One for the Birds

It’s odd to go to a concert where the music is secondary to the real action.

For Jimmy Buffett and his devoted fans (a.k.a. Parrot Heads), live performance has always been about everything but the music. Mainly it’s about sporting shark hats, Hawaiian print shirts, leis and grass skirts while slamming down plenty of (choose any combination) beer, margaritas and pina coladas.

Catching that party vibe is what matters, no?

That good-time atmosphere did indeed prevail at a sold-out Irvine Meadows on Saturday night, as Buffett and his Coral Reefer Band ended their “Banana Wind” summer tour by keeping an enthusiastic crowd on its feet for nearly 2 1/2 hours. To his credit, over the years Buffett has amassed a substantial set of catchy, contagious crowd pleasers, including “Fins,” “Come Monday,” “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” “Margaritaville,” “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes,” “Volcano” and perhaps his finest song, “A Pirate Looks at 40.”

Yet when you look past the tried-and-true concert staples, sameness sets in and one lightweight, indistinguishable song overlaps into the next. For example, “Growing Older But Not Up” and “Grapefruit--Juicy Fruit” epitomize a formulaic instrumental approach where dispassionate playing reigns supreme. Saturday night, the constant mix of monotonous steel drums, bland rhythm guitars and obligatory three-part harmonies grew tiresome even before the intermission rolled around.

Worst of all, Buffett outright embarrassed himself on two occasions. A diluted, uninspired version of Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl” was ridiculous enough, but with “Jamaica Mistaica,” a true-story account of his being mistaken for drug smugglers by Jamaican police in January of this year, he hit a new low.

The serious-themed song was delivered with such an incongruous frivolity that you might have thought it was all just a joke. After batting about a few inflated bananas and beach balls, Buffett finished up the song and told the crowd: “After something like that happens, you either get drunk or laugh about it. I did both.”

Yeah, right. Party on, dude.

Buffett and the rest of the Coral Reefer Band could learn a few things from their harmonica player, Greg “Fingers” Taylor, about reaching for some real emotion. Providing a sharp contrast to the otherwise anonymous sound and style of the evening, Taylor played from the gut with passion and precision. He stood out as a Cadillac among Pintos.

No matter though, really. The surf always seems to be up for Buffett, and his indiscriminate Parrot Heads go bonkers over his every move. Just another night spent wasting away in Irvine Meadows.