Rank the Locations You've Seen Jimmy

[PeoriaTom]

Out of the locations that you have been lucky enough to see a Jimmy Buffett concert, how do they rank? If you have been to a lot of locations, maybe do a top 5? Maybe add a wish list location, too. Here is my order:

1. Alpine Valley (East Troy, WI) - Amphitheater, tailgating, wooded setting, first concert ... it was awesome!
2. Wrigley Field (Chicago, IL) - Yeah, the sound and view were meh, but as a huge Cubs fan and Parrothead, it was a dream come true.
3. Tinley Park, IL - Pretty crappy for an amphitheater, but it at least had tailgating, and I was with a great group of friends.
4. Des Moines, IA - Actually an awesome place for a show, and the parking lots were very active with tailgating ... but indoors is just not the same for Jimmy.

My wish list:

1. Atlanta, GA - Kind of where Buffett’s career as “Jimmy Buffett” began ... ever since listening to Feeding Frenzy as a little kid and hearing Jimmy’s love for Atlanta, I’ve wanted to see him there. New amphitheater looks awesome, too!
2. Cincinnati, OH - Same reasoning as Atlanta, except with the “Parrothead Era” beginning here. Cincy and Atlanta have always been Jimmy’s big two, IMO, and everyone knows the Cincy Parrotheads bring it like no other!
3. Great Woods (Mansfield, MA) - Everything I’ve heard about it and seen in videos makes it seem like possibly the most fun place to ever see Buffett.

EDIT: I kept this to “venues,” but of course my true dream come true would be to see Jimmy in St. Barths. We go there every year, and that would about make my life, LOL!

[SMLCHNG]

1) Red Rocks, Colorado. Nothing else ever came close. So many good times at other places, yes. But it was the BEST.

[SharkysMV1]

1. Great Woods (Mansfield, MA)
2. Mohegan Sun (Uncasville, CT)

Wish list:
Any bar/intimate acoustic setting

[LIPH]

top 5
1. Jones Beach - I lived on Long Island until I was 60 years old and it was my "home venue." The parking lots open at sunrise. It's the beach.
1A. Red Rocks - Totally different atmosphere than Jones Beach but what a beautiful setting for a concert venue.
3. Waikiki Shell - No tailgating, but it's Hawaii.
4. Star Lake (or whatever the venue in Pittsburgh is called now) - It's a pain in the a$$ to get into the parking lot, but it's one of my favorite places to see Buffett.
5. Great Woods - Nothing special about the venue but the New England crowd knows how to tailgate. What a great group.

honorable mention
1. Bethel Woods - It's the site of the original Woodstock. It isn't the Rocky Mountains but it's a beautiful venue in the Catskills in upstate New York. I don't do the lawn but the lawn section in this place looked like a golf course it was in such great shape.
2. MGM Grand Garden Arena - There's nothing special about the venue, and it's indoors, but it's Las Vegas. The first time I ever traveled out of NY for a Buffett concert it was here, and the show was on my birthday.
3. Tampa (the place has had so many corporate sponsors, I don't know what it's called anymore) - It's a really good tailgate, there's usually a pretty good sized BN crowd and there are a couple of hotels right across the street so if you're coming from out of town you can wak to the tailgate party.
4. Toyota Stadium - One of the best tailgates. It's really big and the parking lots are spread out, but they open the lots the day before the concert.
5. Taco Bell Arena - It's Boise f'n Idaho.

non-traditional venues
1. Dune Preserve - It's on the beach. In the Caribbean.
2. New Morning Jazz Club - It holds about 300 people and it's in f'n Paris.
3. Stephen Talkhouse - It's a bar on eastern Long Island. Ilo played there, I think it was about 6 or 7 years ago, and Jimmy Buffett was the opening act. He came out with his acoustic guitar and played for about 45 minutes. Bill and Hillary Clinton, and several Secret Service agents, were in the crowd.
4. The Today Show in Rockefeller Plaza - Before I retired, my office was across the street from the Today Show. And their Friday morning concerts are free.
5. The Flamingo Hotel pool - When the Las Vegas Margaritaville opened, Buffett did a free show out by the pool. They drained the pool and filled the entire area with sand so it looked like you were at the beach. Surrounded by huge casino hotels.

places I would never go see Buffett again
1. Gillette Stadium - The New England Patriots play there.
2. Alpine Valley - I've been there twice and that was once too often. I could never understand why people wet their pants when they talk about this place, it's way too big and it's about the worst designed concert venue I've ever seen. You would have to guarantee that I would be the filling in a Jessica Alba/Jennifer Lawrence sandwich to get me to even consider going there again.

places I would like to see Buffett
the pool at my condo, as long as he left all the $h!tty cover songs out of the setlist

[SeattleParrotHead]

He doesn't come around here much....
1 Waikiki Shell
2 MGM Grand Vegas
3 Key Arena Seattle
99 White River Amphitheater Auburn (I'll never go back.)

