, the band performed with this incredible energy, radiating such joy through their performance that everyone on that deck could feel it. Folks were up and dancing, clapping and waving their arms overhead, singing songs about the sound of sunshine, love, unity, tolerance and acceptance.
During the show I personally was also caught up dancing and clapping, singing and sweating beneath the hot summer sun. But it struck me afterwards that that was exactly what Zac had talked about on the first day; what he said he hoped would happen on his cruise. For in that moment, during that set, folks from all different backgrounds and musical tastes, who might not ever have considered listening to a hip-hop troubadour band, were united by music, celebrating life through song. In these days when differences are so often treated with derision as a source of division, what a gift it was to witness the healing power of music. I hope it was one of the moments that overlapped for a lot of folks on board. But even if it didn’t, moments like that get spun into stories that spread and weave their own kinds of connections.
So in the end, I guess what I’m trying to say about Zac Brown Band’s first Sailing Southern Ground cruise is, it was indeed, incredibly & intentionally, all about the music.
-Sonia
