Next time I'll bring a cooler.
Washington Post, June 17, 2005
The giant airborne shark that meandered into Nissan Pavilion on Wednesday night is an apt metaphor for Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band: oversize, goofy and entertaining.
What the flying fish didn't have in common with the 58-year-old troubadour: It meandered. Buffett and his cast of more than a dozen performers presented a spectacle as tightly scripted as "Cats" -- complete with enough local references to make it clear the man does his homework between tanning sessions. Every song was announced, one way or another (in the case of "Fins," by shark balloon), giving the Parrotheads that much more time to wriggle their grass skirts in anticipation.
Buffett's voice has lost none of its workmanlike efficiency over thirty-odd years. But if he's a good guitarist, it's hard to tell, since the sound of his acoustic was engulfed by the merry, melodic din, which included such tropical touches as steel drum and ukulele.
He's a brilliant musical ethnographer, though. The show included not only his own famous tales of boozing, boating and bronzing, but also like-minded songs by others, from Crosby, Stills and Nash's "Southern Cross" to Van Morrison's playful "Brown-Eyed Girl." A range of songs from his 1974 album "A-1-A" to his 2004 "License to Chill" showed his impressive consistency. The only real surprise was a video tribute to Johnny Carson, featuring Buffett reminiscing about his appearances on Carson's show.
Come to think of it, Carson's a better analogy for Buffett than that shark was. The concert provided cozy reassurance to people who endured two or more hours of the evening rush hour to dream of catching a wave, people whose last sight of the ocean was probably on a screen saver.
--Pamela Murray Winters
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