Field

Wrigleyville is transformed into Margaritaville as Jimmy Buffett, his band, and many thousands of his dancing, beer-guzzling, Hawaiian shirt-wearing, lei-draped fans invade the venerable Chicago baseball stadium for Live at Wrigley Field Double Header. Held over Labor Day weekend, 2005, the concerts themselves (a daytime show occupies one disc, with a nighttime set on the second) are standard Buffett fare--i.e., another opportunity for the above-named "Parrotheads" to pah-tay--but as the singer-songwriter frequently observes, the venue is something special. Before Buffett arrived, concerts on the sacred ground known as "the friendly confines" were as rare as Cub victories in the World Series (the team's last world championship, in 1908, preceded the opening of Wrigley Field by some six years), and Buffett, a onetime Chicago resident and longtime Cubs fan, is clearly thrilled to be there. Musically, familiar titles like "Cheeseburger in Paradise," Why Don't We Get Drunk and Screw," and, of course, "Margaritaville" pretty much sum it up; those looking for depth would be as likely to find it on, say, a Paris Hilton record as here. Simply put, Jimmy Buffett don't play no blues, or lament lost love, or bemoan the state of the world; this is sun-soaked party music, no more and no less, and the folks eat it up. But the band (some 15 musicians, singers, and dancers) is right on it, and several moments during the first set evoke the loose-but-tight, slide guitar-driven feel of one of the great American groups, Little Feat (whose keyboardist, Bill Payne, is sitting in). And while Buffett is no one's idea of a world-class vocalist, his songs almost invariably include catchy choruses that everyone loves to sing along with, and his choice of covers includes Hank Williams' "Hey Good Lookin'," Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl," Crosby, Stills & Nash's "Southern Cross," the Grateful Dead's "Scarlet Begonias," and Bruce Springsteen's "Glory Days" (found among the bonus materials). Film montages of Buffett living the good life help break up the visual monotony of a long (165 minutes) concert, and technically the shows look and sound terrific. And don't miss ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro's astonishing rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" (also found among the bonus stuff), which may be the highlight of the whole gig. --Sam Graham