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We all know that Jimmy is a business man (and a damn good one at that) but i have to believe that somewhere deep down inside he'd love to get off track for a few songs in a big arena setting and play something obscure just to see the reaction. Personally, i think some fans would be like "ok, where's he going with this" however, i think you would see a huge portion of the PHANS show electricity that has not been seen in a long time...because its the phans that have been waiting for that for a long time.

I have to agree that i don't listen to the shows on RM frequently at all. Sure i'll check out the set list the next day with some excitement hoping to see something new....but most of the time reading the set list is a let down.

For those who say that you need to play certain songs each night i give you the Grateful Dead. No 2 shows were the same and if you heard one song one night you could be sure they wouldn't play it the next night....and they were one of the most profitable touring bands around.

I'd love it if he played Far Side Of The World once or twice... I've only heard it live a few times. I think Fins is one worth keeping in, its one of those songs that helps to make a JB show a party.

How about changing up the setlist a bit? Once you see the first few setlists from his new tour, there are very few surprises once you get to see him.
Start by rotating the opener. Imagine on the Salty Piece of Land Tour, while warming up to Hot Hot Hot and anticipating hearing Piece of Work. Instead, Jimmy tears into Makin' Music For Money (although that might be a little hypocrytical now), You'll Never Work In 'Dis Bidness Again, Domino College, One Particular Harbour, or Lage Nom Ai, to name a few. (No more Great Heart or Only Time Will Tell)! Songs he's opened to in the past that you would never expect. Anything different that would make you say, "Wow! I wasn't expecting that!"

Then, as the show progresses, instead of Saxophones, Coconut Telegraph, Gypsies in the Palace, Last Mango in Paris, Schoolboy Heart, Southern Cross, or Brown Eyed Girl- songs I do love and would expect- he plugs in songs like Landfall, Migration, Chansons Pour Les Petites Enfants, Who's the Blonde Stranger, Wonder Why We Ever Go Home, Nautical Wheelers, Life is Just A Tire Swing, Livingston Saturday Night, Frank and Lola, or Twelve Volt Man...(the list goes on and on) instead. I wouldn't expect those on this tour. (I think) It would certainly make me happy, not knowing what to expect at each show.

Heck, keep the standard SYKBH for the casual fans. They last 3-4 minutes each. For the die-hards, the "filler" songs are key. I think more "He hasn't played that in a while" or "I can't BELIEVE he played that!" songs would make the shows even more satisfying for those of us who see him multilple times each tour, or listen to each show on Radio Margaritaville.
Any thoughts?

As he gets closer to the *gasp* end of touring,

I'll bet he does a few special "unplugged" style sit-around theatre shows
for a lucky, if not rich, few hundred fans, and gets down to the bare bones of HIS favorites.

i totally agree, play varieties of some of the old albums or underrated albums.

however, VOLCANO MUST STAY! lol

at this point we're lucky he's still touring so I don't care what he plays.

sonofabeach wrote:at this point we're lucky he's still touring so I don't care what he plays.

i agree, btw, nice avatar

MNflyBoy wrote:I would like to see a back to the basics tour sort of like "Unplugged" (show used to be on mtv). Jimmy has a lot of great tunes such as Twelve Volt Man, Distantly in Love, etc.............that would sound great with just a guitar and a mic . But no matter what I will keep on going to his concerts because there is nothing else lik'em........

If you want to hear Jimmy "unplugged" goto the post where you can download shows, and download, Sag Harbor 1999, East Hamption 2000 and East Hampton 2001, alot of story telling and its just him and his guitar, also last years Meeting of the Minds but the whole band is there, and there is one from a few years ago at the Playhouse in Atlanta and it is Jimmy and Mac playing a small venue together which is pretty cool

Our concert schedule since Sept was JB at Wrigley, the Stones two days later JB in Vegas and P McCartney three days later. The Set List Makeover is an excellent idea however it's hard on the casual fan. They don't know what to do if they don't know the tune. At both the Stones and McCartney both of them used new material and obscure material to "freshen it up". If you know the new and obscure it was great. If not...it was off to the concessions/bathrooms. I always glance to the casual fans when JB does something "lower on the radar" than usual and always note the displeasure. Personally it would be great to attend the "Things You Have Never Really Heard Much Before Tour", however, still waiting for the 5.1 Surround Sound on a DVD from JB!

We got Lovely Cruise and First Look on Sat..... I'll take it!

We got First Look and Defying Gravity in San Francisco.

I think he should name his next tour the B-sides. I would absolutly love that. Pretty much everybody on this site would appreciate all those other songs that we love but never get to hear live. And how awesome would it be to be at a concert and see all the fans that really love his music standing up proudly and singing all those songs word for word. While the rest of the crowd looks around in bewilderment. I love his music and will go see him no matter what, but I bet he would love to bust out some old songs just like the old El Stumpo El Bando of the past.

conched wrote:The electricity of the crowd during those same-o same-o songs is magic!!!! It makes the concert experience that much more invigorating.

