From: leej@diver.asd.sgi.com (Lee Jones)
Subject: Jimmy Buffett concert review
Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc.
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1992 18:18:00 GMT

Ten years ago, I went to a Jimmy Buffett concert, and it was perhaps one
of the greatest concerts of my life.  It was a wonderful mix of party
music, C & W, calypso, etc.  Five years ago, I went to one at Shoreline.
We walked out early.  Jimmy had taken every song he had ever written and
turned it into a beer drinking anthem.  Another five years later (now),
we decided to give him another try.  

This recent one (end of the tour) was not as good as the one ten years
ago, but far better than the one we walked out of.  Jimmy has clearly
developed a cult following (when you sell out Shoreline, is that still
a "cult"?) that knows all the words to all his songs, and sings along with
every one.   They call themselves Parrotheads and wear fake parrots and
shark-fin hats to his concerts.   

A band called Evangeline opened for him - they're apparently on his 
label (Margaritaville Records).  An (essentially) all-female band from
Cajun country.  They were pretty good, but I didn't feel the need to 
run out and buy their CD.  However, Jimmy came out to perform a song with
them that I immediately recognized - something about a gulf coast highway.
I hear it in my head with Willie Nelson singing it.  It was beautiful, and
if somebody knows what I'm talking about (I surely don't) please tell me
the title of the song.

Anyway, then Jimmy came out with an Uber-Reefer band - three piece horn
section, three Reefer-ettes, guitar, bass, three percussionists, and
the inimitable and immortal Fingers Taylor and Michael Utley on harp/vocals
and keyboards respectively.  Surprisingly, Utley was *not* playing pan 
drums - they had another fellow doing an exquisite job on those.

They opened with "Volcano" - properly done with a wonderful Calypso/Reggae
feel rather than the beer-drinking-rock-n-roll to which he had retreated
in years past.  Other songs were "If we had a saxaphone" - this one *wants*
to rock, and it did; "Come Monday" (very pretty); "Manana"; "Boat Drinks";
"Cheeseburger"; "Margaritaville"; "Why don't we get drunk"; "Another
Saturday Night" (yes, the Sam Cooke classic with a delicious reggae beat);
"Fins" (oh Lordy if you could see 6000 Parrot-heads making fin gestures
with their hands - "fins to the left, fins to the right"); "Havana 
Daydreaming"; and a buch of others.

Political note: He closed one chorus of Magaritaville with "This sure isn't
Murhpy Brown's fault"

He did a (pitifully short) acoustic set with just him, Utley, and Taylor.
All I could think about was what those three guys must have seen together...

They did an acapella version of "Down by the Rivers of Babylon" - a famous
gospel song.  It sent shivers up my spine, as I suspect it did for many
there.

Jimmy left the stage at one point and let Fingers Taylor take the lead
on a very funky blues thang called (I think) "Jackson Police".  The band
*really* cooked on that.

He closed with Margaritaville, and then came back for an encore of 
Cheeseburger, and a quiet acoustic "Defying Gravity" - not one of my 
favorite ballands of his, but a nice way to end the show.

His followers seem to be ready to listen a little bit more and scream and
whistle a little less.  They do want to sing along with every song, and
Jimmy encourages that.  My wife and I were guilty of singing along as well.

I am praying that, like Crosby Stills & Nash, Jimmy will try an acoustic
tour and play some smaller venues.  He is a fine storyteller, a great
musician, and loves what he does. 

Regards, Lee
Newsgroups: rec.music.country.western