[Finzup16]

Can I PLEASE not have to make a choice between first and second?

1 A.... Great Woods.
Been there maybe 7 or 8 times. Insane tailgate. Great shows, I think Jimmy loves playing there. Added bonus.... As a native New Yorker I get openly and proudly express my deep deep hatred for the New York Yankees!!!

1B... Jones Beach
My "home venue". Amazing tailgate, Whole family, distant relatives. Buffett friends etc..... My boss will tell you I never get to work on time {7am) but I get to Jones Beach every year at 530am.

3.... Cincinnati. Long story how. But my first ever Buffett show was there about 20 years ago. My (now ex) wife and I got to Riverbend around 7pm for an 800 show wearing jeans and carrying sweat jackets in case in got chilly. Lol lol lol. Boy did I learn fast... And did get back again a few years later to properly spend the day.... And a racetrack right next door.!!!!

Greatest single Buffett show
Atlantic City about 2 or 3 years ago. It was an afternoon show. A million degrees out. He played all 26 songs in 90 minutes. Can't blame him for rushing through. Couldn't see the stage but I was literally in the water with waves crashing over my head as he did Southern Cross. Sorry greatest concert moment ever

Thank you to LIPH I just scratched Alpine Valley off my "to do" list and added Red Rocks on. Who knows if hell ever play those places again

If he plays Hawaii again I'm going. No ands, ifs or buts

[2muchcoffeeman]

4. Jacksonville, February 2010. Hey, look, they redid the building and the bathrooms work right!

3. Jacksonville, April 1995. The last hurrah before college graduation. With the old bathrooms.

2. Daytona Beach, November 1986, World Tour of Florida. Didn’t expect to see him in my hometown, didn’t want to miss a chance to see him. We need another World Tour of Florida.

1. Marine Stadium, Miami, 1985 … yep, that weekend. Best time I’ve ever had on a boat. I was drunkish for 2 days afterward, and thank the gods they weren’t carding particularly well.

[Summerlover]

1) St Barth, long day but what fun seeing the love of JB with Maurice and family. We made friends from here, connected on the island and vacation together since.

2)Alpine, having a bus load of crazys, the beer deck with its own tapper. The parking lot is like no other.

Can't say I can rank the rest. They are ok.......

PeoriaTom, I live in Morton. Hi neighbor.

[dnw]

No particular order---Paris, Red Rocks, beach in Key West, Jones Beach, Great Woods, Tampa




Waiting on London and Ireland and maybe St. Barts.

[boatdrinks84]

1. Tinley. Grew up near it, now I can practically see it from my house. It gets the auto-win for that.

2. Alpine. I’m not even going to explain it. Some of you get it and some of you don’t.

3. Toyota Park (Bridgeview). Actually the sight lines were awful since it’s a soccer stadium, but 12 hours of tailgating and a really awesome RV lot made up for that.

4. Wrigley. Don’t really have anything nice to say about it other than I’ve been there.

999. Whatever the disaster of a venue on Northerly Island is called. That place sucked.

[JasonAndreas]

Ha, couldn't agree more boatdrinks84 - Northerly Island was bottom of the barrel. Even the Chicago skyline couldn't save that disaster.

1. House of Blues Boston - was in Boston for my first ever Sox game, stumbled upon a long line of parrotheads waiting to get into the HOB (the HOB is right outside Fenway FYI). I asked someone in line what they were waiting for (I assumed maybe a Buffett party/cover band) and they said Jimmy was playing HOB. I responded "That's incredible, I'd kill for a ticket" and the guy responded "No need, I have an extra - here you go." I tried to pay the guy multiple times but he refused (if you're on this board and read this - THANK YOU!) Needless to say, I skipped the Sox game
2. Cincinnati - I'm from Cleveland, but usually skip the Blossom show and drive down to Cincinnati. Site of my first ever Buffett show, so it holds a special place in my heart
3. Comerica Park Detroit - Not a great venue for a show, for sure, but I had front row/center seats - can't beat that

[Tequila Revenge]

First time and still my favorite, Shoreline Amphitheater. Lawn seats by the Jumbotron, good sound and take it all in. Also, really thought the sound system at MGM in Vegas was very good too. Our seats were way closer to the roof than the stage , so the sound quality became one of the redeeming qualities of the concert.

