OMG, what a concert! What a great venue!
You will all recall how I went to the Jimmy Buffett concert at Madison Square Garden last November. OMG, Jimmy turned the Garden into a huge beach party!
Well, imagine my joy when Jimmy announced a concert at the Jones Beach theater. (He plays there every year, but since I've only recently become a Parrothead I was a bit oblivious...)
the Jones Beach Theater is in the middle of Jones Beach State Park. The park itself is on a barrier beach island, separated from the Long Island "mainland". The outdoor theater is located on Zack's Bay -- literally. The platform for the stage sits in the water of the bay, and the audience gets to see water on either side of the stage. As Wiki explains, [t]he original design of the theater had a "moat" — the stage was actually on Zack's Bay and separated from the beach, and performers could be brought to the stage by boat (some scenes had floating scenery). The moat was covered or filled in during the first renovation and seats closer to the stage were installed.
In fact, as my friend Suzanne can tell you, boats can actually park themselves near the theater and listen to the concerts.
So a Jimmy Buffett concert, with its stories of pirates and sailors, oceans and stars, is a perfect match for the venue.
The August 31 concert lived up to expectations. Jimmy called the evening a "hurricane party" as Long island braced for Hurricane Earl.
Yes, I am a Parrothead -- I wore my "tropical shirt" -- the turquiose tee decorated with hibiscus flowers, the one I wore in the Cayman islands last winter, as well as shell leis and sandals decorated with seashells. Not to mention, a (silk) hibiscus flower in my hair.
When we arrived at Jones Beach, the parking lot closest to the theater was already full, and we had to park in field 4, next to the beach. but that's to be expected -- not only was the concert sold out, but with temperatures in the 90's, the beach crowd wasn't in a hurry to leave. We walked through the parking lot past Parrotheads tailgating -- don't ask me why they did that, when there's an actual beach to party on just a few steps away -- but it was fun to see the pirate flags and the cars decked on in land shark gear....
The way Jones Beach is set up, there's a huge area behind the grandstand where you find the food court and the t-shirt shops, etc. This is also a good place to get "freebies" -- we both got backpacks from GEICO, and Drew got a tote bag from Nikon, and there was a band doing a preshow and giving out plastic sunglasses. And did I mention the Colgate Wisps? We have enough of those to last a month.
We ate our "cheeseburgers in paradise", Drew bought a shirt, and then we headed up to our seats -- up in nosebleed country. Seriously, our seats were in row Q of the balcony. couldn't see the damage done by the guy who jumped from teh balcony during intermission of the Phish concert -- they did an excellent job of repairing the seats.
And then the party began. Usually Jimmy has an intermission halfway through the show, but this time around he played straight through. (Maybe it had something to do with the Phish concert, but who knows?)
After the concert, as we walked back to the car, we got free bottles of coconut water (I've never tried it before, I wonder what it will be like.) We drove back to my house along Ocean Parkway, past Tobay Beach, Gilgo, Oak Beach (the home of the late, lamented former hotspot, the infamous OBI...) It was great riding along the ocean with the car windows down....
Here's the playlist for the concert:
Ilo Ferreira opening
Can’t Call My Name
Let Me Love You
Three Little Birds
Hot Hot Hot
1 Nobody From Nowhere
2 Piece Of Work (with Sonny Landreth)
3 Cuban Crime Of Passion
4 It's Five O'Clock Somewhere
5 Knees Of My Heart
6 School Boy Heart
7 Window On The World (with Sonny Landreth)
8 Volcano
9 Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes
10 Where The Boat Leaves From
11 One Particular Harbour
12 Surfing in a Hurricane
13 Brown Eyed Girl
14 Grapefruit-Juicy Fruit (Jimmy on acoustic guitar)
15 Growing Older But Not Up (Jimmy on acoustic guitar)
16 Why Don't We Get Drunk and Screw (with kids version)
17 Mexico
18 Weather With You
19 Creola (featuring Nadirah Shakoor)
20 Cheeseburger In Paradise
21 Come Monday
22 Son Of A Son Of A Sailor
23 A Pirate Looks At Forty
24 Back Where I Come From (featuring Mac McAnally)
25 Woman Goin’ Crazy On Caroline Street
26 Southern Cross
27 Margaritaville (with the Lost Verse)
First Encore
Band Intros: Tina Gullickson, Nadirah Shakoor, Peter Mayer, Ralph MacDonald,
Doyle Grisham, Sonny Landreth, Mac McAnally, Roger Guth,
Robbie Greenidge, Jim Mayer, Dancing Johnny Lovell, Michael Utley
28 Scarlet Begonias
29 Fins
Second Encore
30 When The Coast Is Clear (with Mac, Robert, Ralph)
Well, imagine my joy when Jimmy announced a concert at the Jones Beach theater. (He plays there every year, but since I've only recently become a Parrothead I was a bit oblivious...)
the Jones Beach Theater is in the middle of Jones Beach State Park. The park itself is on a barrier beach island, separated from the Long Island "mainland". The outdoor theater is located on Zack's Bay -- literally. The platform for the stage sits in the water of the bay, and the audience gets to see water on either side of the stage. As Wiki explains, [t]he original design of the theater had a "moat" — the stage was actually on Zack's Bay and separated from the beach, and performers could be brought to the stage by boat (some scenes had floating scenery). The moat was covered or filled in during the first renovation and seats closer to the stage were installed.
