{"id":387687,"date":"2026-07-27T13:51:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T13:51:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/387687\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T13:51:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T13:51:20","slug":"coral-reefers-honor-jimmy-buffett-at-dickies-arena-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/387687\/","title":{"rendered":"Coral Reefers honor Jimmy Buffett at Dickies Arena show"},"content":{"rendered":"

What\u2019s a Jimmy Buffett concert without Jimmy Buffett? The Coral Reefer Band\u2019s concert Saturday, July 25 at Dickies Arena wasn\u2019t a cover band show; with a few exceptions, this is the same band that has backed the King of Margaritaville for decades, and many of those band members were singing songs they wrote for Buffett to record.<\/p>\n

The concert also wasn\u2019t the full Buffett experience \u2014 but what could be? The man was such a large-than-life figure that it seemed he\u2019d outlive us all.<\/p>\n

Instead, Buffett\u2019s absence put the night\u2019s proceedings in a liminal space \u2014 \u201can ongoing family reunion of people who love Jimmy Buffett,\u201d as longtime band member Mac McAnally put it at the beginning of the show.<\/p>\n

And it did seem like a family reunion for the fans on the floor and in the audience, even though Dickies was half-empty \u2014 perhaps due to the Buffettlessness of it all. On the other hand, Dickies is probably the only music venue in Fort Worth that could accommodate all 12 band members.<\/p>\n

But for the Parrot Heads who were at the Fort Worth stop of the \u201cKeep The Party Going\u201d tour, the Coral Reefer Band did just that: they kept the party going.<\/p>\n

Buffett family tradition<\/p>\n

Buffett died after a four-year batle with a rare, aggressive skin cancer<\/a> Sept. 1, 2023 at the age of 76. The last time Buffett played a show in Fort Worth was in 2014<\/a>, when he performed at the Coyote Drive-In. The performance was broadcast to dozens of other drive-ins across the country.<\/p>\n

\"Jimmy Jimmy Buffett performs at the Coyote Drive-In on June 19, 2014, in Fort Worth. Ron Jenkins Star-Telegram <\/p>\n

Since his death, his backing band The Coral Reefers have kept playing, as per Buffett\u2019s wishes<\/a>. \u201cJimmy wants us to continue, and we want to continue,\u201d McAnally told Billboard in 2023. \u201cWe miss being out there, playing his songs to people and feeling that alternating current go back and forth from the stage to the crowd.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of the Coral Reefers have been with the band since its inception in the 1970s, but the lineup has changed a few times over the years. Saturday night\u2019s group featured:<\/p>\n

Mac McAnally – emcee, lead vocals, harmony and backing vocals, rhythm and lead guitars, slide guitar, dobroNadirah Shakoor \u2013 harmony and backing vocals, lead vocalsPeter Mayer \u2013 harmony and backing vocals, lead guitarScotty Emerick – lead vocals, harmony and backing vocals, guitarWill Kimbrough \u2013 lead vocals, harmony and backing vocals, guitarJim Mayer \u2013 harmony and backing vocals, bassDoyle Grisham \u2013 pedal steel guitarRoger Guth \u2013 drumsEric Darken \u2013 percussionJohn Lovell \u2013 trumpetMick Utley – harmony and backing vocals, keyboardsRoger Greenidge \u2013 steel drums<\/p>\n

Every one of them got their own moment in the spotlight, especially Texas natives Shakoor and Grisham, who got lead vocals on \u201cFins\u201d and a special shoutout on \u201cGrapefruit – Juicy Fruit,\u201d respectively. The band played for 29 songs and about two hours total, with a 20-minute intermission in between sets. The setlist was a mix of the \u201cSongs You Know By Heart\u201d<\/a> variety and some deeper cuts from Buffett\u2019s catalog, often with songs written by McAnally, Emerick or Kimbrough.<\/p>\n

\"Jimmy Jimmy Buffett\u2019s Coral Reefer Band performed 29 songs of Buffett hits and rarities Saturday, July 25 at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth. Jake Harris Fort Worth Star-Telegram <\/p>\n

