Jimmy Buffett

https://variety.com/2023/music/obituaries-people-news/jimmy-buffett-dead-margaritaville-1235711632/

 

Although I didn’t have any personal connections to Jimmy Buffett, “Margaritaville” was the second song to be played on my self-selected retirement party playlist. I also remember my trip out to Minneapolis quite a few years ago to catch a couple of Minnesota Twins games. I was glancing at the local newspaper while riding the light rail out to the Mall Of America and discovered that the newest branch of his Margaritaville restaurant chain was having a soft opening there that same day. I wandered by around 11:15 and there was no line, so I decided to have my lunch there. (I was tempted by the “cheeseburger in paradise” but opted for jambalaya instead.)

 

Chris Morris had a great summary in his Variety obituary: “Buffett’s boozy, punny, often marijuana-scented variety of tropical good-time music struck an abiding chord with an army of enthusiastic fans, who dubbed themselves “parrotheads” in reference to the colorful avian headgear they sported at the musician’s sold-out concerts.”

 

And on a more serious note (also from the Variety obit):

Analyzing the enduring appeal of Buffett’s music, Christopher Ashley, director of the 2017 jukebox musical “Escape to Margaritaville,” said, “There is a celebratory bacchanalian quality but also a real strain of sadness in those songs. I think his songs have a real philosophical commitment to finding joy now, being as now is the only moment… Don’t postpone joy. Embrace it. Grab it. I think that’s profound and a great message to send in a world as joy-challenged as this one.”

 

I’ve posted my favorite Buffett songs elsewhere, but this classic duet deserves its own shout-out.

Shuffle #165 (September 2, 2023)

Jimmy Buffett edition

 

Brown Eyed Girl

Fruitcakes

Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes

He Went To Paris

Margaritaville

Come Monday

One Particular Harbour

Mary Chapin Carpenter / Dawes – Wolf Trap, 8/26/2023

Row L, Seats 101-103 – center section, on the left-center aisle

 

Among Mary Chapin Carpenter’s many virtues – great voice, wonderful material, sly sense of humor – is her stage presence. Specifically, she always seems to be having a lot of fun while performing, although she’s probably done many of the songs hundreds of times. (It may have been my imagination, but I thought I did notice some subtle changes in arrangement from previous shows, which undoubtedly helps keep things fresh.) Sam Wilson’s guitar work was particularly impressive on “I Take My Chances”, “I Feel Lucky”, and “Between The Dirt And The Stars”, while long-time band member Jon Carroll did notable work on “Lucky” and “Everybody’s Got Something”. Don Dixon and Nate Barnes provided sturdy support on bass and percussion, respectively. Other high points included my personal favorite “Stones In The Road”, which she preceded with a shout-out to the day’s rally and march in DC on the 60^th anniversary of 1963’s historic March on Washington, and the show-closing “Down At The Twist And Shout.” (BTW, I just learned from Wikipedia that “Alvin and the Chipmunks recorded a cover for their 1992 album Chipmunks in Low Places.” They did not specify whether BeauSoleil appeared on that version as well.)

Setlist

 

Having a rock band open for Mary Chapin Carpenter, albeit a nominally “folky” one, still seems like a somewhat odd choice to me, even if the band is one of my favorites. Dawes did put together an excellent one-hour set – the show kicked off at 7:30 rather than Wolf Trap’s more usual 8:00 – doing two songs from their latest CD and seven from their earlier albums. Fortunately, the excessive-volume issues that I found problematic the last two times I saw them (once at XPNFest and once at the Lincoln Theatre) didn’t bother me Saturday night, thanks to the Filene Center’s open sides and back and the fact that our seats were well back from the stage. This definitely improved the presentation of the slower songs, such as “Crack The Case”, “A Little Bit Of Everything” (one of my two all-time Dawes favorites), and the set-closing “All Your Favorite Bands”. The closing line of the latter’s chorus, “May all your favorite bands stay together”, was a bit ironic, as original bassist Wylie Gelber left the group earlier this year to pursue his love of musical instrument design and construction.

Setlist

 

Traffic on the Maryland section of the Beltway was somewhat slow on the way there, but my trip back was much better than I had expected, given the ongoing construction on the Virginia side. After eating a small salad at Panera, I got to the venue around 6:00, and joined a couple of friends who had grabbed a picnic table. The weather was a bit on the warm side, but not enough to affect our enjoyment of the performances.