A Pastor Looks at Aspen--Concert Notes from the Belly Up
Posted: December 23, 2006 4:53 am
I really, really need to get to sleep…not even reading 68 pages of notes made me tired.
Where to start? I’ve been to well over 100 concerts and this was clearly one of the best, if not the best. I’ll let a few days get between me and rash statements, but this was an incredible show!
Got there just before 7pm…doors were moved from 8pm to 7:30… Had about 30 people in front of me, but made it to the center of the dance floor, right behind Hipp and about 8 feet from where Jimmy would be standing.
It was good to meet some other BN folks and say hello. It was crazy to see SchoolGirlHeart, having “played” for an hour to figure out different travel options for her last night. Glad she could make it.
There were 7 tickets available at the box office, and a few folks outside trying to sell seats. The literal blizzard in Denver—even for Colorado—kept a few folks away I’m sure…as it did on this board. I wonder if the box office had a few extras that didn’t get claimed, were turned back in, or what the deal was.
The show started a few minutes before 9pm. We could see the interviewer—Jimmy’s daughter—standing on the edge of the stage towards the back and out walked Jimmy. Observant BNers noticed Billy Paine come in 20 minutes earlier. I guess Utley was in Cabo or something on vacation…I didn’t catch all of what Jimmy said. Long time fans probably noticed a difference in the keyboard during the show, but I didn’t hear much difference.
I could have done without the Colorado Preacher comment and the Christmas Eve intro to that song I hate…but to each his own I suppose. After the show I read through your 68 pages of comments. If it was a second earlier that I’d read Scotman16’s comment about putting that song on the Christmas mix for the gathering there would have been Riptide Rush Gatorade all over this laptop. At least I found that funny.
I was really hoping he’d play Coast of Carolina. There’s been a bunch of “walls” in my wife and my life these past few years. She was coming to the concert but had to fly to the Midwest because of medical issues. That song really resonates with me…There’s been lots of walls that haven’t come down that need decorating, climbing, or finding some other way to get around. Hopefully we’ll find our stride soon and get the medical stuff under control.
Digression over, I wanted to seriously beat the drunk guy who kept yelling “Southern Cross” at every break. There were a couple of—I won’t call them fights—shoving matches. Two guys were grabbed by the huge bouncer whose name many of you know…literally dragged out through the kitchen and kicked into the alley. Quite a few folks tried to rush towards the front of the dance area between songs and get up close.
Before the show there was this gal and her two already drunk friends crashing towards the front and squeezing into up close after everyone had claimed their floor space. One gal literally slinked up against me—back to back—for 20 minutes or so trying to slowly move me over. Hippolyte—who spent the morning and early afternoon with me after crashing here Thursday night—asked me if I knew her. Answer: Not so much. Thankfully my basketball playing days kicked in and when Jimmy came out I simply pivoted and “boxed out” and she stepped behind her other drunk friend who made stupid comment after stupid comment that took a bunch of energy not to listen to.
On to the show itself. You heard the songs so I won’t say much. I really enjoyed hearing “It’s My Job.” I first heard Livingston Taylor cover that in concert. That’s James Taylor’s brother—James being one of my two favorite singers. (David Wilcox being the other—the American one.) Mac is a great writer and between that, “In the City” and “Coast of Carolina” I really enjoy his ballads and am certainly drawn to the older Buffett stuff that’s not the “drunk at 9am” two or three songs that are on most of the albums since Margaritaville was first a hit. It was nice to shake his hand and tell him thank you for writing these songs. I know Jimmy is a little guy, but Mac is huge.
I suppose this is the time to admit that I was a Buffett concert virgin before this show. My dad has always been a big fan and has gone to a few shows. Like I said, the last year especially has been pretty difficult for me and I’ve found myself “escaping” with Buffett tunes more and more. I’m not into the tailgate party atmosphere, so this seemed to be a great first show to go to after spending a bunch of time at buffettnews.com, finding the ftp site and having my mountain biking sound track be live Jimmy shows all summer long. Those long climbs up the singletrack seemed better with Jimmy’s light and upbeat music in my ears. Bombing down a mountain at 35 mph with Jimmy in your ears…reality simply flies out the back of my bike helmet. (I’ll blame the James Taylor music I was listening to and my road bike for a terrible bike crash where I broke my collarbone this summer…not fun times…drugs are good…a little too good)
Well, not only am I no longer a Buffett concert virgin, but I think there’s a 43% chance that the person behind me at the concert last night had sex with me. Towards the end of the show when people were pressing towards the front someone was grinding on me for a few minutes. I was too scared to turn around and see if it was a man or a woman. It’s a party.
