I’m sober. This is news only because I attended my first Jimmy Buffett concert Saturday in Dallas and people who attend those concerts tend generally not to be sober.
I fell in with the wrong crowd of Parrotheads, about 25,000 of them. It was an experience I won’t soon forget. I just wish I remembered more about it.
I was there with a great group of guys, including my long-time friend Doug Baber. We drove down Saturday morning and got to Dallas around 1:30. We checked into our motel and figured we were going to arrive at the concert, scheduled to begin at 7:30, in plenty of time. When we pulled in, at around 4, the parking lots were almost full. We finally got a spot more than two miles from Pizza Hut Park, where Buffett was performing.
I saw Buffett in 1978 as a warm-up act for the Eagles. But Buffett is a much different creature these days. People travel from all over the country to see him at his concerts. There were countless RVs and motor homes and the pre-concert tailgate party was much bigger than anything I had ever seen before _ including a Chiefs game at Arrowhead.
Beer, beer and more beer flowed. Marguaritas made many a cup runneth over. It was a crazy scene, especially when you consider a bunch of people my age were the ones making it.
Once inside for the concert _ well, what can I say. People were crazy. Buffett was amazing. My personal favorite was his rendition of Southern Cross by Crosby, Stills and Nash. Of course, he played all of his standards. I loved Fins and Son of a Son of a Sailor most.
Incredible experience. The throbbing inside my head told me so.