Long before there were metaverses, there was the Buffettverse. It’s inhabited by a people known as Parrotheads who waste away in its virtual capital, Margaritaville, until Jimmy Buffett makes one of his regular visits to a concert venue near them in real life.
Buffett, who steps onstage this weekend at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, is their pirate king. That would make his comrades in the Coral Reefer Band his motley crew of trusty shipmates.
That band is more of an ensemble, with guitarist Mac McAnally and longtime keyboardist Michael Utley perhaps the best-known musicians on board. Steel drum player Robert Greenidge, now in his 40th year as a Coral Reefer, adds the unmistakable island element to songs such as “Come Monday,” “Volcano” and Margaritaville” that have been part of the core of Buffett’s setlists since the ’80s.
Buffett has been mixing things up lately though, kicking off the last in a series of February Key West gigs with “Why Don’t We Get Drunk” before playing a set full of deep cuts such as “Trying to Reason with Hurricane Season” and “Cuban Crime of Passion.” He’s also been performing a cover of the Allman Brothers’ “Little Martha” as of late.
There may be a few songs that the flock doesn’t know by heart, but by the end of the evening, they probably will.
MGM Grand, 8 p.m. March 11, starting at $44.25. ticketmaster.com
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