Once again it was time to revert to childhood and enjoy everything there is to enjoy about a Jimmy Buffett concert. Last night it was my 35th concert and it was held at Ford Amphitheater on the grounds of the Florida State Fairgrounds just outside of Tampa. It wasn't the best concert of his I've ever seen (that one was in Honolulu in 2005) but when I'm in the same air space as Jimmy there's really no such thing as a bad concert. As Jimmy says in his song "Here We Are", "Its the child in us we really value" and that is so true at one of his concerts. I recently told a friend that when I'm at one of his shows I go off in my own little world. He asked where that world was and I said "I'm taken back to being a 20 year old college student whose biggest concern is getting up in time for class tomorrow." It's like that at every concert and last night was no different.
Part of the fun of Jimmy's concerts isn't the concert itself but the "pre-game" party in the parking lot before the show. So far my 35 concerts have been spread among Honolulu, Irvine California, San Francisco, Denver (Red Rocks five nights in a row), Atlanta, Raleigh, Washington DC, Baltimore, Boston (Greatwoods), Orlando, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami. Of all those sites I think only the pre-game party at Nissan Pavillion outside of Washington DC is the only one better than the party in Tampa. It must be the salt air here that does it.
People started dressing up in costumes to fit his concerts probably in response to his old favorite "They Don't Dance Like Carmen No More." From that song and others people generally dress up like sharks (from Fins), or pirates (A Pirate Looks at 40), or they wear hats with Fins on them or maybe a hat that looks like a cheeseburger. I once saw a guy dressed up like a lighthouse (from the Salty Piece of Land Tour) and of course there are always men and women in hula skirts with coconut bras onn.
The two costumes I liked the best last night was the woman whose top consisted of nothing more than two cheeseburgers (from Cheeseburger in Paradise) covering her breasts, and a guy who did such a great job dressing like a pirate he would have put Johnny Depp to shame. I failed to get pictures of those two (the woman in the cheeseburger bra really distracted the hell out of me) but I did get some others shown below.
The best quote of the night was the guy who said "There's nothing like a beach ball to bring out the child in an adult." And tossing beach balls around before and during the show are a part of the tradition of a Buffett concert.
Susan wasn't able to go with me to this show because of the arrival of her daughter, son in law, and three of her grand children at the Fort Myers beach house. Instead I took my friend Sue Paschall with me. It was her first Buffett concert and I have a feeling she may have become a convert. Not long after arriving she was concerned that she was under dressed because she came only in a top and skirt. At least she was wearing flip flops. After consuming three double margarita's she no longer cared about her Buffett concert clothing faux pas. I have a feeling that the next time she goes to a show she'll come better prepared.
Our seats weren't the closest up I've ever been to Buffett at a concert. However as my friend Pat Sullivan said so truthfully "There's no such thing as a bad seat at a Buffett concert."
This concert was in the hiatus between the 2011 "Welcome to Fin-Land" tour and the 2012 "Lounging by the Lagoon" tour. Instead he just called it "Spring Break 2012" which was appropriate given its timing. During the show he said that he was going next to New Orleans from Tampa and maybe it would have been more appropriate to call it the "Pirate City" tour. I saw one guy in the audience who was wearing a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball cap. I'm sure he would have agreed.
Ford Amphitheater holds about 29,500 people and as to be expected there wasn't an empty space anywhere. I can't think of a better way to spend a Friday night than to be surrounded by a sea of screaming Parrotheads.
The show began a bit late and did not include a warm up by Ilo, the musician Jimmy found on the Cape Verde islands off the coast of Africa a few years ago. Instead, after the traditional tossing of cheeseburgers into the crowd they went directly to playing Hot Hot Hot. There is no better way to open a show than with that song. And at every show pandemonium breaks out when this song pulses from the speakers.
I have landed in the Bahamas 51 times on international flights and for 50 of those landings this song was being played in the arrivals lounge of whatever airport where I landed. It seems to epitomize a Caribbean view of things.
Jimmy then sang 21 songs before the standard three encore songs. I think he did 27 songs in Miami in January but he'd made a comment about not feeling too good last night so he may have slowed things down a bit.
After Hot Hot Hot he started the show with One Particular Harbour. He ended my first concert, in Chastain Park Atlanta in July 1986 with this song and its been a favorite of mine ever since. He got the inspiration for it while in Tahiti, and he sings some of the song in Tahitian. Guess which island nation I want to visit before any others? The translation is about the bounty of the ocean.
The play list then included the following:
It's Five O'Clock Somewhere, the only song for which Jimmy has won any award in his more than 40 year career. I regularly write to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and complain that they have added Johnny Cash but why not Buffett? One of these days they better!
