Hot Buttered Rum kicked off the day’s festivities with an outdoor breakfast set, before handing the stage over to fellow San Francisco travelers, ALO. Nodding to the warm weather, Hot Buttered Rum offered a set of self-described “spring music songs,” setting the tone for a sunny day at sea. The afternoon’s festivities featured a number of funk bands, including an increasingly rare set by Deep Banana Blackout and a Karl Denson-led workshop featuring Burbridge, Stanton Moore and Galactic’s Rich Vogel. Though Jam Cruise’s schedule simply listed “Kras” at 2:30, the poolside set turned out to be a superjam featuring Soulive’s Eric Krasno, Denson, Burbridge, and most of Derek Truck’s solo backing band. Later in the evening, Trucks returned the favor, inviting Krasno out during the Derek Trucks Band’s headlining set for a cover of the Band’s “The Weight.” Trucks also brought out his real-life wife Susan Tedeschi, to supply lead vocals on the cover.

In the reggae department, Burning Spear drew one of the festival’s largest audiences with an outdoor sunset poolside performance. For those looking to take a break from the music, Skerik led a bingo tournament, while a number of artists, and a number of Relix staffers, tried their luck in a Texas hold’em tournament (our own Aaron Benor scored next month’s rent in the cruise’s all-night casino).

The cruise’s after hours performances were also stacked with unique collaborations. During Dumpstaphunk’s set in the Caruso Lounge, Skerik, Krasno, Burbridge and Denson all emerged for a series of extended funk workouts. At one point, Skerik and Denson stood on opposite sides of the stage and engaged in a humorous saxophone duel. Soon after, Yo Mama’s Big Fat Boot Band, which won a spot on Jam Cruise through an online competition, closed out the intimate stage. Later, two generations of San Francisco musicians collaborated when proto-jamband Zero brought out members of ALO for a Zach Gill-led cover of Joe Cocker’s “With a Little Help from My Friends.” Meters bassist George Porter, Jr. also joined Zero for a portion of its set, before riding the elevator to the pool level to perform with Galactic and, later, back downstairs to hold court in the Open Jam Room (where performers are able to rehearse publicly and host open improv-sessions). After leaving Galactic’s set, the New Orleans natives brought on a number of additional players including Denson, Skerik, Robert Walter and JJ Grey, the latter of whom sang lead on a cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil.” At one point, Skerik played one-handed while holding a small-framed fan, Jam Cruise’s own Annabel Lukins, onstage. A few fans were also treated to a solo set by Yonder Mountain String Band’s Jeff Austin, who recorded a few songs in the ship’s lobby for Relix’s podcast, Cold Turkey.

Fans looking for a mellower atmosphere were treated to a set of solo songs by Drive-by Truckers’ Patterson Hood in the Cotton Club. Later, the room opened up for a series of free-form jams, featuring Porter, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Ivan Neville, Dumpstaphunk/Trey Anastasio Band bassist Tony Hall and Steve Kimock’s 17-year-old son, John Morgan. Kimock later emerged to lead another jam, featuring his son, Burbridge, Perpetual Groove’s Brock Butler, and passenger Avi Goldberg. At press time, the room is still full of stragglers.

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