Buffett Works Hard to Achieve Slacker Act

Jimmy Buffett takes a lot of hits from critic types for the substance-free nature of his party-minded music. Yet he has pulled off one impressive feat with that music: convincing the masses that he’s the ultimate slacker who simply lazed his way into rock stardom--and managed to dash off a few best-selling books--between snoozes in his hammock.

It’s an appealing fantasy for an overworked world, to be sure, and Thursday, in the first of two nights at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater (the digitally high-tech new name for poetically soft old Irvine Meadows), Buffett played his lovable loafer role to the hilt, to the delight of the sold-out, Hawaiian-shirted house.

Still, it’s apparent to anyone looking beyond his gently befuddled stage persona that Buffett knows precisely where his appeal lies, and that he invests considerable effort in sustaining the fantasy.

As a writer, Buffett has a knack for colorful if inconsequential scene painting and character study, but he backed away from one of the few really meaty moments in his most recent album, “Beach House on the Moon.”

That song, “Permanent Reminder of a Temporary Feeling,” is a potentially sobering look at the legacy of hedonism, but he give it a casual, all-smiles walk-through that said, “Don’t worry--this isn’t meant to be taken seriously.”

Despite the show’s round-trip-to-the-moon theme, things rarely took flight musically. His 12-piece Coral Reefer Band--especially the rhythm section--kept its world-music lite groove happy enough with a wall of party sound during the two-hour-plus show.

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* Jimmy Buffett plays at 8 tonight at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, 8808 Irvine Center Drive, Irvine. Sold out. (949) 855-2863.