I really liked how the show was a wide variety from Jimmy’s catalog. Like most of you, I don’t need to hear most of the songs from SYKBH. It was good to hear “Come Monday.” My two young children know all the words and we sing it all the time.
I was really hoping he’d sing “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On” Perhaps at some other concert. It’s songs like that why I’ve been so drawn to Buffett’s music.
After Margaritaville, Jimmy shook a few hands…I had the chance to look him in the eye and say “Thank You” as he shook mine. That was pretty amazing and not an experience I’d get at Red Rocks or Fiddler’s Green, that’s for sure.
After the show, the band came out and talked with some of us hanging around. I had the bouncer drop a note off for Peter Mayer…a fellow Lutheran who has played at Youth Gatherings and Christian concerts and at his church at well. I’m sure he won’t be in town, but I invited him to church Sunday morning and Christmas Eve if he was around. I’m sure it won’t happen. Maybe next year when Jimmy plays a Saturday night show?!? (Don’t know that’s going to happen, but he has been here two years running now.)
OK, it’s now 2:50am and I’m still not ready to crash. The kids will be up in four hours regardless.
One final note for the Lost fans out there. Jimmy had a shirt that had the Dharma logo on the front left chest with words like “Film Crew” below it. The back said “Lost in Hawaii” and the sleeve had “Season #...” with the season obscured by Jimmy’s standard rolled up short sleeve. Maybe he knows if Ben is going to die…
All right, perhaps with that mundane comment out there I’m finally ready to crash. A great show, a great experience. Thanks to buffettnews.com and the information here that fed my Buffett escape addiction, I was there.
After one or two false starts, hoping to find my stride.
God’s peace is peace,
Buffett81611 aka Pastor Zip
Where to start? I’ve been to well over 100 concerts and this was clearly one of the best, if not the best. I’ll let a few days get between me and rash statements, but this was an incredible show!
Got there just before 7pm…doors were moved from 8pm to 7:30… Had about 30 people in front of me, but made it to the center of the dance floor, right behind Hipp and about 8 feet from where Jimmy would be standing.
It was good to meet some other BN folks and say hello. It was crazy to see SchoolGirlHeart, having “played” for an hour to figure out different travel options for her last night. Glad she could make it.
There were 7 tickets available at the box office, and a few folks outside trying to sell seats. The literal blizzard in Denver—even for Colorado—kept a few folks away I’m sure…as it did on this board. I wonder if the box office had a few extras that didn’t get claimed, were turned back in, or what the deal was.
The show started a few minutes before 9pm. We could see the interviewer—Jimmy’s daughter—standing on the edge of the stage towards the back and out walked Jimmy. Observant BNers noticed Billy Paine come in 20 minutes earlier. I guess Utley was in Cabo or something on vacation…I didn’t catch all of what Jimmy said. Long time fans probably noticed a difference in the keyboard during the show, but I didn’t hear much difference.
I could have done without the Colorado Preacher comment and the Christmas Eve intro to that song I hate…but to each his own I suppose. After the show I read through your 68 pages of comments. If it was a second earlier that I’d read Scotman16’s comment about putting that song on the Christmas mix for the gathering there would have been Riptide Rush Gatorade all over this laptop. At least I found that funny.
I was really hoping he’d play Coast of Carolina. There’s been a bunch of “walls” in my wife and my life these past few years. She was coming to the concert but had to fly to the Midwest because of medical issues. That song really resonates with me…There’s been lots of walls that haven’t come down that need decorating, climbing, or finding some other way to get around. Hopefully we’ll find our stride soon and get the medical stuff under control.
