From the Vault: Buffett transforms Mansfield into Margartiaville 9/4/08 (by Colby)

With Buffett performing two shows this upcoming week at the
Comcast Center, I dug into the archives and pulled out this
review of Buffett's 9/4/08 show in Mansfield. Hope you enjoy!

The days may be getting shorter and the air may be getting colder but Jimmy Buffett tried his best to keep summer alive at the Comcast Center in Mansfield, MA this past weekend.

Wrapping up their east coast leg of the “The Year of Still Here” tour at the Comcast Center, Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band played in front of a sold out crowd of 19,900 parrot heads.

The show was scheduled to begin at 8:00pm but the fun began right around 11:00am as the Comcast Center parking lots were open for the biggest tailgating concert around. Thousands of Buffett fans dressed in grass skirts and Hawaiian shirts spent the beautiful Thursday afternoon grilling shrimp, and mixing margaritas, which has become almost as important as the show itself.

Buffett started the show with a song entitled Homemade Music off his 1988 album, Hot Water before jumping into Tiki Bar Is Open, a cover originally written by John Hiatt and Fruitcakes, a concert staple which has been played ever since it’s album of the same name was released in 1994.

Buffett, the “Mayor of Margartiaville” answered chants of “Buffett ‘08” and “Barack O’Buffett” by joking that he “Accepts your nomination” however that was about as political as he would get throughout the night.

After breaking into Trying to Reason with Hurricane Season, Jimmy took the time to announce that his next show, two days later at the same venue, would be moved from 8:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. because of Hurricane Hannah, which was expected to hit Massachusetts. Buffett assured the crowd that he wouldn’t let a little rain spoil their good time.

Buffett ended his first set with one of his most popular songs, Cheeseburger in Paradise, along with Van Morrison hit and Buffett concert staple, Brown Eyed Girl and One Particular Harbor.

After a short break, Buffett broke into an excellent rendition of the Grateful Dead’s Scarlet Begonias, which seemed to channel the spirit of Jerry Garcia.

The second set consisted of some of Buffett’s more well known hits including, Volcano, Son of a Sailor, Last Mango In Paris, A Pirate Looks At Forty, and the famous, Margaritaville, which was used to close out the second set.

With the fans chanting “Buffett” while staring at a dark stage, you began to hear the jaws theme which has become synonymous with the song “Fins.” The crowd went crazy and the lights went on to find Buffett making the shape of a shark fin with his two hands and yelling “Fins to the left, fins to the right.” The Crowd went crazy as Buffett played a classic rendition of the song and eventually broke into another cover, this time of Bob Dylan’s classic, Rainy Day Women #12 & 35, with the crowd emphasizing the line “everybody must get stoned!”

Buffett ended the show by playing a solo acoustic rendition of the song Nautical Wheelers off his 1974 album, A1A.

The music may have stopped, but the party spilled out into the parking lot where it had begun nearly 12 hours prior, as many fans tailgated well into the night. One thing is clear, at the age of 61, Jimmy Buffett is still the life of the party.