With Priceless Memories Made, Cayamo Sails to 2024 Sellout

by Kevin Wierzbicki

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If you were aboard the Norwegian Cruise Line ship Pearl for this year's Cayamo you would not be surprised to find out that the 2024 edition of the cruise sold out barely a week after cabins went on sale. The 2023 Cayamo took place Feb. 10-17 as the Pearl sailed from Miami to the exotic Caribbean islands of Tortola and St. Maarten and as the music lovers aboard made precious memories while enjoying stellar performances from dozens of stars. And some of those memories were chock full of humor.

"God has given me the ability to spot crazy people!" Those words from Paul Thorn got a big laugh from the crowd and fans laughed even harder when Thorn continued "People who have their eyes open too wide all the time, they're crazy!" With this patter being the introduction to Thorn's song "I Don't Like Half the Folks I Love," you could get the idea that many of these wide-eyed loonies are close to Thorn, maybe even kin. That notion was furthered when Thorn played "Pimps & Preachers" and explained that it was indeed inspired by male relatives.

Then there was David Bromberg, the long-running and much-beloved classic folk rocker. Many will remember the track "Sharon" from Bromberg's 1972 release Demon in Disguise, an amusing tale of a carnival sideshow performer described thusly: "She walks, she talks, she crawls on her belly like a reptile." Well Bromberg now improvises on the song, using his guitar to mimic this seductress speaking to him, something that was not in the original recording. "Daaavid" his guitar cries multiple times; finally and amazingly Bromberg makes the guitar say something naughty as it sounds just like the vixen is luring him with "I want to f**k you!" Of course the crowd roared at this.

Those who saw Brady Blade's show will never forget how he tried to teach the crowd how to improvise a beat. Dividing the crowd into two halves, Blade, a drummer and percussionist himself, asked one half of the crowd to make a certain noise while the other half made another. The fans eventually got it right during "rehearsal" but couldn't remember how to do it when Blade called on them to a couple of songs into his set. It was obvious that Blade fully expected the failure as he broke out into laughter at the awkward attempt.

Enjoying unexpected collaborations and silly moments is all part of the Cayamo fun, of course along with hundreds of concert performances. No doubt there will be plenty more of all of the above when the 16th edition of Cayamo sails March 1-8, 2024, from Miami to Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic and Oranjestad in Aruba with the Mavericks, Lyle Lovett, Billy Bragg, Shawn Colvin, Lucius, Nikki Lane and many others on board. The sailing is sold out but interested fans can join the waiting list here.

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