Musical Performances

The Sea Dogs performances consist of traditional sea chanties, which are work-songs used on boats and ships, foc’sle songs, sung for entertainment by sailors, and instrumental pieces, played for dancing. Though most of our songs are performed without music, for some songs we use traditional instruments, such as penny whistle, mandolin and guitar. Our audiences are encouraged to sing along, clap, stomp and dance (wherever possible) and we often invite people to join us on stage for a chanty or two. The songs we sing are not only fun, but educational as well, teaching about ships, sailors and pirates, geography, history and life at sea in the age of sail.

Historical Re-enactment

We try to bring as much of the lives of sailors and pirates as we can to every performance. This includes more than just wearing historical clothing. Some of our members have been involved in living history events for over twenty years and are eager to share the knowledge they’ve acquired. Not only do we dress the part, but we also engage in battles and skirmish scenarios at many different events. The Sea Dogs re-enact as pirates and privateers from ‘the golden age of piracy’ to the American revolution. This is one of the reasons why The Sea Dogs is the deadliest band on land or sea! Living history is a fun and exciting way for children and adults to learn about the past and get a better understanding of the lives and times of our ancestors. This includes pirates!

Education

The Sea Dogs enjoy bringing a vast array of historical items to display at our performances. This includes period weaponry, nautical instruments, tools, everyday items like coins and pipes, and various other objects and oddities used onboard ships (even food!). The crew love to answer questions about all things pirate or nautical. We give talks on pirates and piracy, weapons and tactics and, most importantly, the piratical history of our home state of New Jersey. We also do demonstrations showing how side-arms, like cutlasses and axes, and flintlock pistols and muskets were used. We also give the histories of our songs and how they were used onboard ship by sailors and pirates alike.