The Year of Still Here

On Thursday night, I saw Jimmy Buffett live in concert at Madison Square Garden. Dad got 8 tickets for the family (sold to him by a fanatic that even sent us a Buffett mixed tape for preparation) so Morgan took three friends, and Wright and I accompanied Mom and Dad for the other four seats.

In high school, I was a big concert person. I'd ballpark my concert attendance at over 40 or 50 during those four years - which includes at least 5 Allman Brothers, 4 Dave Matthews, and 5 Phish (there was also a Dave and Trey show). One might call me out for bragging, but these stats might be more on the embarrassing side of things. Anyway, I haven't been to very many concerts since I began college, minus the one summer I spent in Charlottesville when Norma and I ended up at the Pavillion most Friday nights, a great open-air amphitheater at the end of the downtown mall (see below post). I'll always love going though - there's something so fun about live music and beers. Well, duh.

Going to concerts with my parents has been more of a recent phenomenon - I think this is only the third time I've been to a show with them (the other two being Billy Joel in Charlottesville, and Kenny Chesney for my mom's 50th birthday). Jimmy Buffett was definitely the ideal concert to attend with parents. We all made frozen margaritas in the kitchen beforehand (the aforementioned mix cd playing throughout the house, obviously), and had fun dressing up Morgan's friends in Dad's old Hawaiian shirts. I met Wright in the city for another Marg beforehand, and we were at the concert by 8:15 (one of the main differences between attending a concert with your parents: you arrive on time - this may or may not be because the concerts you tend to go to with your parents actually start on time, while those you go to without tend to begin way past 9).

Anyway, we had a fantastic time. I was 0 for 4 on knowing the opening songs, while Wright was 1 for 4. Mom, who we found out was a former parrothead, was clocking in at 3 for 4 and from there knew the words to every one of the songs! I tended to sing the loudest during his covers (mom was not impressed at my glorious knowledge of "Brown Eyed Girl"), while Mom and Dad stood up during his classics. During the show, there was a video playing that chronicled Buffett's trip around the world over the past year, which read as a sort of Travel Channel meets Curb Your Enthusiasm extravaganza. He, of course, ended up in New York and riled the audience up with clips of the Giants winning the superbowl (I wonder how long until I stop tearing up at these?). The way I figured it, these videos served 2 purposes: 1) keep the older crowd amused, since many were not standing or dancing and clearly preferred watching TV, and 2) keep people like me, who only know the covers and his main three songs, at bay and feeling like they are sooo into it. Loved the videos.

The concert was a great choice by Dad, and I'd say we had 8 out of 8 feeling like they had a great time at the end of the night. To me, it doesn't really matter who you see in concert. It's always going to be good, and as long as you've got a good group and a beer (or, had a beer, if you are at Jones Beach or another dry concert arena), you're golden.

Addendum to Post--- My top 5 concerts ever, in no order:

1. Simon and Garfunkel at MSG (2003)

2. Elton John at MSG (2006)

3. Billy Joel at MSG (2006)

4. Rolling Stones at Hartford Civic Center (Strokes opener, 2002)

5. The first time I saw Phish (at MSG, 2003)

6. Ryan Adams at the Pavillion (2006)

(couldn't cut down to 5...)