Top Phive Jimmy Buffett Tailgate Setups

There is nothing quite like a Jimmy Buffett tailgate — sun, phun, booze, island attire, and most importantly, an abundance of pure joy. You don’t see fights, bitterness or anything you might find in any other pre-concert parking lot. People are just happy to be there and share in the feeling. So, in honor of the upcoming Jimmy Buffett concert at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia this Saturday, I’m listing my Top Phive Phavorite Buffett Tailgate setups. (One will certainly notice that 3 of 5 came from Great Woods in Boston, the pinnacle of JB parties — a labor day institution for years that will be missed.)

I look for three important things when I think of a great tailgate setup:

• It has to be creative – erected bars are fun and cool but a lot of people have them so its hard to differentiate.
• It has to bring people to your space. Jimmy parties are about the parrothead community, and the great ones bring strangers together like they’ve known each other for years.
• It has to promote debauchery. Obviously.

On to the list…

5. Beach at the River — Camden, NJ 2000

Ok, so this one doesn’t really stand up to my three rules, but it is the best, most elaborate I’ve ever organized. We rented one of those white vans with no seats in the back and piled in 5 bags of sand, a half keg, several coolers full of margarita, and plenty of food. Once on site, we covered our little plot of scaulding asphalt with sand, beach toys and beach chairs and got to work on the food & drink (not in that order). The day ended well, with a member of our party asleep on top of the van (luckily we realized this before leaving).

4. Life-Size Buffett Boardgame — Mansfield, MA 1999

The folks next to us in the p-lot put together a huge walking boardgame, where contestants spun a huge wheel to determine the category of question they’d need to answer. A correct answer got to move forward on the board. There was a line to play this game consistently throughout the day. (There were also a few drinks being consumed.)

3. Concert at the Beach — Jones Beach, NY 2004

Last year the labor day festivities were moved to the Jones Beach Amphiteater, which seemingly would be a perfect spot for Buffett — right on the beach — if not for the harsh parking lot regulations and dry concessions inside. We still got our tailgate on, but it was more subdued than other experiences. One guy had the right idea tho — he set up a PA and a little stage and played Jimmy covers all afternoon. By the time we found him, he had quite a crowd (~150 people) singing and dancing along to his more than adequate JB impersonation. In fact, since he didn’t play anything off the new album, this was more fun than the concert!

2. Dance Party USA — Mansfield, MA 2000

The rain-soaked tailgate at Great Woods in ’00 seemed like it would be the downer of downers, but actually spawned the two single greatest setups I’ve seen at JB shows. The second-best was attached to an RV; An awning was set up, surrounded with some serious loudspeakers and a makeshift dancefloor underneath. These guys pumped out the jams all afternoon, mostly playing current (at the time) Spring Break favorites like “Who Let the Dogs Out?”, and althought he cheese was plentiful this was the place to be — just a wild mass of people getting their groove on and having the time of their lives.

1. The Slide — Mansfield, MA 2000

Also in ’00, the slide takes the cake as the very best of the best. Some parrotheads with a large pickup truck had filled the bed with water and set up a slide that came down into the bed from above the cab. A ladder was erected on the front of the truck so one could get to the very top. The kicker was the rules of the slide: ladies only, and no tops allowed. (I think the rain definitely brings out the wild side in some people, because there was a line to get on the entire time this was operational!) As you can imagine, this generated quite a crowd, and I do not exagerate when I say that there were at least 1,000 people gathered around while the revelry was taking place. In the end, I’m not sure if the cops shut them down or it was the naked hairy dude who snuck through slide security, but it came to an end. For those who did witness it, however, the slide will always hold a special place.

Has The Slide been topped? Let me know!