Growing Older But Not Up - a perfect song for a bunch of middle aged (or older) Parrotheads who want to return to playground if even for only a couple of hours on a Florida Friday night. And I live by the line in this song that goes "Let the winds of time blow over my head, I'd rather die while I'm living than live while I'm dead."
Son of a Son of a Sailor
Come Monday Jimmy said he had often wondered how many children had been conceived on the lawn of one his concerts while this song was being played. Last night he told us that he met someone out in California who actually had been conceived at a Buffett concert!
Knee Deep (a Zac Brown song)
Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes In the mid-1980s this song was also known as the "Haney-Faanes These Song". With me having returned from five weeks in South Africa in October 2011, and Chris contemplating a 6-8 week trip there this year it may very well still be our theme song.
Swinging Hula Man - Jimmy introduced this song (in which he plays the ukelele) for the first time two weeks ago last night on Maui. Unfortunately there is no video of it available yet.
Volcano - One of the best times of my life was the night my two daughters and I were on the Big Island and I took them down to the ocean to watch lava from Kilauea volcano slide into the ocean. Leaving after dark we drove up the side of the volcano playing this song on a CD and singing to it over and over again.
The song is from his album of the same name recorded on the island of Montserrat in 1979. I had the pleasure of hiking to the top of that volcano in 1988 when I was last on the island. Of course in 1996 the Montserrat volcano blew and now there is no top to hike to!
Cheeseburger in Paradise I do not eat beef and have not intentionally done so since 1988. However the week before any Buffett concert I attend is known to me as my own "Holy Week" during which I consume the occasional cheeseburger. And I always have them prepared according to the exact recipe spelled out in the song.
No Plane on Sunday This song, from his incomparable 1986 album "Floridays" is one of my top five most favorite Buffett songs. In 35 concerts since 1986 this was the first time I ever heard him sing it live. As he played it I thought of my old friend Dwight Lee who died in his early 80s claiming to be "The Worlds Oldest Living Parrothead" who used to call himself "No Plan on Sunday" for his personal nickname. Dwight died with a collection of 36 Jimmy Buffett t shirts in his closet. His death came while hiking down a beach on Cayman Brac having flown there to get the airport for his life list. I like to think that last night's singing of it was a tribute to my old friend Dwight. Not surprisingly there are no videos available of this classic Buffett song.
Hey Good Lookin' - From the License to Chill CD.
Making Music for Money - This ultra oldie from the 1974 A1A album does not have a video to go with it.
It's My Job - sung with Mac MacAnally
Pascagoula Run Everyone needs their own Uncle Billy and Jimmy sings about his in this song.
National Anthem of the Parrothead Nation - This song needs no introduction or explanation.
The Weather is Here I Wish You Were Beautiful - I remember once when I was living on Grand Turk Island sending a postcard to my ex wife and all it said was "The Weather Is Here I Wish You Were Beautiful" I wasn't really surprised when she never wrote back. Its a great song to sing and think about when you get overloaded with too much stuff.
A Pirate Looks at 40 - Now that Jimmy is 65 years old he might want to think about upping that age a bit. Its a song I sing every time I am on a boat (or a kayak) out on the ocean.
In The City - This is one of my least favorite Buffett songs. In fact I sat down and didn't utter a word during its playing. Luckily there is no video of it available. Yawn.
Southern Cross - This Crosby Stills and Nash song has been taken over and is now one of the essential components of every Buffett concert. I wonder if that is because its about sailing? I first saw the Southern Cross from the window of an Air New Zealand 767 as we were climbing out of Nadi, Fiji on a midnight departure. I've never erased that sight from my mind.
Fins - This is the ultimate Buffett party song. Jimmy came up with the idea for it one night at the Ocean Deck bar in Daytona Beach. He saw this attractive woman walk into the bar alone and then saw her immediately being hit on by four guys. From that scene came the idea for "sharks that feed on land"...
ENCORE SONGS
Uncle John's Band - Jimmy likes to play this Grateful Dead song on occasion. Never having been a Deadhead I'd rather read a book than sing along.
Brown-eyed Girl - This Van Morrison song has also become a staple of every Buffett concert in recent years. He refers to it as "beach music" but I have yet to see the connection. Still I sing every word. And, by the way, Jimmy does a much better job with this song than Morrison ever dreamed of.
Nautical Wheelers - Jimmy appears a bit younger in this video.
Two years ago at a Tampa show I saw a woman who had to be 80 years old being pushed in a wheelchair to the entrance of the venue. She was toking on a joint and singing "Margaritaville" as her friend pushed her along. I didn't see her last night but I hope that when I'm 80 if Jimmy is still playing (he'll be 85 then) that someone will perform the same courtesy for me. Maybe by then it will be my 100th Buffett concert.
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