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Just like in rugby: keep it in a cup and all is good...

I grew up seeing Jimmy at Merriweather and until Merriweather was purchased by SFX it was the best venue to see him. Since then, Merriweather was always second fiddle to Nissan Pavilion as far as bookings and promotional money. SFX was then bought by Clear Channel and Clear Channel eventually dumped their affiliation with Merriweather. MPP is currently being booked by I.M.P. and they do more bookings with current rock/alternative bands so my guess is JB won't be back until they decide to "tear that ol' building down."

jonesbeach10 wrote:

freaky4tiki wrote:Nissan is okay but it would be nice to see him someplace else. Last year the Lawn at N was a mess. Can't think of anyplace else for him to play though.... John Paul Jones in C'ville?

Isn't JPJ the new arena?

yes it is! been there several times and it's a super venue... saw Billy Joel there last night.

it's nice to see others like myself who grew up on buffett at mw and recognize for the nice pavilion that it is (easy access in and out.....just the opposite of nissan)

security has gotten tighter there, but not horrible

buffett was so big there that in 1993 he played there 3 times (fri, sat and Sunday)

i miss seeing him there, but we go to nissan every year now

i email mw every spring to remind them that we still love buffett and want him back

they tell me that buffett has an open invite if he wants to play there

please email your requests to mw as well......the more people speak up, the better chance of maybe seeing him there again

I have seen at least a dozen shows at Merriweather. In the late 80's and early 90's it was a great place for a Buffett show. The problem is the City of Columbia and the residents that live near by. They are the ones that wanted the tailgating stopped. When they said no more tailgating that is when jimmy said he wouldn't play there anymore. It used to be one of his favorite venues to play.

The last concert I saw there was 1997 and we had a blast. Merriweather even used to let you camp out in the parking lot and surrounding woods a couple of days before tickets went on sale. Camping out for tickets there was just like a mini tailgate party.

I've been to MW a few times to see Jimmy, too. Unfortunately, all my forays to MW were after the cops really started cracking down, but that didn't stop us much. My best tailgate memories are from a show at MW.

I saw the Killers at MW about a year ago and was very unimpressed. However, I will be the first to admit that traffic at Nissan is awful. They also milk parrotheads by charging $20 for parking, but only put 6 port-o-potties in the parking lot. Other than that, the venue is very nice. Security is highly visible, but very reasonable. I now live in Bristw only 5 miles from Nissan. After the show we just break out the tailgating gear and party for 2 more hours while the parking lot empties out!

...counting down the minutes until 10:00 on Friday morning!!!

FunkHouse9 wrote:Security has definately cracked down there in recent years, but on Jimmy's last time around, we had a blast in the Columbia mall parking lot instead. I remember a fire truck driving through the lot with a big shark fin on top. Even if the mall and Merriweather wouldn't allow tailgating, I'd still rather have the shows there. Nissan is nice, but the traffic is too bad and even with all the new roads for this year, I'm not confident that it'll be a lot better. I'd rather see Jimmy at Merriweather completely sober than not there at all.

July 3rd, 2003! Yeah, I did the same thing. We parked in the mall lot, pulled out a couple of beach chairs, and downed a few margaritas. As show time approached, we made our way over to MW on foot (with drinks in hand) and we walked by a ton of cops. No one gave us a hard time.

Man that was a great time. It was a Thursday night. The 4th of July was the next day, so we had off from work, and then the weekend followed. I wish every Buffett show was a national holiday!!

Longin for Floridays wrote:

FunkHouse9 wrote:Security has definately cracked down there in recent years, but on Jimmy's last time around, we had a blast in the Columbia mall parking lot instead. I remember a fire truck driving through the lot with a big shark fin on top. Even if the mall and Merriweather wouldn't allow tailgating, I'd still rather have the shows there. Nissan is nice, but the traffic is too bad and even with all the new roads for this year, I'm not confident that it'll be a lot better. I'd rather see Jimmy at Merriweather completely sober than not there at all.

July 3rd, 2003! Yeah, I did the same thing. We parked in the mall lot, pulled out a couple of beach chairs, and downed a few margaritas. As show time approached, we made our way over to MW on foot (with drinks in hand) and we walked by a ton of cops. No one gave us a hard time.

Man that was a great time. It was a Thursday night. The 4th of July was the next day, so we had off from work, and then the weekend followed. I wish every Buffett show was a national holiday!!

I was there...that was a good concert. He played Nissan on July 5th, and of course I saw him there too. Nothing like almost back-back nights of Buffett in the summer!

I got a feeling this concert is going to be at nissan my friends...I should know around 11ish tommorow and will let you know what i find out....

LayziePir8 wrote:I saw the Killers at MW about a year ago and was very unimpressed. However, I will be the first to admit that traffic at Nissan is awful. They also milk parrotheads by charging $20 for parking, but only put 6 port-o-potties in the parking lot. Other than that, the venue is very nice. Security is highly visible, but very reasonable. I now live in Bristw only 5 miles from Nissan. After the show we just break out the tailgating gear and party for 2 more hours while the parking lot empties out!

...counting down the minutes until 10:00 on Friday morning!!!

That's only for Premiere Parking, correct?

FunkHouse9 wrote:I remember a fire truck driving through the lot with a big shark fin on top.

Seeing my post again made me want to go back and dig out my Merriweather pictures. I do miss having the shows there. Such a fun place.

savvysdad wrote:I grew up seeing Jimmy at Merriweather and until Merriweather was purchased by SFX it was the best venue to see him. Since then, Merriweather was always second fiddle to Nissan Pavilion as far as bookings and promotional money. SFX was then bought by Clear Channel and Clear Channel eventually dumped their affiliation with Merriweather. MPP is currently being booked by I.M.P. and they do more bookings with current rock/alternative bands so my guess is JB won't be back until they decide to "tear that ol' building down."

theres been so many times i hear "merriweather is being shut down" i do have to say its a brilliant place to see OAR they always sell out, since OAR is only a few mins from home

bravedave wrote:

LayziePir8 wrote:I saw the Killers at MW about a year ago and was very unimpressed. However, I will be the first to admit that traffic at Nissan is awful. They also milk parrotheads by charging $20 for parking, but only put 6 port-o-potties in the parking lot. Other than that, the venue is very nice. Security is highly visible, but very reasonable. I now live in Bristw only 5 miles from Nissan. After the show we just break out the tailgating gear and party for 2 more hours while the parking lot empties out!

...counting down the minutes until 10:00 on Friday morning!!!

That's only for Premiere Parking, correct?

beleive so, we didn't get snubbed for parking. we parked 5000 miles away, but hey at least it was my work out for the day

Honestly, I have zero problem with paying $20 to park and get in early. Totally worth it to our crew. The last 4 years we've been parked before noon and have all day to tailgate. I understand some people simply can't get there earlier in the day. I wish I had the solution for you and parking were easier (and closer) at that time of the day.