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Don't Look Back in Anchor - HMS Prince of Wales' rock band play debut public gig of ‘world tour’
3 October 2025
From heavy metal to Hard Rock (Café)…
The band of Britain’s flagship HMS Prince of Wales were invited to play one of Singapore’s top tourist venues.
Not the Royal Marines and their military marches, but the aircraft carrier’s rock band, belting out classic rock and pop covers from Oasis to Franz Ferdinand.
The eight-piece filled the Hard Rock Café in Singapore – their first gig away from the ship on this deployment.
The band have been rockin’ all over the world since the ship left Portsmouth back in April – but only for the benefit of shipmates and other military personnel in the Carrier Strike Group which the warship leads.
The cavernous hangar of the 65,000-tonne carrier has typically been their stage until now, or the sprawling flight deck when not in use, and sometimes the messes and wardroom in the bowels of the ship.
The long evenings on the navy’s most important deployment of the year to the western Pacific Rim and back has allowed the band to hone their individual and collective musical skills.
Known as The Lazy Sundays, the eight-piece band draws its members from every department in the flagship: engineers (weapons, aircraft and marine systems), drummer Naval Airman Ryan Laidlaw marshals F-35 jets and Merlin helicopters on the flight deck, guitarist Lieutenant Steph Garrett forecasts the weather, and keyboardist/guitarist/occasional vocalist Will Blackett, who’s Captain/Commanding Officer.The Lazy Sundays have given me much needed down time away from a stressful work environment and made the deployment that much more enjoyable
“Creating music, making ship's company dance along is something I'll never forget. This has been by far the best deployment ever,” said Ali Cabascango Hernandez, who looks after the ship’s huge stores and supplies by day.
“When I joined Prince of Wales, I didn’t know I was going to be able to do my favourite thing which is sing. Singing in the Hard Rock Cafe was a once in a lifetime experience that I will never forget.”
Bassist John-Paul Stevenson says being part of the band has been crucial to both helping him being away from family – and rekindling his love of music.
“Three years ago I had completely fallen out of love with music,” said the petty officer, who works in the avionics workshop. “When I got the chance to form the band with like-minded people I thought I would give it a go. Now here we are having absolutely smashed it at The Hard Rock Cafe with seven of my mates.
“The Lazy Sundays have given me much needed down time away from a stressful work environment and made the deployment that much more enjoyable.”
Drummer Ryan Laidlaw also feared his drumming days were over when he joined the navy due to the demands of the day job.
“What more can you ask for than to let off some steam by hitting a few drums while on deployment - whether that’s on the flight deck or around the world in front of ship’s company, all having a good time and smashing out songs. Playing the drums in the Hard Rock has got to be the best experience of my life.”
And meteorologist Lieutenant Steph Garrett has found performing with The Lazy Sundays has been great for her wellbeing – and that of her shipmates.
“Deployment life can be tough at times, however playing music and spreading our passion amongst the ship will forever remain one of the best memories from this trip,” she said.
“It's become more than a hobby, more of a necessity, sharing a love for music with some truly incredible people.”