The \u201cfamily reunion\u201d sentiment was true on stage as well. Utley took over on the keys for his father Michael, who retired from touring after Buffett\u2019s death. (Mick Utley is also married to McAnally\u2019s daughter.) Greenidge manned the steel drums for his brother Robert, who died of a stroke in June<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Despite the knowledge of departed band members, it wasn\u2019t a sad night. The band was having a blast. Fans were decked out in aloha shirts, leis, hula skirts and hats with parrots and shark fins on them. Beach balls bounced up and down in the floor seats throughout the night. Multiple band members were barefoot. Everyone knew every word, and happily joined in on the \u201cSalt! Salt! Salt!\u201d chant in \u201cMargaritaville\u201d and the hand motions in \u201cFins.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even the little kids in front of me got in on the singing during \u201cCheeseburger in Paradise,\u201d which featured an on-screen graphic of a cartoon burger opening up to form a turntable.<\/p>\n

\u201cJimmy spread happiness, he had a grin wider than his head,\u201d McAnally said. And even though Buffett\u2019s gone, his music still spread goofy fun in Fort Worth Saturday night.<\/p>\n

\u2018Margaritaville\u2019 is a state of mind<\/p>\n

Mostly, the night served as a reminder that there will never be another Jimmy Buffett. His musical legacy is carried on by the Coral Reefer Band and artists like Kenny Chesney.<\/a> Still, it\u2019s hard to imagine another figure who could turn a song about a hot day in Austin<\/a> into a billion-dollar enterprise featuring restaurants, resorts and live shows, and keep a sense of humor about it all.<\/p>\n

It was hard to not take a long view of everything at the end of the show. Buffett\u2019s music has been a big part of my life for a long time. I\u2019ve been singing \u201cMargaritaville\u201d for at least a decade longer than I\u2019ve been able to legally purchase a margarita. My senior quote in my high school yearbook was from \u201cChanges In Latitudes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seeing Buffett\u2019s longtime backing band play a tour to honor him and the music they\u2019ve played over decades, and how they continue to make joy out of the loss of their bandleader and friend, had an emotional effect. Margaritaville is not a place; it\u2019s a state of mind, and this band is living in it.<\/p>\n

Every party has to come to an end at some point, but as they say in \u201cOne Particular Harbour\u201d: Not yet.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcf0 In case you missed it: <\/p>\n

CORAL REEFER BAND SETLIST, DICKIES ARENA, FORT WORTH TEXAS (JULY 25, 2026)Changes in Latitudes, Changes in AttitudesPencil Thin MustacheIt\u2019s Five O\u2019Clock Somewhere (Alan Jackson cover)Piece of Work (Will Kimbrough song)Son of a Son of a SailorKnees of My HeartTin Cup ChaliceGrowing Older But Not UpGrapefruit-Juicy FruitCome MondayCheeseburger in ParadiseIt\u2019s My Job (Mac McAnally song)One Particular HarbourVolcanoWorkin\u2019 N\u2019 Playin\u2019<\/p>\n

Intermission<\/p>\n

The Great Filling Station Holdup (Acoustic)He Went to Paris (Acoustic)Nobody From NowhereBoat DrinksWhy Don\u2019t We Get DrunkBack Where I Come From (Mac McAnally song)Bubbles UpSouthern Cross (Crosby, Stills & Nash cover)FinsA Pirate Looks at FortyMargaritavilleBrown Eyed Girl (Van Morrison cover)<\/p>\n

Encore<\/p>\n

Scarlet Begonias (Grateful Dead cover)Lovely Cruise
\n Related Stories from Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Jake Harris<\/a><\/p>\n

Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n

Jake Harris is the Service Journalism Editor for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He has spent nearly 10 years working as a digital producer across newsrooms in Texas. He mainly writes about pop culture and local North Texas happenings and occasionally writes concert reviews.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What\u2019s a Jimmy Buffett concert without Jimmy Buffett? The Coral Reefer Band\u2019s concert Saturday, July 25 at Dickies…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":387688,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-387687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth-headlines","tag-fort-worth-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=387687"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387687\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/387688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=387687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=387687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=387687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}