An epic diary retelling of four days at sea with Belle and Sebastian, Teenage Fanclub, Django Django, Buzzcocks, Vaselines, Camera Obscura, Nilüfer Yanya and more. This is just Day 1, so buckle up!

In which I dissect the year in a painstaking, list-like fashion. The last few months may have sucked, but overall, this was a ROCKTACULAR year for the BSR.

And now, the end is near. And so we face, the final curtain (or day at sea), on the Weezer Cruise. Here’s the final part of our four-part epic adventure in which we sit down with Rivers Cuomo and say our fond farewells to friends.

January 21st will go down in history as: Parasailing in Mexico, eating fajitas with Yuck, rocking out to Pinkerton and Weezer, and going deaf again to Dinosaur Jr, an 80s prom and Backstreet Boys with Lou Barlow. In other words, PERFECT.

In which I check out The Knocks’ Flip Cup Tourney and Yacht Rock Revue, then get absolutely shitfaced drunk with Yuck and the Nervous Wreckords, continue that through the rest of the gigs including Sebadoh, then pass out naked in my bunk.

Friend to the (indie rock) stars, the Backstage Rider set sail for Mexico aboard a big honking cruise ship with Weezer, Dinosaur Jr, Sebadoh, Yuck, Nervous Wreckords, and a ton more as part of the redonkulous Weezer Cruise. Here’s the start of my EPIC four-day diary series. Part 1, Thursday.

The Weezer Cruise is coming up and to celebrate the fact that I’ll be drunk and sunburned on this boat of AWESOME music, I’m giving away a whole whack of awesome Weezer gear to one winner and a runner up.

What’s the point of looking back? Here’s the BackstageRider Top 11 Things to Look Forward to in 2012 (so far) with a bit of back-looking, I admit, in the form of musicks I did very much enjoy as well as some guesses about what might be awesome next year.

Is it just me or are the really good bands getting younger these days? Oh it’s just me. Getting older. Here’s to London’s Yuck and Portland’s Unknown Mortal Orchestra, the newish kids on the block.