Customer Reviews

Live at Fenway Park (with bonus DVD)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Overall, I'm happy with this release. I haven't bought any of the 'Tiki Time' live releases but decided to buy this one since I missed this tour and a dvd is also included.

The cds:

I think that they put together a pretty good collection of songs from both nights at Fenway. My only complaint is that 'The Weather is Here, Wish You Were Beautiful' was performed at Friday's show but wasn't included on the cds. It's a very nice touch to have both the opening and closing songs on this 2 cd set be solo acoustic performances by Jimmy. There have been complaints about previous live shows having bad quality but the quality on this set is very good (thought I do think Jimmy's live album 'Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays' does sound a bit better).

The dvd:

The main reason I bought this release was for the dvd. It kicks off with Jimmy giving a short overview of the shows and how they came to be. There is a good collection of songs from both nights but it's a shame that 'The Great Filling Station Holdup' was left off the dvd since it is a song not performed too often. The footage is great with some home video/tour video spliced into a couple of songs. An example is footage of Jimmy sailing during 'Son of a Son of a Sailor'. Even though it's not a complete show, this is as close to one as us parrotheads have so far (on dvd).

If you were at the shows or the least bit curious about them, then this set is definetly worth the money.

Buffett fans will find here what they would expect - a solid, extended, interactive live show, all the standards, a few good covers, and a good mix of ballads vs. uptempo.

Any Jimmy live recording helps you recall all the great shows you may have seen, so there's just a general "feel good" factor about it.

That being said, I do have a few knocks on it:
- The sound isn't as good as, say "Feeding Frenzy." That may be the recording technique, maybe just the difference in age in the singer. Either way, Jimmy's voice isn't as powerful here as on Feeding Frenzy.
- Jimmy took some liberties with the lyrics on Scarlet Begonias (a G.Dead cover), one point singing one wrong line while the backing singers sang the correct one. Not noticeable unless you play that song over and over (which I do.)
- The DVD is neat, but it's all one big track (so you can't skip to the next song), and at times it's just a dizzying montage of fan coverage, tailgate parties, etc - I know what fans look like. I want to see the band.
- I know how he likes to interact with the venue, but by the end of 2 discs and a DVD, you get pretty darn sick of hearing about Fenway park.

The pros (beyond the obvious of just having another good Buffett set to listen to):
- That man doesn't just do covers, he takes ownership of the song. I swear I like his versions of Scarlet Begonias and Southern Cross better than the originals.
- Much featuring of the other band members. R-E-S-P-E-C-T features Jimmy only on subtle backing vocals and the grunt acoustic guitar work. I just always like to see that.
- I liked this recording of "Fruitcakes" much better than the recorded one - couldn't tell you why for sure.

So I would recommend this as a buy for true fans that are prone to enjoying whatever he puts out. I wouldn't recommend it as an intro to new fans, in spite of the number of tracks to digest. There are better compilations to hear the music itself and cut out the crowd interactions.

These CDs say they take the feed straight from the sound board, and therefore you get what you get or what actually happened. That's completely true. So when the performance is flat, that's what you get. Buy the Hawaii album. It's much better, and there is energy in the performance. I think the "Ike Turner" review above was a little harsh, but they hit the nail on the head with the comment about emphasizing the last word in each verse. That's overused on this album. I'm disappointed. The packaging makes it look like something special, but it's not.

Jimmy Buffett has released numerous live albums in his career, but what makes Live At Fenway Park interesting is that it contains a DVD of part of the performance. The cd itself is a generous two disk set that contains all the usual live staples, "Why Don't We Get Drunk", "Fins, "Margaritaville", "A Pirate Looks At Forty" "Volcano" & "Grapefruit-Juicy Fruit". There are four songs off his last studio effort, Licensed To Chill, that make their live album debuts and some nice Buffett chestnuts that don't get a lot of attention like the masterful "The Great Filling Station Hold-Up" & "Cuban Crime Of Passion". There are the familiar covers, "Southern Cross", "Brown Eyed Girl" and two very interesting ones, a version of the Grateful Dead's "Scarlet Begonias" and a rousing go at "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" which Mr. Buffett sings with glee. The real bonus for Parrotheads is the DVD that shows a small portion of the historic show.

Besides listening to the Radio Margaritaville channel on Sirius, this is the Buffett album that I listen to more than any of his others. I absolutely love it...definitely like being there live. I've read some reviews, & am surprised at the negative remarks. The 2-cd set is definitely a fun live album...I figured that was the main purpose. Many of my fav tunes are on it, plus a great cover of "Southern Cross". Yes, he makes many remarks about Fenway Park, but duh, the concert takes place there. I was interested in hearing his medley of "Why Can't We Get Drunk" & "Sweet Caroline". I was pleasantly surprised...the two were merged great together. There are some gems on here; "The Great Filling Station Holdup" & "Defying Gravity". These really sounded great live, & his interaction made them a bit better. Hands down, Parrotheads... buy this album!

If you have never been to a Buffett concert, the dvd and these 2 cd's will give you an idea of what you've missed! If you are a devoted attendee, then you will be able to re-live the great moments with this collection. Jimmy brings together great complilations of some older songs that have not made his set list in recent years, while weaving in some of his better, newer songs.
The behind the scenes dvd is also entertaining...you can really see his excitement in playing a venue like Fenway, and his enthusiasm comes across so much more in this live album than those he put out from the "Tiki Tour" last year. They were good, but this set is a must have for the real Buffett fan. It is the perfect follow-up to such greats as "Live by the Bay" in the 80's, "Feeding Frenzy" in '91, and "Tuesdays, Thursdays & Sundays" from 2000.
If you are a fan, it will exceed your expectations. If you are not yet a fan, you will be once you hear this!

