Jimmy Buffett’s surprise performance in Portsmouth RI

From The Providence Journal: “Jimmy Buffett plays a surprise performance in Portsmouth, RI. How did it happen?“

Jimmy Buffett sings that life is “more manageable when thought of as a scavenger hunt as opposed to a surprise party,” but that didn’t stop him from surprising an audience in Portsmouth on Sunday.

The singer-songwriter made an impromptu appearance at Sunset Cove on Sunday afternoon, bringing the crowd to its feet screaming when he appeared on stage.

A video of the concert posted to Facebook shows Mac McAnally, the advertised headliner for the show and longtime member of The Coral Reefer Band, in the middle of singing “It’s Five O’clock Somewhere,” and when he gets to the lyric “At a moment like this, I can’t help but wonder what would Jimmy Buffett do,” Buffett himself showed up with an answer.

“How ‘bout I play it for you,” he said, picking up a guitar.

At the end of the song, Buffett, who was briefly hospitalized in Boston in May and had to postpone a show, said “well, it is good to see an audience, let me tell you that.”

“I still can’t believe it happened,” said Andre Arsenault, who posted the video and plays at Sunset Cove on Sundays. “I started to record “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” on my phone because I love the song and the name of my boat in Bristol Harbor is actually ‘5 O’Clock Somewhere.’ I just thought it was amazing that two Coral Reefers were playing that in Island Park, where I’ve played countless times. All of a sudden the people in front of me jumped up so I couldn’t see anything, and when I stood up Jimmy was right there.”

Buffett went on to play for about 45 minutes, according to Arsenault.
Why Jimmy Buffett was there

At this point, you’ve got to be wondering how they pulled whole thing off. Here’s the story.

McAnally is a friend of Sunset Cove owner Mike MacFarlane. He played at Sunset Cove back in 2019, and over a February lunch in Key West, MacFarlane asked if McAnally would come back to play at Sunset Cove again this summer.

The stars aligned so McAnally could come on July 2, which also just so happened to be MacFarlane’s 50th birthday.

A few hours before the show, McAnally tells MacFarlane that Buffett is on Long Island and wants to “crash the party,” MacFarlane said. After being “under the weather” and off the road, Buffett was “itching to get back on the road,” MacFarlane said.

So, Buffett hops on a flight from Long Island to the Middletown airport with his daughter, and MacFarlane meets him at the airport to drive him to Portsmouth.

“Nobody had a clue,” MacFarlane said. “I didn’t want a surprise party for my birthday, but in reality, I did have one. The surprise was just for everyone else.”

In addition to “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,” Buffett played six songs on stage. One of them was “A Pirate Looks at Forty” – which he changed to 50 in a nod to MacFarlane’s big celebration.

“You can’t write a check for what happened,” MacFarlane said. “It’s a full moon tonight, and the stars aligned yesterday.”

People in the audience were similarly thrilled.

“I feel very lucky to have been there. Mike put on this concert to celebrate his 50th birthday but the gift was for everyone else,” Arsenault said. “Mac and Eric (Darken) are top-shelf musicians, but to add the Jimmy Buffett surprise – that is something that was so special for everyone there, and I’m sure none of us will ever forget it.”
How did Buffett feel after playing?

According to MacFarlane, being back on stage suited Buffett.

When he walked off stage, MacFarlane said, Buffett said he felt “effing incredible.”