MANSFIELD, Mass. — When Jimmy Buffett died, the memories of him rolled in like waves toward a tropical island.
I was lucky enough to see him in concert many times, starting in the early 1990s and continuing right up to his final Maine performance in 2022 in Bangor.
A master of showmanship and storytelling, Buffett was never happier than when playing for his fans. And it showed.
There was only one occasion when I went to a Buffett concert and couldn’t join the good times that started in the parking lot hours before the band took the stage.
The Parrotheads were famous for creating a carefree and exuberant party like no other, with food, drink, and music, of course, but also Tiki huts, man-made beaches, grass skirts, lighthouses, cars with shark fins, and on and on and on.
The reason I wasn’t part of the celebration that year — 2005 — is that I was there to do a story on it for 207. Take a look, and you’ll see the way it was at a Jimmy Buffett show—and, sadly, never will be again.