Jimmy Buffett: Before the Fall

Sydney, NSW – 25 January 2011 at 12:36am
Kansas City, USA – January 24, 2011 at 7:36am

Guess who has two thumbs, a ticket to see Jimmy Buffett at the Opera House in Sydney and a parrot on her shoulder?

This Gal!!!

 Every time I think of Jimmy Buffett I think of Fred White and the time he told me he was a “Parrothead” (i.e. a member of Jimmy Buffett’s fan club) and I about shot coffee out of my nose because I couldn’t imagine Fred wearing a parrot hat on his head….so Fred…this one’s for you buddy!

So I busted it back from Canberra to Sydney, headed straight for the Harbour and walked my happy tail all the way up to the top of the stairs to the Opera House Box Office all the while wearing my big backpack only to find out promoter/venue holds had been released about 30 minutes before I got there at approx 12:30pm….the result: there still were no tickets available for purchase to the Jimmy Buffett concert tonight. With a look of defeat on my face, the very kind woman behind the glass window said…. “Wait, you can come back at 7pm, one hour before the show starts and get in the queue (line) that forms over by those posters. If any additional tickets are released or if someone returns (yes, you heard me, returns) a ticket we sell them first come, first serve to the people in the queue (line).” Hmmmmm….Interesting….I’ll be back after a shower and a power nap.

Well the nap didn’t happen but the shower did. I got cleaned up and went back to the Opera House to meet my friends Luke and Lisa. Luke is apparently a “parrothead” hence the costume and was a fan favorite of the night…loads of people had their photo taken with him. I caught up with L&L for a minute to hear about their recent trip to Melbourne and then I had to jet to get in the queue (line) to, only by the grace of the good Lord above, purchase a ticket. 

When I walked up there were four people already in line...dang it… I’m even early!

In order of appearance: A couple from Indiana, a woman who lives full time on a boat in Mackay (random since I’ve actually been to Mackay) and some big handsome fellow named Paul from Newcastle (another place I’ve actually visited) and then me. We all started talking and sharing stories while we waited. Another random couple came up and had 2 tickets for sale. They started at the beginning of the queue trying to sell their extra two tickets to anyone who wanted them. The location for the seats was at the back of the concert hall so everyone passed on them but Paul. At this point it is a game of chance…and I’m a betting girl. I was not about to pay a ton of money to sit in the back…its either all in or no dice…I’ll take my chances. By this time the woman from the boat stepped out of line because she had seen the show the night before with her husband (who showed up out of nowhere…here is their photo) and since getting in and out was so hectic the night before, they decided just to try to get in on their tickets from the night before…

Side note: not one person scanned my ticket, tore my ticket or even looked at my ticket.

I have no idea if they got in or not but there is a pretty good chance they did.

And then there were two…since Paul bought one of the tickets from the couple who approached the line, the American couple were the only people in front of me at this point…so my chances of getting in are looking up. Although, the night before they had 20 tickets for the queue and tonight there definitely were not 20 people in line, I mean queue…maybe 8-10 there still was a chance that they would have zero tickets. The couple and I struck up a nice conversation discussing things we had in common…travel , natives of the US, etc… I noticed Paul was hanging around to see if we got a better deal…so he was in and out of the conversation.

Then the couple in front of me is approached by another couple selling some extra tickets (face value of course), they are pleased with the location so they buy them…SUCCESS! I’m now the first person in the line…woo hoo!  My chance of getting into the show in some capacity, whether it is in a seat or SRO (standing room only) are almost guaranteed. 

So it was down to me and a few other’s left standing in line.

A lovely woman named Julie (who had incredible customer service…she gets a gold star for her communication skills) kept checking on us throughout our wait and then at 7:55pm she came over and said we have 3 tickets next to the stage and 5 more in the back…thank you to everyone else who got out of line…woo hoo… I’ll be sitting close(r) to the stage and everyone in the line was allowed into the concert!

While we were standing in line, I noticed that something was a little off…heaps of people seemed to know Paul….a guy from Newcastle which is a few hours away…. People would walk by and say “Hi Paul”….one woman came up to him and said “Don’t I know you from somewhere….I think you know my son.” Which of course he didn’t…..So I turned to him and said “Are you famous or something?” – Yeah, classic line…not. Turns out his name is Paul Harragon and he is one of the most famous rugby players to ever play the game…he was the Captain of the Newcastle Knights….a rival of Grams’ Brisbane Broncos…so we had a little laugh about that…I told him I couldn’t root for his team if they were playing the Broncos. Now he is a TV commentator on an Aussie sports channel…haha.. go figure…so we ended up hanging out part of the night talking sports, having a beer and watching the concert at the top of my section…so really he got the better deal…he paid $50 less than me and still hung out in my section…nice guy though.

I came home to Google him (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Harragon)  and Jason said “What?!?!? You hung out with Paul Harragon? That would be like meeting George Brett.”  Me: “Yeah, well, I didn’t know who he was, so that is probably why we got along so well.”

Status doesn’t mean much to me anyway.

So, I paid face value ($174 AUD) for a ticket that was VERY close to the stage (third row in my section)…I have NEVER in my life paid that much for a ticket…EVER….and considering I have ZERO incoming money at the moment I probably shouldn’t have done it … but….I didn’t waste three years penny pinching and driving a car with 245,000 miles to not experience all there is in life…I mean come on,  it was Buffett at the Opera House in Sydney and Jimmy hasn’t been to Australia in 22 years…this was a monumental moment I couldn’t miss. Plus, I checked two items off my eight page bucket list in one night!

I figure God will provide somewhere along the line…even if it is something as small as a $20 free cab ride…thank you Pamela…or saving $10 on a museum entrance fee to view an exhibit you really want to see or having such wonderful people all over the world host me as a guest in their house at no charge. (I have a lot of “pay it forwards” to make good on)

The concert was outstanding! It was in a very small, intimate room (seating capacity approx. 2,200…or so I was told) so the acoustics were fantastic and the crowd was into it. He played all the hits and fan favorites and threw in a few covers like Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison which created a huge sing along by the crowd.

Chalk this one up to another fun night in Sydney!

Update: Since I wrote this post, apparently Jimmy fell off the stage at one of his concerts. Sorry to hear the bad news and I hope he feels better soon. Let's just hope it wasn't because of too many margaritas...

Additional Photos: Jimmy Buffett