Wasted Away Again in Margaritaville

Parrot Heads (which are ironically very similar to Dead Heads) are some pretty creative people. Last night was my first experience at a real Jimmy Buffett concert. Now, a few years ago, I and a couple of friends went up to see Jimmy as he performed live on the Today Show in NYC. That was a completely different animal than what I experienced last night.

The venue, The Nissan Pavilion in Bristow, VA was bombarded with all sorts of craziness. When my Buffett buddy Stacy and I got to the Pavilion, we saw a sea of cars, some with fins on the roof, some with pointy teeth painted on the windshield. There were hula skirts, coconut bras and tiki bars galore. Some folks even brought their own hibachis, sandboxs and swimming pools. Most everyone brought alcohol. Lots and lots of alcohol. And yesterdays temperatures were in the upper 90's and very humid. So many of these fans baked in the sun for a good part of the day before the concert and apparently cooled themselves with some kind of frozen concoction.

After we walked about 1/2 mile from the parking area we finally got the gates where we showed our tickets and got into the pavilion. This is where the once moving line came to an abrupt halt. And it was a sea of sweaty, smelly, pushy and highly intoxicated bodies collided.

We finally got to the pavilion which is made up of a covered seating area and then a lawn. The lawn is where people brought blankets and lawn chairs and lots and lots of beach balls.

By the time we made it to our seats, the concert had already started. Which was a little disappointing to me but I got over it quick. There was still absolutely no breeze under the pavilion so the profuse sweating began and didn't stop for about an hour. Jimmy mentioned that at that exact moment it was 15 degrees cooler in Key West than it was in Bristow, VA.

Jimmy did all the favorites, Cheeseburger In Paradise, Margaritaville, Son of a Son of Sailor, etc. He also did many non-Buffett songs. He actually has a guy in the band that was an original member of Little Feat, so some Dixie Chicken was in order. Jimmy also did Southern Cross, Werewolves of London and a tribute to his creole home with City of New Orleans.

Jimmy also had with him a young man named Jake Shimabukuro who played the ukulele. I mean wailed on the ukulele. Have you ever heard a rendition of the Star Spangled Banner on the ukulele with steel drums as back up? It was amazing. This kid was so good!!!

During some of the breaks, they would show videos on the giant screens from concerts earlier in the summer and mainly of the tailgating that goes on in the parking lot prior to the show. All I can say is that some girls have been staying up late and catching the "Girls Gone Wild" advertisements on TV. Whew! Girls...put those things away!

The show was over around 11:00 p.m. We waited a bit to let some of the people get out of the seating area. This was our first glimpse at the lawn which was previously covered with dancing bodies and now looked more like a war zone. There was abandoned blankets, crushed plastic cups, plastic water bottles, and a lone flip-flop (not blown out either!) Then, we made our way back the 1/2 mile to the parking lot. Fortunately, Stacey had her thinking cap on. We had a cooler of water in the trunk and had two folding chairs there as well. We sat in the parking lot for over an hour just waiting our turn to actually leave. And that was normal from what I heard from some of the employees there. This place has only one way in and one way out. Yea, that was my least favorite part of the night. Basically, we sat around drinking water and watching this guy across the way puke his guts out. Good times!

Buffett was awesome, I think this may have been a once in a lifetime thing for me. If you go to a Buffett show, get yourself physically prepared like 6 months in advance. Buffett shows are not for the frail, weak or incompacitated. Nor are they for those that do not like to have fun. Now...where is the shaker of salt??