Determined to not be stopped by the storm, Freddy and the Fishsticks (aka Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band) played a surprise show at Lulu’s Sunset Grill in Gulf Shores, AL tonight.
Both the AP and the Press-Register have articles up with photo galleries from the show:
Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft said many in the crowd were local residents whose lives have been turned upside down by the loss of business from the oil spill.
“This is great. We have needed a boost so badly, and this really helps,” Craft said.
Did you attend the show? Share your thoughts on our Discussion Board.
The next show will be July 11th on the beach in Gulf Shores.
Tune into Radio Margaritaville now to listen to Jimmy Buffett live at Lulu’s in Gulf Shores. It’s a surprise show for Freddy and the Fishsticks (pseudonym for Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band).
Follow along with the set list and chat with other fans on our forum!
Though the Gulf Coast concert has been rescheduled for July 11th, CMT still plans to air the show live.
Beginning at 7 p.m. ET/PT, CMT will air the show live for 90 minutes commercial-free. They’ll also stream the concert at CMT.com. As with any Jimmy Buffett show, you’ll be able to listen live on Radio Margaritaville on the web or Sirius 31 / XM 55.
Kenny Chesney has already said he won’t be able to attend on the 11th. No word has been received yet on the Zac Brown Band or the other acts that were scheduled to perform on July 1st. We assume they’ll still be attending until we hear otherwise.
Multipleoutlets are now reporting that the Gulf Coast concert with Jimmy Buffett, Kenny Chesney, Zac Brown Band and others has been rescheduled for Sunday, July 11th.
Officials worried that winds and storm surge from Tropical Storm Alex could threaten the stability of the beach in Gulf Shores, Alabama where the concert is to be held. The stage, which had been going up this week, is already being taken down.
A Facebook fan tells us that a note was put up on Margaritaville.com, including a quote from Jimmy, but was quickly taken down.
Your tickets to the show will of course still be honored on July 11th. If you made reservations with a hotel or condo, call them to discuss your accomodations.
Update – Here is Buffett’s statement from Margaritaville.com:
“Nobody hates this more than I do but I guess, as the song says, it’s hard to reason with hurricane season,” Jimmy said. “For those going anyway, thank you. My sister Lulu will take good care of you. For the rest of you, we will see you July 11th!”
There are reports that the July 1st Jimmy Buffett concert with Kenny Chesney, Zac Brown Band, and others on the beach in Gulf Shores may be postponed due to concern over storm surge from Tropical Storm Alex:
City officials this afternoon are huddling to discuss what to do about the Jimmy Buffett concert scheduled for Thursday.
The free concert — to be simulcast on the CMT network — could be postponed because of concerns over wind and other effects from the storm, which is expected to go ashore in Mexico or Texas later this week.
As of 4:20 p.m. today, no official announcement had been made with regard to a change in status for the highly anticipated concert, in which native son Buffett was to appear with a cast of friends and special guests in an attempt to boost tourism and spirits in light of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
As of lunchtime today, the Gulf Shores City Council was holding a special meeting to discuss plans for the show and a crane was lifting parts of the state into place.
Buffett World will post the news when an official decision has been made.
The Alabama Press Register has an article on how the July 1st Gulf Coast concert with Jimmy Buffett, Kenny Chesney, Zac Brown, and others came to be: “Jimmy Buffett concert comes together quickly”
“To give you the exact timeline,” Philips said, “we literally made the connection the night of the CMT Awards, which was June 9.”
That meant that the day after CMT staff members put on “the biggest production of their lives,” he said, they were being turned on a dime for the Buffett show.
“We’re sending everybody,” Philips said. “It takes an army to make a show this big.”
A.J. Niland of Mobile-based HUKA Entertainment said he expects that by Thursday, the ranks of event workers will have surpassed 700, maybe 900. That includes those managed by HUKA, which is in charge of the site and infrastructure; the contingent from CMT; Buffett’s touring entourage; and a sizeable security team.
Niland said the show owes a lot to the recent Hangout Beach, Music & Arts Festival, which HUKA also produced. That experience, he said, helped HUKA convince Buffett’s team that the Gulf Shores beach was a viable location.
“Shows on the beach are very, very rarely done anywhere,” Niland said of large-scale events like the Hangout fest. “It’s not an ideal venue. We made it an ideal venue.”
Niland, like Philips, described Buffett as being extremely selective about where and when he plays.
“It’s important to them that the fans get the best Buffett experience,” Niland said. “We’re creating Margaritaville on the beach, for sure.”
Mike Foster, marketing manager for the Alabama Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau, said Buffett’s emphasis on quality was a major factor in determining how many concert-goers could attend.
The stage and sound system can only be so big, he noted.
Niland speculated that if the show were open to all, 200,000 fans might have tried to jam in. But a crowd that size would require video and sound production far beyond what was possible, to say nothing of the safety and traffic issues.
“It has to be a safe, enjoyable experience,” he said.
CMT will broadcast the show beginning at 7 pm Thursday. It will rebroadcast an edited version at 6 pm Friday, 8:30 pm July 3, 1 pm July 4, and 10:30 am July 5.
The show will also be shown on CMT.com, and can be heard on Radio Margaritaville.
Determined to not be stopped by the storm, Freddy and the Fishsticks (aka Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band) played a surprise show at Lulu’s Sunset Grill in Gulf Shores, AL tonight.
Though the Gulf Coast concert has been 
