The Kruzenshtern itself was pretty amazing, I must admit, but the crew & events staff? Well that's another story entirely.
My band was hired to play aboard the Kruzenshtern on Friday the 12th, so I probably spent about 8 hours aboard & it was a disaster from the get go!
I'm a tad bitter from spending approx. $600 to get there & having the plug pulled with no compensation or apology! (Maybe there's no Russian equivelant for the word "sorry"?)
Here's a blog from our site that kinda explains things;
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"Pull in the sails, we're headed for a shitstorm!"
That's what should have been shouted from the crows nest of the Kruzenshtern, upon Black Hat Villain's arrival yesterday!
A SEVERE lack of organization & miscommunication created a "domino effect" & Black Hat Villain were able to play, oh, about 7 seconds of "All My Friends Are Dead" before a crippling lack of power spelled disaster on the high seas & led to the eventual demise of BHV's dreams of piracy! Our sincere apologies to everyone who had to bear witness to the events as they unfolded around us!
Needless to say, morale was extremely low after this "clusterfuck" (a word the Russian's are now VERY familiar with & a word they will be taking with them, back to the Motherland) until some friends, Janice & Jeff, swooped in & graciously opened up their home to us. We had a killer jam around the campfire, which led to some very heartfelt & touching, acoustic rendtions of "One Way Street", "All My Friends Are Dead" & "Truth". The video was "rolling" so you never know, the footage may just rear it's ugly little head...
The ship was amazing! We approached to the spectacle of the hulking behemoth sitting magnificently against the backdrop of Vancouver's downtown skyline, with her quadruple masts stabbing at the heavens above, almost as if to taunt the gods with mock swordplay.
The Russians themselves? Colder than a penguins scrotum. Stoic, expressionless!
I think I'll go watch the Summit series over & over!
Oh & there's some AWESOME footage of Colin James being made a mockery of on the ferry trip home! Stay tuned for that vid!
Abe & BHV!"
MySpace-
http://www.myspace.com/blackhatvillain
BHV Site-
http://www.blackhatvillain.com/
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Anyway, that's my experience aboard the Kruzenshtern.
The sole purpose of the ship coming to Vancouver is to promote the 2014 winter games, to be held in Sochi, Russia. If this was any indication as to the level of organization that they'll show in 2014, you can surely expect sand on the ski hills & turds in the hot tub! Whoops!
Now I love Russians even less!