LEE AARON - Monsters of Rock Cruise (Blog)

Ah, the Monsters of Rock Cruise! It has affected changed in my life so many ways. I have sailed on every one of them! And, as my heritage dictates, I love the Canadian 🇨🇦 bands being on board. Many of these bands I know members and am so happy and proud of so much of the hard rock that my country produces. Let’s face it, we are so much more than Rush and Triumph, although they’re awesome bands too! Each year I do my best to support the 🇨🇦 bands which in the past have included Helix, Killer Dwarfs, Diemonds, Brighton Rock and now Lee Aaron!

Lee Aaron, who was booked originally in 2021, I think, finally made it on board. Covid stuff of course prevented the band from traveling during those unprecedented times. Lee revealed to CGCM Podcast in our chat with her ahead of the Radio On! release back in July 2021 (CGCM Podcast EP#138) that at least one member had immune compromisation issues. In 2023, they were able to join and I was excited having seen Lee in Canada, Germany, Sweden and soon on a cruise ship!

Q&A

The band’s first appearance on the boat was a Q&A session taking place on the deck 5 Promenade. I rather enjoyed the Q&A as some interesting questions were asked by fans and I enjoyed seeing the camaraderie of the band. I personally did not ask anything. You see on the days in Florida prior to the cruise, I had basically lost my voice. Too much talking, singing, and yelling over the music to be heard by worldwide friends. But some information that came out that I thought was especially of interest was: “All Lee Aaron live songs are not only done without any backtracking but also in the original keys“. Wow, I knew the lovely Lee still could sing the phonebook, but the original keys is even more impressive!

After the Q&A the band snapped pics and signed autographs. I queued up with nothing to sign but just to say hi and show the 🇨🇦 unity. As I approached and spoke, I basically scared Lee! She visibly shrank back asking if I had laryngitis upon hearing the scratchy whisper that has been my voice since Thursday. Stupidly I said “yes” without really thinking. She backed even a little further away as I tried to explain it was not an illness but hoarse from yelling, but it was too late. I did get a chance to chat with Sean Kelly briefly on Indoor Summer in Germany last year, Dee Snider’s RnR Christmas Tale and Rock of Ages.

Pool Stage

I had been present in Sweden for Lee Aaron at SRF in June 2022. While they played and sounded fantastic at that event, they had a major sound issue. The entire sound cut out and was down for several minutes. You can read my blog on that set here: Lee Aaron at Sweden Rock. Here on MORC, we experienced terrible weather and wind storms of reportedly hurricane proportions so on the first day aboard all pool stage was closed. Same on day #2 and many band’s sets were set to be rescheduled. Effectively Lee Aaron was the first act on the 2023 pool stage. You could even say they were the sailaway band🤣.

The winds were still present, just not at the aggressive hurricane stage now. But Lee joked that she was happy she’d spent all that extra time doing her hair specially for this show🤣. The Lee Aaron band mixed through the extensive 18-album discography in what I thought was a well-thought-out setlist. Lee did at one stage indicate that their soundman was not with the band having contracted covid right before flying. Still, the sound was great I thought……until……suddenly (and I forget what song) there was silence. Clearly, the band did not know as they kept ripping through. It wasn’t long at all but enough that I couldn’t help but do the ole “WTH?“. Seems a ship announcement cut off the sounds for that 30 seconds or so. It wasn’t long at all, but enough that I felt the pang of this happening to the band. But all was well in the end.

Royal Theater

The second Lee Aaron show was in the Royal Theater at 2pm on Tuesday. I loved seeing the Lee Aaron logo behind the band as they rocked through the set. All the while, sitting with BenSCORZ! of CGCM Rock Radio’s The MixFix, I thought about Lee Aaron‘s singing. She is truly a wonder of vocal amazement. At above 60, she can still sing. And fucking well too! Some singer’s voices have diminished over time, I think Lee Aaron‘s has gotten stronger even! Remember kids, every song is still in the original key. So “Metal Queen” and the “Lady Of The Darkest Night” snip originally from 1984 are sung the same almost 40 years later! Holy crap. Lee Aaron does the 🇨🇦 community proud and seems to be in some of the most creative years with her band and songwriters Sean Kelly, Dave Reimer and John Cody completing the collective unit/family.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay the full set, but Lee and co were again killing it and I swelled with 🇨🇦 pride as I moved on to the next gig.

Until We Meet Again

Thanks so much to Lee Aaron and the band and of course to Larry Morand for booking them. I hope they will be invited back very soon……but if not I’ll soon be seeing Sean Kelly in Rock Of Ages!

LEE AARON OFFICIAL WEBSITE / FACEBOOK

Cheers,