Amuse Bouche #24 - Stories from a Tribute Concert

Hello and welcome! This is Moose Bouche and I'm Bridget. Here you're getting a little bit of Bridget before our weekly release of Dinner Plus Drinks on Sunday. And this week we are talking about Tribute Concerts. Okay, so this week I actually uh recorded an episode and then went to a tribute concert uh last night and decided that I needed to re-record an episode because I needed to tell you about that while it was still fresh in my head because what an experience it was. Um if you are from the area, I'm not sure if you're familiar with the Fireside Dinner Theater. Uh it is in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, and honestly, when I first learned about it, I was like, what? This sounds like the hokiest thing. It's like a dinner theater um in the middle of a set not really in the middle of a cornfield, but like I was not very familiar with Fort Atkinson, and so when I think my mom first told me about it, I legit thought it was gonna be like, you know, the high school uh drama department, but like maybe a touch better, like doing some plays, and then you got like a weird rubbery chicken dinner ahead of time. Well, I did not realize actually it they bring in like actual Broadway performers and legit um actors and actresses and apparently musicians as well. Um I've only been to plays there, but they do a concert series as well. Um, I could go on and on about the fireside, it sounds ridiculous. Definitely when my sister and I go with my parents, uh, we're the youngest by a long shot, but I love it. It's it is dinner and a show, and it is in the middle of nowhere, and it's hilarious. So uh my dad has been a longtime fan of Jimmy Buffett. Um, so for Christmas, he was given tickets. My mom got tickets for uh me and my sister and my dad to go to uh Adventures in Paradise, is what it was called, and it's a Jimmy Buffett tribute concert. So we weren't sure. Like we've been going to Jimmy Buffett, actual Jimmy Buffett concerts, uh since we were 10, I think. Um that's a story for a different time. I will I will talk about it a little bit on this episode, but not a ton. Um, so we weren't sure what to expect, and so we we just went in with low expectations and had a really fun time. So uh you at the fireside, it's a like theater in the round. So every seat is a good seat. Uh it can fit, I think, like 800 some people, but it never feels like that. It feels like 200 people. Um, so this tribute band, I didn't do any research, I didn't know much about it. I was like, cool, it'll be some fun music, and like I'll spend some time with my sister and dad on like a freezing cold night when we would otherwise just be like sitting in our houses, right? Well, I don't even know where to start, to be honest, but first let's just say at a normal Jimmy Buffett, an actual Jimmy Buffett concert, um, there's a fair amount of alcohol consumed, and there's the crowd sings and dances and does ridiculous things, and like beach balls get bopped around, and we knew it wouldn't be like that, of course, as we're in a theater setting and not like you know lawn seats at Alpine Valley. But um, and you can't have beverages in this show, you can have them ahead of time. Um, but the first thing we noted when we were sitting around is like my dad felt young. So my dad was like, if I feel young, you guys must feel like babies. So Shannon and I were certainly the youngest. We th we saw like maybe two other people near our age, but definitely the uh median age was significantly higher, which is totally cool. It, you know, I I don't think the fireside markets towards people in their 30s, uh, but they should. So fun. Um, so I just wanted to talk about a few people in the audience because we spent a lot of time looking around at the people in the audience, being like, is someone gonna die? It felt the the audience felt like catatonic. Um, so there was a lady. Now the front row seats at the fireside are like, you're basically like on the stage. It is very close. I we never want to sit in the front row. Like the lights are on you the whole time. You can see, everybody can see everything you're doing. So um, there's no playing on your phone, there's no doing anything. Uh so but in the front row, there was a woman who I gotta think was like 90. Maybe, maybe in her mid 80s, I'm not sure. Pretty, pretty older. Um, but she was awesome. She was like jamming out, dancing before anyone in the audience was. It took a long time for anyone in the audience to do anything remotely entertaining, and she was like moving and grooving in her chair, and I was like, Yes, you are who I want to be when I get older. So I loved her, gotta shout her out. But even better was to our left, and the show was uh not packed at all. So like there was a group of four and then no one near them, and then a group of two and no one near them. So like it was very easy to like look around the audience. There was a group of four who we decided was very clearly a mom and a dad, like you know, around my parents' age, and then a kid around my age, and either her significant other and or her younger brother couldn't tell. But let's say the brother or boyfriend or husband, whatever, was definitely not a Jimmy Buffett fan, and he was just there because he's like, We gave this to my parents as a gift. You know, this is the story we made up. So there's a Jimmy Buffett song um called Finns, and you Finns as in like shark fins, and you put like your hands together, you know, think like the YMCA, but you put your hands together like a shark fin, and you like fins to the left, fins to the right, and you move your hands and you like get into it. That is the one song that everyone in the audience like got into. You put your hands over your head and you like sway to the left and right. This guy had his hands like right in front of him, like he was praying. It was the funniest thing, and he would like just move them slightly and was like, Oh, I hope no one sees me. It was hilarious to watch how uncomfortable he was, and then like we just made a story about him. Um there, I don't know how else to say this. Um, Jimmy Buffett concerts and some of his song lyrics have a fair amount to do with smoking marijuana. So there were multiple comments, and like this Jimmy Buffett tribute lead singer guy was like definitely older than Jimmy Buffett. Uh, I don't know how old he was. Like, definitely, definitely in his upper 70s, I think, at minimum. So you were like, okay, man, making marijuana jokes regularly. And I don't think anyone in the audience caught on, except Shannon and I. We're like, what does anyone even know what the words are that he's saying? There was these guys travel the world. He told us a hundred times. This tribute band travels all over. Because if you can't afford Jimmy Buffett, which is, you know, I think two million dollars to book, um, you can book this this group. And