Like Woodstock, but with buffets

Every boat is different, naturally. The Lynyrd Skynyrd fans “like to drink their Jack Daniel’s and pound their Budweiser and raise a little more hell,” recalls A.P. Hill, lead singer of Oakhurst, a rock/bluegrass outfit from Denver that played all five Sixthman cruises last winter. And he confirms widespread reports that younger fans on the Mayercraft Carrier would often “freak out” at the sight of Mayer, as if “the Beatles [had] walked into a room all at once.” Ladies’ drummer Tyler Stewart lightheartedly proposed six “etiquette rules” for fan interaction in a recent online Q & A, and stressed the band doesn’t consider the cruise a matter of “pay[ing] to have guaranteed personal access to us.”

But any artist unwilling to risk the odd uncomfortable conversation or unflattering photo wouldn’t be an ideal candidate for a rock cruise anyway; Levine insists they must “walk the walk” with their fans. And to Hill, it was clear on each boat that everybody was “there for the same reason: to enjoy music with like-minded people” and generally have a good time. Even Mayer, easily the biggest name in Sixthman’s roster, obliged some amateur paparazzi by donning a replica of the neon-green “mankini” from Borat and prancing around his private deck like a peacock. “Yes, folks, I witnessed John Mayer in a man thong,” wrote one blogger, whose photos quickly made the rounds of the celebrity websites. “It pretty much made my life.” The odds of, say, Lyle Lovett pulling a similar stunt are blessedly remote. But what kind of fan would you be if he did and you missed it?