[WVParrothead]

Fun discussion. Got me thinking and I believe I've seen Jimmy in 26 different venues. Crazy to think about.

My favorites:

1. Cincinnati/Riverbend. 12 hours of anything-goes tailgating if you so choose. Great history with Jimmy and the place I saw my first-ever show in 2002.

2. Pittsburgh/Star Lake. My "home" venue 45 minutes away. Seen JB there more than any other place. The tailgating has slipped some over the years but tailgating with the PHC there is always a great time and the venue itself is nice, despite the annual traffic hassles.

3. Great Woods. Few things better than a weekend in Boston. A Sox game Friday night if they're in town, 7-8 hours of tailgating on show day and some Bloody Marys at Cheers Sunday morning before flying home.

4. Tampa. Early-tailgating there too at the Fairgrounds. As Larry said, Laquinta Inn literally right across the street if you need a bathroom break or mid-afternoon power nap. Winghouse down the street for post-concert shenanigans. And the beach within 30 minutes.

5. Frisco. Been there twice. The first time we rented an RV and got there Thursday night for a Saturday night show. Talk about a party. The second time we had a hotel adjacent to the venue so could do our own tailgating in the hotel lot regardless of the hours, and had easy access to the venue lots to walk around. And the Texas women are.... phenomenal.

Atlantic City was fun in 2016. As Finzup16 mentioned, it was a ridiculously hot afternoon right on the beach. I went in to the show with zero expectations(thinking shorter setlist, more covers/SYKBH, etc.) but was pleasantly surprised with a completely full set. And it was super cool to literally walk a couple hundred feet to my left and swim in the ocean as the show was going on.

Jones Beach is similar to me. Only been there once and it was a rough afternoon alcohol-wise(we've all been there) but I loved the fact that you could tailgate all day and walk over to the beach in the middle of the day for a swim if you wanted to. Unique experience.

Manassas used to be a fantastic place as well (with Premier Lots opening at Noon) until The Great Tailgating Ban of 2011. Don't think they will ever fully recover from that baffling decision but I do still visit.

[txaggirl91]

1. Austin City Limits - Small Venue, not a bad seat in the house. Hands down, the best place I've ever seen Jimmy.

2. Jones Beach - Nothing like seeing him with the ocean in the background.

3. Tampa - What makes Tampa a great venue is the hospitality of the Florida peeps and being able to walk across the street from the hotel to the venue.

4. Dallas - Either Frisco or the Fairgrounds, Everything is bigger in Texas. The tailgate, the show, and the fun. Love my Texas peeps.

5. Cincy/Great Woods - Both have been great experiences for me. Great Tailgating, great venues steeped in history. Great people at both locations. Would go back in a heartbeat.

[TommyBahama]

1. Street Fest KW during MOTM
2. Casa Marina KW during MOTM
3. Opening of Margaritaville @ Mohegan Sun
4. Newport RI Folk Fest
5. Atlantic City on the beach
6. House of Blues

Now for The Bigger Venues
1. Tampa...…………...Love the Venue and a great Tailgate , they pretty much leave you alone
2. Great Woods...….Epic Tailgating , getting out of the lot is a nightmare
3. Jones Beach...…… On the water , enough said
4. West Palm...……. Jimmy's Residence.... Mellow Tailgate
5. Alpine...………….. Great Tailgate.... Met a Ton of BNer's I hadn't met face to face
6. Tingly...………….. Chicago for the 1st time , the whole weekend was great
7. Fenway....Just because of the experience , of Buffett playing Fenway breaking the curse
8. Orlando... Great tailgate , but it's an arena
9. Mohegan ... Same as Orlando
10 MSG ........ No tailgate , but a great time , again it's an arena
11 Gillette .... 2nd row both shows , tailgate was good , not a fan of Stadium Shows
12 Citizens Bank Philly... 11th row , OK tailgate , again a Stadium

[BottleofRum]

Great Woods will always be my top choice, it is where I saw my first concert as a 17 year-old in 1993 and it is the best pre-party in the country. The venue inside the amphitheater itself is not great and very dated. But the parking lot is so epic it more than makes up for it.

Many of these places I have only been to once so it is just off that experience.

