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Today:
Parrothead party meets expectations
Posted: Jul 30, 2008 in Music
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MULTIMEDIA
Tropical weather, familiar tunes and an attentive star added up to a classic appearance by Jimmy Buffett Tuesday at Verizon Wireless Music Center.
On a humid night with temperatures in the 80s, Buffett paraded his signature songs to impressive effect.
A streak of "It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere," "Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes," "Cheeseburger in Paradise," "Volcano," "Come Monday," "Brown-Eyed Girl" and "One Particular Harbor" wrapped up the concert's first half, nudging a sold-out crowd of 24,000 to respond with a level of focused energy not felt at a local Buffett show during the past decade.
A party for the masses is guaranteed when the 61-year-old Gulf Coast native makes his annual pilgrimage to Verizon. His concerts can derail, however, if the music doesn't match the mood. On Tuesday, the program's isolated missteps included renditions of 1988's "Homemade Music" and 1978's "Cowboy in the Jungle."
To soothe the hedonistic beast of his audience, Buffett turned to a stripped-down version of "Come Monday." Two acoustic guitars, steel drums and congas captivated listeners while Buffett sang his time-tested tale of missing a girl.
By naming his current road trip "The Year of Still Here Tour," the barefoot troubadour isn't necessarily raising expectations for fantastic performances.
It turns out that doing what he's done for years -- sharing novelty songs about seaside lifestyles, honest snapshots of relationships and a few doses of unapologetic nostalgia -- is plenty.
(Regarding yesteryear, Buffett surely baffles his youngest fans with the Brylcreem jingle tucked inside the song "Pencil-Thin Mustache").
Guest player Sonny Landreth handled more than his share of instrumental heavy lifting during the show, adding the kinetic twang of slide guitar to "I Will Work for Gumbo" and "License to Chill."
Buffett, meanwhile, pushed his good-guy reputation through the roof as he sang "Son of a Son of a Sailor" while screening video footage of a January visit to a U.S. aircraft carrier off the coast of the United Arab Emirates.
Elsewhere, Buffett displayed detailed awareness of his surroundings. Echoing comments that Dave Matthews made last week, Buffett mentioned the construction and development near the venue. Using an Andy Griffith analogy, Buffett said Noblesville had evolved from Mayberry status to Mount Pilot.
He also peppered conversations and lyrics with references to Deer Creek, the Hoosier Dome, the April earthquake in Indiana and Hancock County's Mount Comfort Airport. He even dryly dedicated a rendition of "I Will Play for Gumbo" to residents of French Lick.
i just dont see how you passed up the motley crue for dave matthews and jimmy buffett,,i would not do something like that
I don't know what concert YOU went to, but it was the worst I've EVER been to (ok, maybe tied with Billy Joel/Elton John for poor acoustics and sound!)
In the lawn, you couldn't hear ANYTHING except blah blah blah, Indianapolis! WOOOOOOOOOOO. The only time you heard ANY words were when the audience sang along and the spotlight was on the audience. I heard a LITTLE bit of background music but not a syllable of Jimmy Buffett.
Add that along to the fact that the ticket readers quit working right away, and people were being turned away.... AND THEN others were told, oh we'll just tear the ticket and let you in....
Maybe I'm just getting old, but the tailgating was the best part of the concert, and that was because I was with people who have come to these concerts for YEARS.
I went to his concert back in '93, and it was FAR better than this years! If I went by this concert, I might just be avoiding ALL Deer Creek concerts, oh yeah, it's not called that anymore....
i will be going to mayhem on the 13th of aug.neither dave or jimmy excites me to spend money on the, i have 4 more shows at deer creek this summer and so far the best concert i went was cruefest i went to rascal faltts and found them to be boring. taylor swift on the other hand was a nice surprise.i enjoyed her show very much,she should have been the headliner i have mayhem-aug-13 poison-aug-15 projecket revolution -aug-23 journey-sept-10 i hear my fave artist jamet jackson will be on tour this fall i hope she has a indy show,but fear she might cancel take care everyone and also mr.lindquist love your column
This was my first Jimmy Buffet concert though I have enjoyed his music for decades. I sat on the lawn with friends. I thought the music was great but will not be going back. I never imagined that the second hand smoke would be sooooo bad. I expected some but... I got a migraine headache which threw me into nausea and vomiting and kept me from functioning until around 2pm the next day.And no it was not a hangover! It is sad that some of us have to pay such a high price for others bad habits!!! What happened to my rights?
