RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM Jimmy Buffett picked up a bra thrown on stage by a fan yesterday during a concert at Duke's Canoe Club in Waikiki.

Buffett’s boredom a boon
for fans in Waikiki

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By John Berger
jberger@starbulletin.com

Patience paid off for Jimmy Buffett's loyal fans yesterday, some of whom were congregating at Duke's Canoe Club six hours before the singer was expected to take the stage at 5 p.m. for a one-man beachfront concert.

With an hour to go till show time, the line snaked through the Outrigger Waikiki Hotel and out to Kalakaua Avenue.

Buffett, who just released the album "Far Side of the World" and was vacationing on Maui, performed a hastily arranged concert at the Waikiki restaurant. "This is what happens when you get bored on Maui," the entertainer told the crowd of about 500 paying customers in the restaurant and another 1,000 fans on the beach nearby.

Julie and Eric McCarthy credited a pizza delivery guy at another hotel with telling them Buffett would be at Duke's.

"We made reservations for dinner at Duke's to get a table," Julie said. She and her husband, visiting from the Bay area, agreed that "Margaritaville" was their favorite Buffett song.

Scott MacGowan confessed he had a friend stand in line for him while he worked a shift at Gordon Biersch.

RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM Buffett's performance drew a huge crowd, with many enjoying the show from the beach.

This would be his 28th Buffett concert he's seen "in about 20 years," MacGowan said. His favorite Buffett song? "Chanson pour les Petites Enfants" from Buffett's 1978 "Son of a Son of a Sailor" album.

Artist Wyland, who was sharing a prime table with photographer Kim Taylor Reece, said he wanted to hear "Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes."

Buffett did all those and a whole bunch more while the fans closest to the stage -- wearing bright tropical attire for the most part -- swayed and danced and sang along. Those farther back joined in when Buffett asked them to "help out" on a song or two. "Salt! Salt! Salt!" was the flock's contribution to "Margaritaville."

Buffett also played the title song of his newly released album and paid tribute to the late Gardner McKay with "Thank God the Tiki Bar Is Open."

Don Ho introduced Buffett as "the only guy who smoked pakalolo on the White House roof" before he and Buffett opened the show with "Tiny Bubbles."

Martin Denny, Bruce Willis and Henry Kapono watched from tables on the lanai.

A more uninhibited fan threw a purple bikini bra down from an Outrigger Waikiki hotel room.