by Robert Gillis

Created on: September 19, 2007

Review: Jimmy Buffet at the Tweeter Center Mansfield, August 11, 2006
11 August 2006

This is a party I should have attended a lot sooner! I have been really missing out on this rite of summer. In a word, In-cred-ible.

Jimmy Buffet There is absolutely no denying that the man is a legend who has found his niche. His shows are legendary, they ALWAYS sell out, and they boast a tailgate party that is unrivaled.

In fact, for many "Parrotheads" (Jimmy Buffet fans) the actual concert is almost an afterthought. Show goers arrive six to eight hours before the concert and begin setting up elaborate tailgate parties. There are trailers, tents, mobile homes, palm trees, dunking tanks, generators, and full grilles, Tiki huts, blenders full of Margaritas, more trees, inflatable parrots and sharks, grass skirts, Hawaiian leis, straw hats And an ENORMOUS amount of alcohol being consumed.

In fact, the only comparison that can be made to being at this party is probably Mardis Gras on Bourbon Street. Of perhaps Spring break in Cancun.

(debauchery: noun. A wild gathering involving excessive drinking and promiscuity. diversion; recreation, celebration; festivity, merrymaking; conviviality; jollification revel; revelry, orgy, drunken revelry)

There were not any orgies going on, but the word debauchery is otherwise perfect for this is indeed a wild gathering involving excessive drinking, celebration, festivity, and drunken revelry.

And despite the lack of orgies, the air is sexually charged. Hard bodied young guys and gals walk around shirtless (or in the case of the ladies, in bikini tops, tie dye shirts or coconut bras) and in sandals, grass skirts and straw hats. And of course, there a great many older folks who are not exactly in shape, who you wish would cover up.

You see a lot of skin in the parking lot. But none of it is offensive or obscene; clearly everyone is here to party.

The food smells great; there's steak and all sorts of other gourmet cuisine cooking on the huge grills but the big attraction is the drink. Besides the band and staff, Sue and I were probably one of the few sober people in attendance. The "frozen concoctions" are flowing freely all day and by show time a large percentage of the crowd is very drunk.

For many, it's too much.

There was the woman who literally spent the ENTIRE show with her head down on a table she was so drunk she was barely conscious. And the man Sue saw, passed out on the stairs.

While I certainly worry about all these people getting on the road after

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