Shot of the stage where Buffett (wearing orange t-shirt) preached to his followers.
I don’t care. Say what you will about the mans music, but I had a blast last night catching my first Jimmy Buffett show. I won the tickets, and was looking forward to it as a free night of rather simple fun. Drinks, beach balls, drunk 50 year olds, high-fiving those drunk folks and tunes that I have known for many a year made for a downright whale of an evening at an absolutely packed-out Pizza Hut Park.
There is nothing – zero, zilch - hip about Jimmy Buffett. I cant help but assume that is what was so great about last night. No pretense, no need to act a certain way, no need to critically breakdown the artistic merits of “It’s 5 o’clock Somewhere” (which was the 4th song, I think). Just enjoy and goof-off a bit. Singing along (yep, I sure was) to standards such as “Come Monday”, “Changes in Attitudes, Changes in Latitudes”, and “Cheeseburger in Paradise” created a communal, comfy vibe in our section of the stands, and added to the fun.
There is definitely a time and place for the quiet, introverted listening rooms and nights of singer/songwriter seriousness. I will always look forward to the times I can catch a band that is making serious music with real honesty and integrity, or that new disc from an artist who really has something to say about isolation, alienation and heartbreak. That said, I hope there will also always be a time and place in my life for nights like last night too, where it wasn’t about the music alone, but about the change in latitude…
6 Responses
I was a serious Parrothead during my 20′s and into my 30′s probably saw Buffett close to 25 times, still to this day the most fun you can have at a concert!!! Definitely nothing to apologize for.
It is obvious to me that I was being silly even thinking of it as a guilty pleasure, really. it was just a good ol’ non-guilty, normal pleasure! It was a blast and I cant wait til he comes back to Texas!
I always thought a concert of his would be fun, even if I don’t listen to his music in my day to day life. People compare Jimmy to Kenny, but I still think Jimmy’s concerts would be more fun for some reason.
Well, I know that people compare kenny to jimmy, but I think thats cuz of the island vibe. I am like you, I dont listen to buffetts stuff day-to-day, but i enjoy many of his songs, where I cant say that for chesney unfortunately…
The thing about Jimmy is that his songs actually manage to stick in my head while Kenny’s all just seem to run together for the most part. Jimmy’s got the personality that Kenny just doesn’t quite have.
YES! You are correct madame!