In fact, as my friend Suzanne can tell you, boats can actually park themselves near the theater and listen to the concerts.
So a Jimmy Buffett concert, with its stories of pirates and sailors, oceans and stars, is a perfect match for the venue.
The August 31 concert lived up to expectations. Jimmy called the evening a "hurricane party" as Long island braced for Hurricane Earl.
Yes, I am a Parrothead -- I wore my "tropical shirt" -- the turquiose tee decorated with hibiscus flowers, the one I wore in the Cayman islands last winter, as well as shell leis and sandals decorated with seashells. Not to mention, a (silk) hibiscus flower in my hair.
When we arrived at Jones Beach, the parking lot closest to the theater was already full, and we had to park in field 4, next to the beach. but that's to be expected -- not only was the concert sold out, but with temperatures in the 90's, the beach crowd wasn't in a hurry to leave. We walked through the parking lot past Parrotheads tailgating -- don't ask me why they did that, when there's an actual beach to party on just a few steps away -- but it was fun to see the pirate flags and the cars decked on in land shark gear....
The way Jones Beach is set up, there's a huge area behind the grandstand where you find the food court and the t-shirt shops, etc. This is also a good place to get "freebies" -- we both got backpacks from GEICO, and Drew got a tote bag from Nikon, and there was a band doing a preshow and giving out plastic sunglasses. And did I mention the Colgate Wisps? We have enough of those to last a month.
We ate our "cheeseburgers in paradise", Drew bought a shirt, and then we headed up to our seats -- up in nosebleed country. Seriously, our seats were in row Q of the balcony. couldn't see the damage done by the guy who jumped from teh balcony during intermission of the Phish concert -- they did an excellent job of repairing the seats.
And then the party began. Usually Jimmy has an intermission halfway through the show, but this time around he played straight through. (Maybe it had something to do with the Phish concert, but who knows?)
After the concert, as we walked back to the car, we got free bottles of coconut water (I've never tried it before, I wonder what it will be like.) We drove back to my house along Ocean Parkway, past Tobay Beach, Gilgo, Oak Beach (the home of the late, lamented former hotspot, the infamous OBI...) It was great riding along the ocean with the car windows down....
Here's the playlist for the concert:
Ilo Ferreira opening
Can’t Call My Name
Let Me Love You
Three Little Birds
Hot Hot Hot
1 Nobody From Nowhere
2 Piece Of Work (with Sonny Landreth)
3 Cuban Crime Of Passion
4 It's Five O'Clock Somewhere
5 Knees Of My Heart
6 School Boy Heart
7 Window On The World (with Sonny Landreth)
8 Volcano
9 Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes
10 Where The Boat Leaves From
11 One Particular Harbour
12 Surfing in a Hurricane
13 Brown Eyed Girl
14 Grapefruit-Juicy Fruit (Jimmy on acoustic guitar)
15 Growing Older But Not Up (Jimmy on acoustic guitar)
16 Why Don't We Get Drunk and Screw (with kids version)
17 Mexico
18 Weather With You
19 Creola (featuring Nadirah Shakoor)
20 Cheeseburger In Paradise
21 Come Monday
22 Son Of A Son Of A Sailor
23 A Pirate Looks At Forty
24 Back Where I Come From (featuring Mac McAnally)
25 Woman Goin’ Crazy On Caroline Street
26 Southern Cross
27 Margaritaville (with the Lost Verse)
First Encore
Band Intros: Tina Gullickson, Nadirah Shakoor, Peter Mayer, Ralph MacDonald,
Doyle Grisham, Sonny Landreth, Mac McAnally, Roger Guth,
Robbie Greenidge, Jim Mayer, Dancing Johnny Lovell, Michael Utley
28 Scarlet Begonias
29 Fins
Second Encore
30 When The Coast Is Clear (with Mac, Robert, Ralph)
I can just imagine the nice 5mph breeze coming off the ocean, the smell of the various food vendors cooking below the stands and the music echoing out over the water.
ReplyDeleteIt's a venue that is one of a kind...