Digression over, I wanted to seriously beat the drunk guy who kept yelling “Southern Cross” at every break. There were a couple of—I won’t call them fights—shoving matches. Two guys were grabbed by the huge bouncer whose name many of you know…literally dragged out through the kitchen and kicked into the alley. Quite a few folks tried to rush towards the front of the dance area between songs and get up close.
Before the show there was this gal and her two already drunk friends crashing towards the front and squeezing into up close after everyone had claimed their floor space. One gal literally slinked up against me—back to back—for 20 minutes or so trying to slowly move me over. Hippolyte—who spent the morning and early afternoon with me after crashing here Thursday night—asked me if I knew her. Answer: Not so much. Thankfully my basketball playing days kicked in and when Jimmy came out I simply pivoted and “boxed out” and she stepped behind her other drunk friend who made stupid comment after stupid comment that took a bunch of energy not to listen to.
On to the show itself. You heard the songs so I won’t say much. I really enjoyed hearing “It’s My Job.” I first heard Livingston Taylor cover that in concert. That’s James Taylor’s brother—James being one of my two favorite singers. (David Wilcox being the other—the American one.) Mac is a great writer and between that, “In the City” and “Coast of Carolina” I really enjoy his ballads and am certainly drawn to the older Buffett stuff that’s not the “drunk at 9am” two or three songs that are on most of the albums since Margaritaville was first a hit. It was nice to shake his hand and tell him thank you for writing these songs. I know Jimmy is a little guy, but Mac is huge.
I suppose this is the time to admit that I was a Buffett concert virgin before this show. My dad has always been a big fan and has gone to a few shows. Like I said, the last year especially has been pretty difficult for me and I’ve found myself “escaping” with Buffett tunes more and more. I’m not into the tailgate party atmosphere, so this seemed to be a great first show to go to after spending a bunch of time at buffettnews.com, finding the ftp site and having my mountain biking sound track be live Jimmy shows all summer long. Those long climbs up the singletrack seemed better with Jimmy’s light and upbeat music in my ears. Bombing down a mountain at 35 mph with Jimmy in your ears…reality simply flies out the back of my bike helmet. (I’ll blame the James Taylor music I was listening to and my road bike for a terrible bike crash where I broke my collarbone this summer…not fun times…drugs are good…a little too good)
Well, not only am I no longer a Buffett concert virgin, but I think there’s a 43% chance that the person behind me at the concert last night had sex with me. Towards the end of the show when people were pressing towards the front someone was grinding on me for a few minutes. I was too scared to turn around and see if it was a man or a woman. It’s a party.
I really liked how the show was a wide variety from Jimmy’s catalog. Like most of you, I don’t need to hear most of the songs from SYKBH. It was good to hear “Come Monday.” My two young children know all the words and we sing it all the time.
I was really hoping he’d sing “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On” Perhaps at some other concert. It’s songs like that why I’ve been so drawn to Buffett’s music.
After Margaritaville, Jimmy shook a few hands…I had the chance to look him in the eye and say “Thank You” as he shook mine. That was pretty amazing and not an experience I’d get at Red Rocks or Fiddler’s Green, that’s for sure.
After the show, the band came out and talked with some of us hanging around. I had the bouncer drop a note off for Peter Mayer…a fellow Lutheran who has played at Youth Gatherings and Christian concerts and at his church at well. I’m sure he won’t be in town, but I invited him to church Sunday morning and Christmas Eve if he was around. I’m sure it won’t happen. Maybe next year when Jimmy plays a Saturday night show?!? (Don’t know that’s going to happen, but he has been here two years running now.)
OK, it’s now 2:50am and I’m still not ready to crash. The kids will be up in four hours regardless.
One final note for the Lost fans out there. Jimmy had a shirt that had the Dharma logo on the front left chest with words like “Film Crew” below it. The back said “Lost in Hawaii” and the sleeve had “Season #...” with the season obscured by Jimmy’s standard rolled up short sleeve. Maybe he knows if Ben is going to die…
All right, perhaps with that mundane comment out there I’m finally ready to crash. A great show, a great experience. Thanks to buffettnews.com and the information here that fed my Buffett escape addiction, I was there.
After one or two false starts, hoping to find my stride.
God’s peace is peace,
Buffett81611 aka Pastor Zip
(Fish, Hippo, Zip, SoL, you got any bruises? 
)