Kelly and I saw Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band again last night, courtesy of a friend’s comp tickets. Jimmy and the band played Raleigh on their “SummerZcool” tour, and while they did play here last summer, band appearances have become rarer in Raleigh lately. I’ve never understood why this is the case, as Jimmy has consistently sold out here. I admit to wondering what we might have done to upset him.
We rolled into Walnut Creek Amphitheatre around 6:30 with a little time to check out the crazy parking lot scene. There were Parrotheads everywhere and we had to scramble for one of the few parking places left in the lot. I was in awe at the kind of machine Jimmy has built in thirty-plus years of touring. The guy gets little or no airplay and yet he still attracts a huge following of loyal Parrotheads.
We settled in our seats and didn’t wait too long for the show to begin. Jimmy is a professional who doesn’t insult his crowds by taking the stage fashionably late like some other bands. Out he marched in his red t-shirt, jams, and bare feet, carrying a few more pounds but still looking great for 62. He then put on an upbeat show, looking relaxed and smiling the whole time.
I brought our binoculars with me and Kelly and I used them to spy on a set list posted near the back of the stage. It became a contest between us to decipher the songs on the list. I surprised myself by reading a few of them from quite a distance away. Guess my eyesight is still passable!
Jimmy named one of his albums Songs You Know By Heart, and a true Parrothead knows what that means. His songs are quite familiar to me after being a Buffett fan for 30 out of my 40 years (before the “Parrothead” name had been coined). And though his new songs aren’t as familiar they still fit right in. Jimmy’s writing is better than ever.
During the show, Jimmy mentioned the times he and the band played at Carowinds 25 years ago. I was working at Carowinds then and those shows were my first. He would play twice a day some times, to a Paladium crowd of 8,000. At one of those shows I had the honor of a second-row seat. I could never do that today without taking out a second mortgage. And the days of seeing multiple Buffett shows during a weekend are also long gone, with ticket prices the way they are.
And that’s the thing that I couldn’t stop thinking about during the show. A Buffett show is supposed to be a three-hour escape to the land of frozen concoctions, tropical breezes, and living the carefree life. My life is locked in a cubicle eight hours a day, five days a week, while Jimmy Buffett spends his working (though not a bad job if you can get it) three days a week and spending his winters surfing, writing books, and traveling the world. The video screens would show Jimmy on top of a surfboard, or at the helm of a massive sailboat (not his own, I assume), or doing the things most Parrotheads would love to be doing. Now that my body’s odometer has reached 40, I’ve watched my earlier dreams of a similar life drift over the horizon. Jimmy’s songs are like postcards of faraway places and while it’s fun to pay them a short visit, eventually it dawns on you that this world is far to big for you to ever do everything you’d like.
Even so, it was fun to share in the legend of Jimmy Buffett, as seen through older eyes.
A quick google on jimmy buffet sailboat got a link advertising “one” of his ex boats, a Choy Lee catch/cutter…
Nice post — on so many levels. The show this past week was my 21st sine 1990 and “Jimmy’s Jump-up Tour.” I must say, however, it seems with each year a little more of the magic disappears — not because of Jimmy, but because the crowd that was always the pulse of the great shows of the past is a little older, a little more sedate, and a little less into it. Still, a bad Buffett show is better than a good day at the office…
On another note, as a fellow blogger and Raleighite, it is always nice to read about things on the homefront. Nice blog you have here. I’ll be reading from here on out.
I think some of that has to do with the arenas Jimmy plays at becoming increasingly corporate. I think the sky-high ticket prices take some of the fun out of it. During the break in the show, I was bemoaning to Kelly that our kids will likely never get a chance to see Jimmy Buffett because it simply costs too much.
Thanks for stopping by! I’m glad you liked it.