Jimmy Buffett @ Cricket Wireless

Wow. I was not expecting the crowd that Jimmy Buffet drew last night at the Cricket Pavilion! Normally, when I show up an hour or so early, I can drive right in, find a cozy parking spot, and mosey up to the gate. On this occasion, traffic was backed up down the street and around the corner of the amphitheatre. I ended up parking in the overflow lot and the very far end. I didn't even know they had an overflow lot!

Ok, enough about parking. The place was packed! I really did not see this coming. Tens of thousands of Buffett fans, or "Parrot heads". There was nary a grown man to be found NOT wearing a Hawaiian shirt. It really was quite remarkable. I can understand the enjoyment people get out of the cool island vibes of the music, but I didn't honestly think it was such a religious following for Jimmy. I sort of always thought he was more of a nostalgia act, but the fans proved me wrong.

Whatever the reason, nostalgia or pure devotion, the fans were behind him... even when I actually started laughing out loud to the lyrics of his song "Summerzcool":

It’s time to go to summer school

Remember what is and is not cool

Oh summer school

There’s a time and a place to act like a fool

At summer school

Get your ass to a beach or at least to a pool

At summer school

Remember what is and what is not cool

Here’s the subjects:

Beer 101.

Sex 102.

Tune it in turn it out

That’s what I’m talking about

Honest. Those are the lyrics. You cant write stuff like that. Well, apparently you can.

All joking aside, he brought his "A game". A nice large screen, palm trees and plenty of island vibe on stage. He even played barefoot! Come on! The band was great, not a beat wrong anywhere. He really gave his fans exactly what they wanted, and they had a great time. Even when Jimmy briefly mentioned President Obama's recent visit to Phoenix, the crowd rallied behind him... with an unsettling roar of "Boo". Maybe they weren't booing the President, maybe they just didn't want to talk politics at a concert?? No, no that's not why they booed.

Photo-wise... the lighting was good... pretty constant, but well lit. The only problem was that I was confined to a small corner on the far side of the stage and was not able to move at all. So the shots get a bit redundant. I guess he is big enough that he doesn't need my help in the press, eh?