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Jimmy Buffett drinks in hockey, heat and humor at Toyota Park
By Bob
Gendron, Special to the Tribune
Story posted 2010.08.15 at 07:09 AM CDT
4 Duffers, Patrick Kane and the Stanley Cup make an appearance at the Jimmy Buffett concert at Toyota Park in Bridgeview.
Simon Brubaker, Chicago Tribune
Jimmy Buffett doesn't ever really need a reason to celebrate. But Saturday at a packed Toyota Park, he got a big one in the person of Chicago Blackhawk Patrick Kane, who emerged minutes into the concert with the Stanley Cup in hand. Wearing a Hawaiian shirt, the grinning Kane grabbed a tambourine as Buffett performed "Boat Drinks" and footage of the winger's championship-winning goal aired on projection screens. Hockey, 90-degree temperatures and dozens of bouncing beach balls: Why not? Anything goes with Buffett, just as long as it doesn't involve work.
Mixing equal parts Las Vegas lounge, Fort Lauderdale spring-break party and San Francisco folk commune, Buffett's feel-good shows remain excuses for fans to dress up in grass skirts, coconut-shell bras and pirate outfits. Laden with references to drinking, many of his songs came across as persuasive liquor advertisements that any cutting-edge marketing executive would be wise to study. Indeed, even in the face of disaster ("Volcano"), Buffett's only worry was locating rum. At least he's consistent.
While he and his 11-piece Coral Reefer Band are at the point where they can sleepwalk through familiar material, the ensemble refrained from taking shortcuts. As usual, Buffett looked as if he'd just sauntered in from an afternoon of surfing. The laidback feel translated to the 130-minute performance. Conversational and humorous, the 63-year-old singer often changed words to songs, inserting names of local attractions to give the narratives a Chicago flavor. Lyrical flexibility also carried over to "Fruitcakes," on which Buffett remarked, "We should be living like the
Jetsons/But we're being [expletive] by oil tycoons." It was the closest the Florida resident came to addressing the Gulf oil spill.
Otherwise, Buffett's observations primarily concerned the good life. The dog-eared country of "Bama Breeze" fluttered like a harmless conversation overheard at a pub. A cover of Sam Cooke's "Another Saturday Night" became a calypso-oriented dance one might encounter at a tiki bar. "Jolly Mon Sing" jingled to light tropical beats and a nursery-rhyme melody, traits that peppered a number of tunes. As did playful silliness, chiefly on "License to Chill," replete with a lax attitude toward the rat race that evoked the recent actions of JetBlue steward Steven Slater. During the second set, Buffett tempered the Caribbean accents with straight-ahead folk. Songs such as "Come Monday" relied on acoustic-based rhythms that kept the island sounds at bay.
Unfortunately, the venue didn't strike a similar balance with traffic logistics. Buffett concerts demand copious parking availability due to the myriad tailgaters. Toyota Park proved masterful for the vocalist's venue debut in 2008, but this year, lots reached capacity and created a logjam. After waiting upward of 45 minutes to travel two miles, cars were then diverted to area business lots. Ticket holders deserved better.
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