This was my first Jimmy Buffet concert though I have enjoyed his music for decades. ...
Second hand smoke(regardless of what kind of smoke) on a wide-open-to- the-sky hill got to you that bad??? Check out the Pavilion next time, it's "no smoking" I have seen it enforced sometimes, but good luck with that.
But your "rights" comment?, those got left at the gate before you even walked in. You complain about second hand smoke but you're cool with them going through your personal belongings and shaking you down before you go in? I can understand closed-in establishments, but the lawn is basically a two tilted football fields. That's like making a fuss about somebody smoking ANYWHERE outside?
Don't get me wrong, I know it's a lot of people smoking at once, but it's still outside, no way against your rights, not at all.
You all are crazy. The Jimmy Buffett concert last night was one of the best concerts I've been to and I have been to many. It was a unique experience. I loved tailgating and he had an awesome line up. The sound was fine. I will be going from now on as long as he stays on tour. This was well worth the money and the time. I highly suggest anyone who hasn't been to a Buffett concert to experience it at least once. He's down to earth and a professional. The people at this concert are very friendly and it has an energetic and positive vibe! I loved it and I don't even listen to Jimmy Buffett that often.
well evedentially if the pavillion is non smoking,that didnt stop these moronic guys 4 rows back from smoking pot at cruefest,i dont do drug or drink. you do not need to drink or smoke funny pipes to have a good time at a concert people who drink and smoke of any kind are nothing but worthless losers to me some lady pays $95 for a seat at crue and smokes it up then passes out after the 2nd band oh brother then she got real ill then had leave,,,...mayhem aug 13 i,m there upper handicaps everyone stay cool and keep your pot at home
I personally thought it was a great show... going to a Jimmy concert is all about the atmosphere, which was excellent this year. Last year he played more of a mellow setlist when the crowd just wanted to party, which didnt mesh well. This year he played a party setlist for the party crowd and it was a great time. I was dancing and singing the whole time. I thought it was a great setlist and it was one of the better shows i've been to of his (seen 7 shows)
if i want to see jimmy or dave matthews i will watch them for free on youtube.neither artist gets me excited
I have been to many Buffett concerts over the last 8 years, many with two of my boys/men and now my husband has finally joined us. We also transport many of the kids friends, male and female. It is an annual event, hopefully twice a year. We LOVE Indy!!!!!!!!!!! It is just the right size , and believe me the people there are great, parrotheads and workers. Detroit is a great venue but no portopotties and the workers could not care less. Alpine Valley is crazy, but too big now and also, not enough facilities. Jimmy's show on Tues. night was amazing and he sang just the right mix of his songs. And we also had cigar smokers by us on the lawn but what can you do. If I had my druthers, I would always get pavillion, but my kids like the lawn. The sound was outstanding this year. We could hear every word Jimmy said , but we were 2nd row lawn. We will go to Indy for a long as Jimmy does. It is the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have also been to many shows over the years and I thought this was one of the best, even though it was pretty hot early in the evening. Before ticket prices went through the roof I used to sit in the pavillion,but have been sitting lawn for a couple of years now. I landed in a pretty good area this year without a bunch of TOTALLY WASTED fans..just slightly intoxicated..haha. I didn't have any problem with the sound and was compltely amazed that I was out of the parking lot in under an hour..has to be a Buffett record for me. As I'm soon to be unemployed after 24 years at the same place this could possibly be my last show for a while unless I can land a new job that will allow me my Buffett "ME" time...
if i want to see jimmy or dave matthews i will watch them for free ...
That would be because you are watching them on you tube.
I'm not defending Buffet or DMB, I'm not that to hype on Buffet either and I try not to be to negative on here and use the indy.com community as a tool, but between second hand smoke outdoors comment and watching an artist on the internet rather than live comment, this thread has got me going.
Don't get me wrong, I you tube a lot of artist, own my fare share of concerts on DVD, and my DVR is loaded with shows from MHD, but when I hear or see a comment like this, my mind is BLOWN! I'm by no means singling you out Concertfreak1965, because you are not the first person I have heard this from, but regardless if you like the act or not, it NO WAY compares to being in the house live. After reading some of your other threads, I'm sure you know this, but the energy, the loudness, the artist interaction with the crowd, the entire atmosphere is ripped away from you if you're sitting at your computer or in front of your TV watching it, regardless of your sound system.