Alright, so last year, it was fair if you waffled about forking over the cost of a cabin on the inaugural Bruise Cruise Festival, the world's first garage-ish rock cruise. After all, it was the first-ever attempt at putting that kind of craziness at sea -- but, if you followed New Times' extensive coverage, you'll know it worked. Really worked. (The pre-cruise show on land in Miami, which was open to the public, was pretty kick-ass too.)
The 2012 lineup doesn't boast any local bands -- no Surfer Blood or Jacuzzi Boys, like last year -- but many favorites from last year return: the Oh Sees, Vivian Girls, Quintron & Miss Pussycat. New this year: Reigning Sound, the Dirt Bombs, the Soft Pack, King Khan & the Shrines, and now, Fucked Up, who also headline the cruise's island party in the Bahamas.
Tickets are on sale now. An interior cabin for two people is currently $550 plus $145 to cover grauities and fees, and an exterior cabin is $615 + 145 for two. Prices include all the concerts, dance parties, meals, open bar hours, and so on...
...But if you're really lucky, you may be able to score this for free-99 thanks to Flavorpill. The cultural curators and fun-events-newsletter purveyors have teamed with Bruise Cruise to give away one cabin. To enter, just click here to visit the Flavorpill Bruise Cruise cabin give away. Obviously, entering will subscribe you to Flavorpill e-mails.
In other Bruise Cruise contest news, the festival itself has announced its own "Design a Bruise Cruise Postcard Contest." It's pretty much like it sounds; design a winning postcard to be used as promotional material for the cruise. Unfortunately, that doesn't come with a free cabin. The winner gets an autographed box set of the Bruise Cruise Records vinyl releases, a bag full of Bruiser Apparel (swimwear and T-shirts), and more. If you want the memories that go along with the merch, you'll still have to fork over some cash for your cabin.
In any event, visit the Bruise Cruise Festival web site for all the current info on the upcoming voyage, which departs from Miami next February.