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Party at the Pond – The
Tiki Bar Was Open in Anaheim!
The Phins were up
all day and night, and this was just in the parking lot!
– More Buffett Coverage
–
• Las
Vegas Margaritaville Cafe Grand Opening
•
Honolulu 2004
• Las Vegas 2003
• San Diego 2003
• More
concert photos (includes Parrotheads PreParty)
• Jimmy
at Jazz Fest 2002
• Front
Row at Irvine Meadows
• First-person
reviews from" The Bartender"
PubClub arrived
in style – aboard the Parrothead Party Bus.
The Tiki Time Tour made it's way to Anaheim
on Saturday, January 24, 2004. and the tiki bars were open all over
the parking lot beforehand to celebrate the occasion. Once again,the
assembled Parrotheads proved that Jimmy Buffett concerts are The Single
Greatest One-Day Party Event on the Planet.
"Come on in and open up your mind" is a line from the Tiki
Bar song and that's precisely the way it was on a semi-sunny Saturday.
Portable tiki bars were set up all around the main parking lot area
reserved for motorhomes, a roulette wheel traded booze for boobs, an
enterprising man with a can of whipped cream managed to convince several
ladies to allow him to spray and lick, and there were plenty of chums
with bottles of rum. And beer. And tequila. There was even a mobile
tiki bar, a fully-functional thatched-roof concoction complete with
bar stools that was pulled around by a golf cart.
 And
Jimmy Buffett music everywhere.
All this is somebody's fault, for sure. And who's to blame doesn't
really matter. Because there's booze in the blenders and it renders
the best tailgate scene anywhere.
Parrotheads may not know where to go when the volcano blows, but they
sure know where to go when Jimmy plays. It's in the veins and thank
goodness it remains.
People cruised around searching for songs and when they found them,
stopped and tossed our their anchors and partied. They all had something
tall and strong to drink becuase, of course, no matter the local time
they know it's 5 o'clock somewhere. In all, there were about 5,000 restless
natives in and around the couple of dozen tiki bars.
This was a rescheduled Southern California show, originally set for
last September that was postponed by the unfortunate death of Jimmy's
mother. Due to the change of seasons, a slight change in latitude was
necessary from the traditional LA-area venue of outdoor Irvine Meadows
with its vast parking lot to the indoor Arrowhead Pond.
The parking lot party was only about a third of that at Irivne Meadows
and it didn't really get cranking until around 4:30, a good 90 minutes
later than is the case at Irvine. But the frenzy was no less intense.
One row was incredibly packed with people singing, dancing laughing,
drinking and meeting fellow Parrotheads to the live "Tuesdays,
Thursdays and Saturdays" CD. The land sharks were especially circling
and swimming around during "Fins."
More busmates, dressed in grass skirts, Aloha shirts and straw and pirate
hats.
The California crowd again proved to be among the best of any Buffett
show. The prime partiers are generally professional and pretty, 20s
to early 40 and are far more focused on the party than the songs (though
it's the songs that provide the inspiration). Most of are pleasantly
unattached. At least when they arrive. The atmosphere and ease of meeting
people make this one of the best pickup places in the entire state.
Let's just say that "Let's Get Drunk and Screw" is not just
performed on stage by Buffett.
Shots at the Tiki
Bar – a Buffett tailgate tradition.
Bad timing on our part: The blonde just flashed and her friend prepares
to moon.
The mobile tiki bar made the rounds through the parking lot.
The walk from the RV lot to the arena could be measured in steps, not
miles. With several entrances, there was no mob scene to get inside
and security gave only a simple swipe with a metal-detecting wand and
very generously allowed Parrotheads to enter with their large plastic
drinking cups (which were mostly empty by that time anyway). There were
ample concession stands – and selling great Canadian beer at that!
– and plenty of restrooms. In short, it was overall much more pleasant
than the headaches of Irvine. Our only complaint would be the ticket
prices. The $130 seats didn't even get on the floor. Instead, they were
in a second section about halfway back. Heck, for $130 we would expect
to be in the band!
The venue itself was good. While it has no single giant parking lot
which seems to be unique to Irvine, the Pond proved to be a happy host.
The pre-concert fears about the conservative Anaheim Police Department
not allowing any drinking turned out to be totally unfounded. They were
quite friendly, wandered almost unnoticed through the crowd, cared only
about glass bottles and even posed for photos (a few accepted nourishment
from cheeseburgers offered by barbecuing tailgaters). Of course, the
party-first, friendly-to-everyone demeanor of Parrotheads virtually
eliminates any problems or incidents. So there was no need to stay one
step ahead of these jailers.
The concert itself was pretty much the same as the other Tiki Time
shows (and what can be heard on the live CDs recently released from
a few of last summer's concerts). Jimmy wore his traditional shorts
and t-shirt, bounced around the stage with the enthusiasm of a 20-year-old
– after all, he may be growing older but certainly not up – joked
around with the audience and the Coral Reefers were outstanding as always.
PubClub's day started at Sharkeez,
an idyllic Manhattan Beach cantina with a thatched roof covering the
bar. With margarita and yards of boat drinks on special, this was our
pre-party landing spot for a couple of hourse until 50 of us piled on
the Parrothead Party Bus, a PubClub tradition since we thought of it
several years ago. For us, it's the only way to go to Jimmy Buffett.
Two of our busmates prove Buffett appeals to beautiful babes.
We just loved the bar stools on the mobile tiki bar.
This was a mini-tiki bar, complete with it's own beach.
After the sun set, the tailgaiting got into high gear.
Inside the hospitable
Pond, the party continued strong.
Jimmy and the Coral
Reefers on stage and Fins to the Left, as seen from our $130 seats.
 Buffett
Concert Photo Album
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