To some, Jimmy Buffett’s music sounds kinda shitty. But his fans are becoming notorious for leaving behind an even bigger pile of crap.
Buffett brought a bit of Margaritaville to the Xfinity Center in Mansfield over the weekend, and it seems the venue staff and local police were forced to patrol the parking lot for makeshift toilets created by tailgaters.
Instead of taking the walk to port-o-potties, Buffett fans, as reports claim, tend to create their own waste receptacles for their hard-drinking, day-partying ways. Lining the top of a five-gallon plastic bucket with foam pool noodles seems to be one preferred method of dropping deuces in comfort and convenience. Other Parrot Heads go with a basic wooden box with a bucket inside, topped with a toilet seat for that authentic, here-I-am-crapping-in-my-own-home kind of feel.
Most of the time, they are hidden in large tents. But often they are left behind for the venue staff to clean up. And that just stinks.
Here’s more from the Sun Chronicle:
“They’re known as a party crowd, and I guess they don’t want to wait in line,” [Mansfield] police Lt. Sam Thompson said. Buffett rarely misses a summer at Xfinity, and concerns have arisen in recent years when fans leave full jury-rigged johns out for the venue’s staff to clean up, constituting a health code issue.
Police Chief Ronald Sellon said in an email that Buffett’s crowd has been the “one primary offender.” He said it is “unsanitary and just disrespectful” to leave the latrines out for others to dispose of.
Police tried to get a jump on the homemade commodes by posting a notice to Facebook telling people to only use the compliant portable toilets in the parking lot and the venue’s restrooms. Any failure to remove the illicit johns, the post warned, would result in criminal bylaw violations and ejection from the property.
Despite the efforts, Thompson estimated that 75 to 100 people were instructed to take down ad hoc outhouses. He said most people complied, but officers found seven to 10 commodes left on the grounds after the show.
The Sun Chronicle also notes that when it comes to “must haves” at a Buffett concert, a poll on fan site troprockin.com lists “makeshift potty” as the number one write-in vote.
“Parrot Heads have learned there comes a time at every tailgate when you just can’t fathom going into the port-a-potty,” Trop Rockin reports. “Several different versions were listed. From your bucket with a shower curtain to commercial little pottys and a privacy tent. I’m assuming in this scenario, you’re bringing the toilet paper.”
Second on the write-in list was a shot luge, and third was a kiddie pool. Let’s hope no one brought all three to Mansfield Saturday night.
Buffett played Jones Beach on Long Island tonight, then heads to New Jersey for a Thursday gig at the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden.
[h/t The Goddamn Glenn Show]