A review of the Chicago show from the Chicago Tribune: “Jimmy Buffett delivers, but Northerly Island doesn’t” – Expanded facility boosts good sound, but lawn and traffic flow off-key.
In theory, it made perfect sense for Jimmy Buffett, the ultimate beach party musician, to perform the first full-capacity concert at FirstMerit Bank Pavilion, the recently renovated, expanded and renamed concert venue on Northerly Island.
Buffett delivered the goods during his agreeable two-hour show, but in many ways the venue turned out to be unsuited and unprepared for the large crowd he drew.
The expanded performance space easily accommodated Buffett’s 11-person Coral Reefer Band, which added bright embellishments on everything from trumpet to steel drums as the music breezed over a variety of tropical rhythms. Tan (of course) and muscular, the extremely healthy-looking 66-year-old Buffett sang in a strong, lightly drawling voice and was joined early in the show by Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Kane, who came onstage carrying the Stanley Cup.
While Buffett previewed “Songs from St. Somewhere,” his forthcoming new record, with a biker-rock tune, “Too Drunk To Karaoke,” most of his set could have come from at least 20 years ago, as he offered a repast of Parrothead favorites, including “Son of a Son of a Sailor,” “Come Monday” and the inevitable finale, “Margaritaville,” which featured a cameo by curvy Columbian singer Fanny Lu’.
Update: “Live Nation offers tickets to Buffett fans affected by muddy lawn”
In the wake of the rain-induced mud and wet lawn that plagued Saturday’s Jimmy Buffett concert, Live Nation is issuing complimentary tickets to lawn ticket purchasers.
“We apologize for the wet ground experienced by lawn patrons on Saturday, June 29 and so we are inviting those people to be our guests at another Live Nation outdoor show this summer,” Mark Campana, Co-President of North American Concerts at Live Nation said in a statement issued on Monday.
But mud wasn’t the only complaint that people had about the first big show at the new venue on Northerly Island, which made its big-show debut with the Buffett concert.
Another major complaint flooding social media all weekend and continuing on Monday, was the lack of amenities to compensate for the venue’s increase in capacity, from 8,000 to 30,000. Patrons mentioned via Yelp and Facebook waits of about an hour at concession stands for warm beer, and long walks to bathrooms that were out of toilet paper. But mud was the main complaint.