so, like, corporate events have booked him, various people have booked him for um events, and he so the fact that they're in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, staying at the Holiday Inn, and yes, we know that because we met them at a bar after the event. So they're staying at a Holiday Inn in Fort Atkinson, like that's that's humbling, I would think. But like, you know what, they're getting paid, they're putting on a show. So they definitely, I feel like, made fun of uh us slash Fort Atkinson slash this whole show, like regularly, and I feel like no one caught on to it. Um, so the the marijuana comments were quite hilarious. Um, one of the we always call them the doo girls, but like the the there's two women who are I wouldn't even want to say um backup singers because they're more than that, they're better than that. Um, but they they're definitely one of them was like much closer to mine in Shannon's age, and she caught on to us and was like having a great time with us. She was telling us she loved us, um, because like we were dancing and singing in the crowd because that's what you do at a concert, um, where everyone else just sat there. The number of people, it's a lot of people in their 60s, you know, that um that's who's Jimmy Buffett's fan base is so many, so many 60-something men with their legs half crossed, just kind of like tapping their foot and tapping their hand on their leg. I wish I couldn't, you can't like take photos um or video because of copyright, but they were just like tapping everywhere you looked. It was the same guy in the same quarter zip, tapping his foot, half crossed over his leg. Uh so anyway, very funny. Um, and then their wives, who clearly like bought this as a gift or bought this for their husband, were there fully bundled up in their coat, still purse on. Like there was a woman in the front row, mask on, purse on, coat on, like looking so uncomfortable. I'm like, you do know you're in the front row and everyone can see you. Can you pretend to be having a good time? So I the number of people that I'm like, why did you pay to come to this? I feel like you're not enjoying it at all. Um, very funny. The coolest thing though, I'm making fun of this a lot, and we did. We laughed about it a ton, but it really was so fun. Um the coolest part is the guitarist, and I'll say there was two guitarists, uh, uh keyboard drums, singer, and then the two women. But one of the guitarists, I was like, gosh man, he just like looks like any Midwestern dad, just kind of stroll, you know, strumming his guitar. And in my head, I made up this narrative. I was like, uh, you know, someone got sick, and so they just like picked up this dude from Madison somewhere, whatever. No, he was actually the origin one of the original band members of the Coral Reefer band, who's Jimmy Buff Jimmy Buffett's band. So he has, I think he uh recorded Pirate Looks at 40 and one other song I can't remember now, but so he has played toured with Jimmy Buffett from um, I think since the 70s. So anyway, that was incredibly cool for someone like us who has seen Jimmy Buffett play, we've seen him play around the world. We've been to concerts in Anguilla and then all over the US, and um, so that was really fun, and like we did fangirl a little, except fan guy, my dad, I don't know. Um so we got to see him. He has hit um, his name is Roger Bartlett, and he has a website of his own. So the the lead Jimmy Buffett tribute guy, whose name I can't remember, to be honest, he was introducing the band and was like, oh yeah, and Roger Bartlett, really cool guy, actually knows Jimmy Buffett, has toured with him, has played with him. He has a CD, and you can go on his website and buy his CD. And the guy, Roger Bartlett, was like, you also can get it on iTunes and Pandora. Like, we live in the year 2022, these people are not buying CDs. So it was a funny for me, a funny juxtaposition of like, actually, I think these people are buying CDs, where Shannon and I are like, Cool, we can download this on iTunes. Um, just a funny little quip and note. Uh, there was jokes about acid trips, uh, have a nice trip, everyone, uh, during a song. Again, I'm like, if this isn't getting a giggle out of you guys, um whatever. Um it was just so very different than an actual concert, but at the same time made me want to go to an actual concert and just like maybe drink a regular amount of alcohol instead of the copious amounts I used to drink in my 20s at Jimmy Buffett concerts. Um, but one of the things as he was wrapping up the show, he's like, we're over time, but what are they gonna do? We're in Fort Atkinson, you don't have anywhere to go. So, like that was, and they played an additional song. That was one of the things I meant by like, they were making fun of the fact that, like, we're in a we're in Fort Atkinson, you don't have anything to do, so I'm gonna play another song. Um, he and one of the other band members have been playing together for 31 years, so that's how long this tribute band has been around. So, really, if you have a chance, uh, they're playing all weekend, you can pop over to the fireside. I'm sure there's still tickets available. Um, they did wholeheartedly say, Hey, we're going to this bar downtown. Please join us. And so we did. We went, we had a beer. Uh, there was another couple from the show there. We talked to the lead Jimmy Buffett singer tribute guy and the two backup girls, and we got to hear a little bit about their life. And they really, this is this is just like a side job for them. Um, one of them lives in Vegas and is a performer there. Uh, the other one lives in Texas and, you know, it has a fan, uh, I has a husband. I um didn't get into if she has kids, but uh, this is just like something they do for fun and on the side, and so it was just a fun peek into a very different um life than ours. And I always love learning the like logistics behind this. So I'm like, are these people really like where did they fly into? Are they staying here in Fort Atkinson? So we got to hear a little bit of that over a beer after the show, and it was a really funny time. I just, if you have not been to the fireside, go. It is a feels like a quintessential Wisconsin thing. We giggle about it. It is um, you know, a huge operation, a really fun, like supper clubby bar, um, and and really, really great performances. Uh, the Klopstein family, I believe, has been doing it for decades and decades, and their hospitality is really great. Their staff is wonderful, even in a time where staffing is like um not great everywhere, they they were as good as ever. So it's my little plug for the fireside. Hilarious time doing a tribute concert, and really fun to watch the audience at this show. So that's it for Amoose Bouche this week. Uh, tune in to Dinner Plus Drinks on Sunday at our regularly scheduled day, and I hope you guys have a really awesome weekend.