Date: Fri 30-Aug-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Illustration: C

Location: A12

Quick Words:

Buffett-Meadows-Banana-concert

Full Text:

(concert rev, Buffett @Meadows, 8/30/96)

Concert Review-

On Stage & Off, Buffett Concert Had Its Ups & Downs

(with photo)

By Shannon Hicks

Jimmy Buffett has not had great luck recently with his seaplanes. A few

summers back, he crashed one into the water. Luckily the multi-multi-million

album selling pirate at heart, singer-songwriter, margarita slurpin'

entertainer escaped unscathed.

Last January, when his (new) seaplane was shot at by Jamaican police who had

been led to believe by an anonymous telephone tip that the vessel was involved

in drug trafficking, Buffett fans around the world just knew this latest

mishap would be the catalyst for a future song.

Indeed, shortly thereafter, Buffett released his 22nd studio album, Banana

Wind , on his own Margaritaville Records label. And right there, second track

into the collective mix of tunes is "Jamaica Mistaica," Buffett's version of

the aforementioned international incident. Recorded and mixed in Key West and

the Bahamas, Banana Wind is the latest offering by a kid who refuses to grow

up, a storyteller who hangs with poets and pirates, sailors and smugglers,

beautiful women and bartenders... The man Parrot Heads call king.

Not that Buffett - a perennial summer touring favorite - ever needs a reason

(how many summers has he gone out on the road just for the thrill of his fans,

without a new album behind him?), but what better inducement is there to get

back out on the road, playing to thousands of fans nightly, than with a new

batch of Caribbean-tinged, palm-tree swaying, magical and fantastic musical

gumbo?

The good news for Parrot Heads in the Connecticut area this year was that for

the second consecutive summer, there did not have to be a two hour-plus

(minimum) drive to the Great Woods amphitheatre in Mansfield, MA. Jimmy

Buffett and his Coral Reefer Band had put Hartford's Meadows Music Theatre on

its itinerary for the 1996 summer tour.

That was the good news, and not surprisingly, the tickets for this show sold

out well in advance of August 24's concert. Now comes "Hartford Mistaica."

The bad news that came from the wonderful concert Buffett and his band put on

- complete with at least four full screens and additional speakers of his own

to project the concert out to the lawn seats, the parking lot and the "garden"

area of the lawn venue - was that when the Meadows put tickets on sale for

this concert, it apparently oversold the lawn seating area.

People who made it in to the concert unscathed counted themselves lucky.

Because there was no opening act on this year's tour - unusual for even a

Buffett tour - the starting time of 8 pm printed on tickets was indeed the

starting time for Buffett on the stage. When the performer took the stage and

his first song began drifting out over the speakers, the gate to get from the

parking lot onto the grounds of the Meadow's concert area became a mob scene.

Security was very slow, then there is always a second stop to have your ticket

ripped (why this cannot be combined into one step, saving some time, is still

a mystery).

With thousands of people trying to get through the five or six security-gate

openings available, it took too many fans up to 45 minutes to get into the

concert, only to find out - for a lot of the lawn area ticket holders - there

was no room inside for them, either.

Fans were clamoring for any space they could get on the sloping grass area,

and by 9 pm, the front business office of the Meadows looked like a boxing

match gone bad: arms waving, fists clenched and lots of screaming going on.

To make matters worse, fans emboldened by alcohol from an afternoon in the

sun, or just upset (security treated everyone shabbily, rudely and acted

indeferential to any problems), began being mistreated by some of the security

staff, getting pushed or shoved out of the way. Some of Hartford's finest were

accused of using batons on people trying to get into the show, who could not

move simply because there were too many people squeezed into too small an

area. Reports of these occurrences flowed into the office almost as quickly as

those who were demanding the entire situation be rectified.

Meanwhile, the concert was going on. And it was classic Buffett: Splashingly

colorful, bright, smiles galore, dancing and bouncing, and songs from a

library that spans more than 25 years.

Those sitting in the pavilion area of the Meadows had no idea what was

happening outside, either at the front gate or behind them on the lawn.

Buffett and his dozen-member backing band continued the show, leading the

audience with classics and new songs alike: "One Particular Harbor" sailed

into "Barometer Soup," or "Fins" was topped with "Cheeseburger in Paradise."

Untraditional with concert procedures of the past, many lawn ticket holders

were given on-the-spot refunds from the box office Saturday night. The problem

with that, many complained, is that after driving to the show and enjoying an

afternoon with friends old and new, the night only ended on the sourest of

notes.

Buffett concerts are supposed to be preceded by an afternoon of tailgating

fun: Sun, margaritas, seafood, cheeseburgers, silly outfits, ridiculous games

and tales of concerts past. Many of those who received refunds Saturday night

have vowed to never return to the Meadows, Buffett concert or otherwise. And

unfortunately, that only means bad news all around.