For music fans that haven’t experienced the smooth sounds and retro vibes of Yächtley Crëw, here’s a chance to experience one of the most fun and energetic live shows around. The group, dubbed “The Titans of Soft Rock,” will perform hit after soft rock hit at the Special Events Center at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino on Friday, Jan. 31.
The songs Yächtley Crëw performs, while donning ship captain uniforms, ring nostalgic and have fans singing and dancing along to tunes such as “Turn Your Love Around” by George Benson, “Baker Street,” by Gerry Rafferty, and “Biggest Part of Me,” by Ambrosia.
The surge in the genre’s popularity is clear with a SiriusXM station dedicated to the music and the recently released “Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary” on HBO. The doc, which highlights Yächtley Crëw, takes a deep dive into the rise in popularity of the soft rock pop, West Coast sound popularized by artists like Michael McDonald, Steely Dan, and Toto.
In a recent interview, lead vocalist Phillip Daniel, also known as Philly Ocean, talked about his love of performing, the Yacht Rock phenomenon, and riding the waves of success with his fellow crewmates: Sailor Hawkins (drums), Baba Buoy (bass), Pauly Shores (saxophone), Tommy Buoy (guitar), Stoney Shores, and Matthew McDonald (keyboards).
“I can speak for everyone in the band and say that we are all seasoned musicians who love to perform,” he said. “Since we formed Yächtley Crëw in 2017, we’ve worked incredibly hard to deliver the best shows, while having the best time.”
He said his passion for music started early and he was drawn to a wide range of music genres.
“I’ve loved singing since I was 4 years old and would put on living room performances,” he said with a laugh. “Throughout my youth I liked Ritchie Valens, blues, ska, and a litany of other bands – I listened to it all.”
The idea for Yächtley Crëw came from the band’s bass player, but the vocalist’s journey to joining the group was a stroke of serendipity.
“I got the incredible opportunity because I was friends with the sister of the guitar player,” he said. “She and I would sing karaoke at this cool bar in Burbank, and she could see that I could sing.”
She introduced Daniel to her brother who was thrilled to find out that he was already singing songs from artists like Christopher Cross, Journey and Toto.
They knew they were onto something special, but still wondered if the Yacht Rock-centric band would catch. Daniel said one of their early shows was in Florida, where the band played in full sea faring regalia in front of 300 people not knowing what to expect.
“We could feel the energy building and that this was going to be a thing,” Daniel recalled. “We are not a joke band, we perform at high levels while having a blast, and are constantly re-inventing the show and cycling in new songs while keeping core songs that our fans expect to hear.”
Yächtley Crëw now plays about 30 songs per show, pulling from a catalog of close to 120 Yacht Rock classics. Fans can expect to hear everything from Exile and Robbie Dupree to Styx, ELO, and even Yacht Rock-adjacent hits by George Michael and Hall & Oates.
The group even released an EP, Seas the Day and the Christmas mini album, Seas and Greetings. Daniel said the group plans to release a full-length album this year titled Seas the Night.
“My dream has always been to make art my job,” he said. “For the first few years, sometimes I would earn $100 per show or sometimes nothing, so to be where we are now, we all recognize what a privilege it is to call this our job.”
Fun Fact: Philly Ocean’s favorite song to sing is “Heart to Heart” by Kenny Loggins.
