Ocean was backdrop for Buffett’s final show
Ocean was backdrop for Buffett’s final show
Fittingly, Jimmy Buffett’s final concert appearance was with Mac McAnally, his most trusted musical collaborator, and it was on a stage with an ocean backdrop.
Buffett made an impromptu appearance on July 3 at Sunset Cove, a waterfront bar in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. The crowd was there to see Mac, and roared to its feet when Buffett came out to join his Coral Reefer guitarist and drummer Eric Darken during the Alan Jackson hit “It’s 5 O’Clock Somewhere.’’
When Mac sang, “At a moment like this, I can’t help but wonder what would Jimmy Buffett do,” Buffett came on stage, strapped on his guitar and said, “How ‘bout I play it for you (in place of “Pour me somethin’ tall an’ strong”).
A few hours before the show, McAnally told Sunset Cove owner Mike MacFarlane that Buffett wanted 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 hopped on a flight from Long Island with his daughter, and MacFarlane, whose 50th birthday fell on the day of the show, met the two of them at the airport.
“Nobody had a clue,” said MacFarlane, who booked Mac specifically for the birthday party. “I didn’t want a surprise party for my birthday, but in reality, I did have one. The surprise was just for everyone else.”
Buffett added another decade to the protagonist in the song “A Pirate Looks at Forty” in honor of the host.
“You can’t write a check for what happened,” MacFarlane said.
Buffett postponed shows beginning in May to deal with his health issues.
“Once I am in shape, we will look at the whens and wheres of shows,” he said on Facebook on May 19. “I think playing is as therapeutic for me as it is for fans to listen and sing along. Looking forward to announcing a new date for Charleston as well as some new shows! Fins up!”
MacFarlane told CBS Boston that the crowd of a few hundred was there expecting to see McAnally, a member of Buffett’s Coral Reefer Band for more than 40 years.
“Mac got a hold of me and said, ‘Hey Jimmy just reached out and wants to come up and do a few songs what do you think?’ and I said ‘let’s find a way to make it happen.”’
Buffett was staying in Long Island and wanted to get out of the house. So he left a note and flew to Rhode Island to perform an eight-song, 45-minute, hit-filled set with Mac.
Buffett quietly canceled a festival gig slated for July 6. Then, in mid-August, he canceled the Charleston, S.C., gig he’d talked about making good on.
As summer roared along, he slipped out of the spotlight aside from several nostalgic posts on social media, where he’d also compliment artists who covered his songs and reflect on better times.
The set list for the final show: “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere”; “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes”; “Cheeseburger in Paradise”; “Song of a Son of a Sailor”; “Come Monday”; “Volcano”; “A Pirate Looks at Forty”; “Margaritaville.”
“It’s a full moon tonight, and the stars aligned,” MacFarlane told The Globe.
Sporting khaki shorts, a tropical print shirt, a Navy Sailing baseball cap and sunglasses, Buffett looked fit and joked with the crowd.
“I had to go by Block Island to check the surf break,” he said between songs on the makeshift stage,
“I met Mac years ago,” said MacFarlane. “We’ve been friends, so I met Jimmy through Mac. Jimmy’s actually a Peter Millar fan, which is my full-time job. So we do some Peter Millar work together.
“Jimmy’s been down and out a little bit and is not on tour right now. He found out his friend Mac was doing a show here, and Mac told him it was actually my birthday. Jimmy said, ‘You know what, I’m on Long Island and we’re gonna come to Rhode Island and we’re gonna have a party for Mike and blow up this whole town.’
“It was very last-minute, but through the help of the Portsmouth PD (below with Buffett) and a few other people and our staff here, we made it happen,” said MacFarlane.