Jones Beach, I was there in 2004 and I found the tailgating just OK and smaller than expected to start the day. The venue inside is awesome, the stage is on the water so it's a great atmosphere. Put Great Woods tailgating with Jones Beach for the show itself and it is the perfect concert experience. The cops were really strict about drinking, like confiscating strict and you were parking among others who were just going to the Beach so it was a bit odd. Some complain they don’t sell booze inside the venue but that is fine with me, I almost never drink once the show starts.

Frisco, Texas was fun but so hot and the parking lots are so spread out and some are smaller so if you end up in a smaller lot (like we did) you want to walk around to the other lots. Combined with the heat just walking around takes a ton of time to reach the next lot you end up baking in the sun. But I had a great time and had great company to hang with that day and those people who hosted us in Texas can tailgate with the best of them.

Bangor, Maine was nothing if it wasn’t unique. I’d be 50/50 if I’d ever go back but it was a great day and great place to see him. Just not sure I’d rush back to see him there.

Fenway and Gillette. The Gillette tailgate was good and the Fenway experience was fun the first time around which should have been the last. The Gillette tailgate was a bit like Great Woods.

Tinley Park, Chicago was a mess of a day. I heard the show I went to in the late 1990's was the worst shitshow ever at that place and I couldn't imagine it being worse. Getting in was a nightmare, lots opened way late and once in and parked some cops wouldn't allow tailgating, some did, some staff said tailgating was allowed, some said it was banned for that show.... a complete case of the tail wagging the dog. The venue was a dump inside, sound was horrible and when the show ended it was a dream come true as I just wanted out! .

Some of the others I’ve been to all fall into the same bucket that it was fun but nothing noteworthy: Mohegan, Vegas (x4), Tampa (Indoor show in 2002), MSG, Boston Garden (x2), West Palm Beach the WPB show was OK, tailgating took forever to get started, we got there about 10am and were one of about 10 cars. Most others didn’t arrive until about 4-5pm but we had a good crew so we made the best of it.

Places he will prob never play again that were good; Meadows in CT and Saratoga, NY both were in the heyday of the md-90’s when he did 10+ show in NE and were just an epic time of debauchery. House of Blues in Boston was awesome, 1,500 people, just a great intimate show. Hope he does it again.

Places I’d never go back to again, Camden and Philly. Why? see the former and the latter!

Places I missed seeing him that haunt me: Paradise Club in Boston, 900 capacity,all GA, I had a ticket but sold it because I didn't want to make the 90 min drive in on a Thursday... . Ughhh, idiot! and Irvine, CA... I was suppose to see him there in 2003, concert was on my birthday... tickets bought, flight booked and a bunch of BNers were going and then... Buffett's mom died 2 days before the show so he cancelled. I never made it there before they demolished the place.

[wanderingtoes]

1- Gulf Shores Alabama- 40,000 plus for the "oil spill benefit" as Jimmy would say "you had to be there" it was a moment. Gave new meaning to Mother,Mother Ocean.
2- Margaritaville New Orleans- 250 inside, 5,000 plus outside, front row part of the time, nothing better.
3- Austin Texas smaller venue but again front row part of the time, awesome show
4- Nashville Tennessee one of the most energetic crowds.
5- Tie Atlanta Georgia really great atmosphere, second row
5- Tie Houston Texas, lots of nice people, and a 5 time venue

[bralph]

This is tricky....

Ohio: Buckeye Lake, Polaris, Schottenstein Center, Blossom, Riverbend
MI: DTE/Pine Knob, Comerica, River-something...
IL: Wrigley
WI: Alpine Valley
GA: Atlanta, don't remember venue name
PA: Star Lake
NV: MGM Grand

It was a long time ago and back when we would get really slammed during tailgating, but I have really fond memories of Buckeye Lake near Columbus. The acoustics at Blossom and Riverbend are really good, though the tailgate at Riverbend is great. Alpine Valley was also a lot of fun. MGM Grand is my favorite of the indoor/stadium venues by far. Hated Comerica and Wrigley.

Key West or Hawaii is an obvious dream scenario. If he ever does Red Rocks again though, that is the top of our "realistic" wish list.

[PVBigDaddy]

This is easy for me.

1 - Frisco TX. If you have been to Frisco and it is not #1 or #2 on your list you probably need to rethink your criteria. (just my opinion, I could be wrong).
2. - Las Vegas.

[seminoledq]

I've been to a lot of shows but only at three different venues so it's easy to rank them.

1. Red Rocks
2. MGM
3. Pepsi Center