Yet, to me, there has not been a show to compare to the Jerry Jeff Walker's BDB in 2002, when they both sat there and traded songs back and forth. I have never seen a Jimmy performance better than that one, although we sat in our seats and took it all in.

We'll take what we can get when we can get it...come what may!

Is there a recording of this available for download anywhere?

How about his album title songs?
Remember Floridays?
Living & Dying in 3/4 time...

jimimac wrote:How about his album title songs?

Living & Dying in 3/4 time...

There isn't a song called Living and Dying in 3/4 Time but it is a lyric from "Nautical Wheelers".

I think Lil Miss Magic has some great ideas. Here's the problem...jimmy keeps adding songs to the "must be played during every show" setlist and never takes any out. I remember when Southern cross was added several years ago and I still think its a great song. But, how about removing that and playing Scarlet Begonias instead, not in addition to! The list of empty slots is down to nothing! I think we can all agree that Brown Eyed girl has to go. Here's what I propose. Out, Brown Eyed Girl. In, Who's the Blonde Stranger. Out, Son of a son of a sailor. In, Sail on Sailor. You get the idea. Coast of Carolina is one of the greatest songs but its written by Mac! Thats whats so great about th Mac show the night before the concert. You get to hear some great acoustic songs (some of the best Buffett has recorded) that you never knew were written by Mac. Hey, if Madonna can tour and refuse to play Like a Virgin and Material Girl, I think we can go without Cheesburger and Volcano for once.

I'm of two minds on this one....

Obviously I would love to hear his less played stuff, goes back to the idea of "deep cuts" used on some radio stations. It adds variety and spice to the mixture of songs because you never know what's coming up next.

However, we also have the fact that there are songs that some people go to concerts just to hear (Like Margaritaville, the National Anthem, Fins, etc.) Then there are songs that have to be in concerts because they contain alot of energy (like OPH, and CIP). No performer wants to perform "slow" songs in front of a high energy crowd because it ruins the atmosphere.

And finally Jimmy isn't the only one that has to remember all of the lyrics and music to all of the songs, don't forget that all of the Coral Reefers would also have to be able to play a song at moments notice if the setlist changes.

It all boils down to what a concert is really all about, promoting new music and attracting new fans to the music. Easiest way to do this is to mix familiar and new songs.

For those fans tired of the "same old stuff" at every concert, start listening to the song differently, even after 100 or more repeats the song is different every time it's played live. That's why I love live concerts over albums.

wG7s

Most of the crowd at concerts aren't hard core regulars like some who post here. I've been to ONE show (Fenway Friday) and would have been severely disappointed to not here most of SYKBH songs. I've grown to appreciate most of the other songs in the catalog as well. Jimmy just needs to put a different style on some songs to give them a twist to keep the regulars interested.

Eric Clapton, another personal favorite, often complained that he was tired of playing "Layla". Then he ran into Bob Dylan. Dylan told him that he never played a song in concert the same way twice, and that resulted in the well received "Unplugged" version. I also think that the blues version of "After Midnight" FAR superior to the studio version. Unfortunately, Clapton has abandoned most of his early work to concentrate on historical blues, so I wouldn't go to a concert now.

I think we all agree that an unplugged JB would be a dream come true.

Here's an opinion from a parrothead who has hopped on the wagon late in the game. For those of you that have been going to shows for years, I can understand not wanting to hear the same set list every concert. I agree with that and I've only been to three shows but they were 3 shows this year. I listen to alot of them online as well. It is a bit disappointing to predict the next song because the set list is the same for almost all the shows.

I don't think that you can get rid of CIP, M'ville, Fins.....people who aren't phanatical parrotheads pay the money to hear those songs that they know. But I would love to see JB perform ASPOL, Remittance Man, This Hotel Room, etc....you get the idea. I like the covers but I'd like to see him do his stuff more.

I hope that Mr. Buffett reads this and takes to heart that we understand that you can't please everyone. But I bet, that if the new fans heard some of the classics, especially live, that they would turn to parrotheads pretty quick. And we can never have enough in the phlock!

SuperTrooper wrote: Unfortunately, Clapton has abandoned most of his early work to concentrate on historical blues, so I wouldn't go to a concert now.

I'm pretty sure that's just on record, it hasn't effected what he plays live to the point where he's dropped all of his own material. Truth be told, he's actually concentrating more on latest record (which is a contemporary album) and Cream these days than "historical blues" (which has always been a huge part of his music anyway, all the way back to John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, in fact).