I was prepared not to like Live At Fenway Park when I received it as a gift recently. I even gave it two stars after the first listening/viewing. Jimmy Buffett had been off of my musical radar screen for years since he went unabashedly commercial, and I frankly don't like most of his recent music and the attendant parrot-head hoorah. Then there is the goofy CD cover which you have to be a Red Sox fan to like at all. But, I will give almost any musician a chance, particularly one like Jimmy Buffett who I once liked a lot. So, I really listened the second, third, and fourth times and came to appreciate it a lot more.
After due consideration, my favorite Buffett songs are still mostly the older ones, but he does exhibit occassional flashes of his old songwriting skills. Here's a rundown of the highlights and the lowlights of this ambitious effort:
CD 1) The best songs to my ears are the newish License To Chill, an excellent cover of Van Morrison's Brown Eyed Girl, the always hilarious Why Don't We Get Drunk, and One Particular Harbor. I didn't care much for Fruitcakes, which degenerated into touchy-feely preachiness.
CD 2) This CD has more songs I really like, but also a couple that are awful. I like Grapefruit, Juicy Fruit; a fine rendition of Cuban Crime of Passion; the classic, and a personal favorite, A Pirate Looks at Forty; the obligatory Margaritaville; the double-entendres in Fins; a fine cover of the Grateful Dead's Scarlet Begonias; a rousing cover of CSNY's Southern Cross; and the plaintive Jesse Winchester tune Defying Gravity with which Buffett closes the show. I did not like the execrable Jolly Mon Sings or the throw-away Take Me Out to the Ballgame.
As for the DVD, it is rather mediocre. I did not really enjoy the camera panning all the silly jerks who mugged for it as it passed their way, nor did I like the Jolly Mon skit where he exorcised the "demons" long bedeviling the Red Sox. It was just plain stupid. There were some great musical highlights on the DVD amongst which the viewers can enjoy watching guest Sonny Landreth just really shred his slide guitar.
Some years ago, Jimmy Buffett issued a live album entitled You Had to Be There. And perhaps with Live at Fenway Park it may have been better to have been there as well. But overall, it is not bad for a live CD. Fans may wish that other songs were included or excluded, but Buffett has such a huge repertoire, that it is impossible to really do it justice on a CD based on two shows. So my recommendation is, if you like Jimmy Buffett get this even if you find it hard to get by the goofy baseball schtick. Even if you don't listen to it that often, it is bound to be a party staple.

I am heavily biased - as both a Parrothead for 25 years and a Red Sox fan, how could I NOT love this Double CD + DVD set? It's fun, it's lively, it's...Jimmy. Not every song is performed as well as it could be, but it's a live album with Jimmy having a good time, so I pretty much went into it expecting that.

Now, if you're not a Red Sox fan - especially if you are a Yankees fan - you may tire quickly or possibly not always "get" all of the Red Sox and Boston references Jimmy makes here. That's understandable. But, well, I would expect to have the same problem if he had recorded this at Camden Yards, Busch Stadium or Wrigley Field. When it's live, the artist is gonna play to that audience. And, let's be honest, you have to expect that when he puts the stadium name in the title and photos of it all over the packaging.

Regarding the song selection, I think it's a very good mix of his old songs (which I knew), a number of newer ones (which I mostly didn't), and some covers. That, again, is to be expected of ANY live album, and for me was a good introduction to those newer songs I hadn't heard. Check the song list above, if that matters to you. If you're tired of Jimmy's approach to the Carribean or to life, don't buy this -- it's that simple. But he's not whining, he's just having fun, so if you are in a similar mood, this is a fun, fun way to play along.

As for the DVD...well, it's not a hidden movie classic waiting to be discovered. It's a party at Fenway Park. If you are having a Parrothead party, featuring a lot of Jimmy's music and even more alcoholic concoctions that relieve stress and reduce resistance to fun, I suggest you show the DVD on your TV with the sound DOWN, turn UP the sound on the CDs, and pour the margaritas. (Make mine with Cuervo, please...there IS a difference.) That's what it's all about anyway.

This is a very disappointing album from a talented artist. The set includes two CDs and a poorly edited DVD. For the most part, I doubt that the producers put a whole lot of effort into making this set. The DVD does not include his most popular songs and looks very amateurish. It needs a real editor.

The CDs are at least as bad. The instruments override the vocals on most numbers and there is too much verbiage. I got sick of Buffett telling us how much he loves Boston; sing for God's sake...don't talk. Also the electronic tags which identify the song to the track number were mostly wrong...100% wrong on the second CD and partially wrong for the songs at the end of the first CD. When I click on the track showing "Margaritaville", I want to hear that song, not "Respect" (arguably the best song on the album) instead.

A previous reviewer commented that Buffett appeared tired and bored. A close look at the band's demeanor in the DVD verifies it.

Overall, a major disappointment.

Tom

The hour long DVD is alot of fun but not as much fun as the camcorder videos I shot back in the days when Jimmy concerts were the highlight of the summer and isn't worth twenty plus dollars. As for the audio part. Did we really need a 7th live recording of Cheesburger in Paradise?
I may be middle-aged, I hate to admit, but I'm not quite dead yet, Jimmy and I just don't want to hear the same stuff over and over again. Bill Jabanoski's "Key West, Island of Dreams" makes me feel young and like there's still alot more life left to live. This tired playing out of your former glory doesn't.
Sorry. This is from a Parrothead who was one before they called us that.