Ken Hoffman from the Houston Chronicle has a great article on what goes on backstage at a Jimmy Buffett concert. He also gets an answer to an age-old question about the song “Cheeseburger in Paradise”:

[Radio Margaritaville general manager Coleman] Sisson invited me backstage for Buffett’s show last week at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. If I didn’t know that Buffett was performing live in front of 16,000 fans on the other side of the curtain, I would have thought it was a TV production studio.

There were about 20 video monitors and a director calling “Camera 3 … close-up.” Technicians made sure every image of the band and the audience was crystal clear. You want to record the concert at home? Be his guest.

Before the show, the mood backstage was calm. Band members talked with friends, relatives and local big shots. Peter Mayer gave away guitar picks to children. Mac MacAnally, who stands next to Buffett onstage and sings Alan Jackson’s part on It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere, said, “I don’t know, but for some reason, this is a really good time and place for the band. Things are real happy. The ball just keeps rolling.”

MacAnally wore long slacks and a regular dress shirt. He said, “I have to go change into my stage outfit.” He came out wearing different long pants and a different dress shirt. He looked exactly the same. The rest of the guys in the band were slightly more relaxed in shorts and Hawaiian shirts or T-shirts.

It’s a work strategy: “dress like the boss.”

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Front-row tickets were given to Houston Texans cheerleaders. They were dancing and singing along the whole night. They were all over the video screen. That was a little something for home viewers.

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I met Buffett a long time ago when he allowed me in the recording studio while he mixed a live album. Over lunch I did some investigative reporting, asking whether he was saying “medium rare with Muenster” or “medium rare with mustard” in Cheeseburger in Paradise.

It’s Muenster.

I knew I was right! It has to be Muenster because there’s no other mention of cheese in the song. If he were singing “mustard,” the song would be Hamburger in Paradise. And certainly not one in paradise. Buffett has it about right. He likes his with Heinz 57, Muenster cheese, lettuce and tomato, an onion slice, french fried potatoes, and a “big kosher pickle and a cold draft beer.”

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“The show was sold out. Restaurants in the area had a big night, and hotels sold rooms at premium rates. We sold a lot of concessions, and Jimmy sold a lot of T-shirts. It was a pretty perfect night for everybody.”

None of those hotels rooms were for Buffett and the band. After his second encore, Cowboy in the Jungle, Buffett and the musicians loaded into white SUVs backstage and were off the property before the audience realized the show was over.

The crew stayed in a Woodlands hotel. Buffett and the band flew to Austin, home base during the Texas portion of his tour. Buffett played Dallas two nights after The Woodlands.

Be sure to read this full article here for more great insight into what goes on behind the scenes.

Last week we showed you the below picture and asked you to come up with your own caption for it. We had over 200 entries and have placed a few of the best in a poll and want you to vote on your favorite.

The Margaritaville Beach Hotel in Pensacola, Florida won’t be open until the end of June or beginning of July, but you can request a reservation now.

It is a request form only, not a reservation. The hotel will followup with an email or phone call to confirm your reservation.

Rates:
$299-$399 (through 9/11/10)
$219-$319 (9/12/10-11/27/10)
$179-$279 (11/28/10-1/1/11)
$219-$319 (1/2/11-5/22/11)

Room types available:

• King Bed – Gulf View
• King Bed – Bay View
• Two Queen Beds – Gulf View
• Two Queen Beds – Bay View
• Executive King – Gulf View
• Executive King – Bay View

Request your reservation now

Margaritaville Foods is adding to their line of frozen chicken products, this time with frozen chicken chunks:

Margaritaville Foods recently launched the newest addition to the portfolio of island-inspired food and beverage products, Margaritaville all-natural, breaded chicken breast chunks, at the 2010 Food Marketing Institute Show in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The newest Margaritaville Chicken line of products includes 3 flavors of fully cooked, frozen and easy to prepare breaded chicken breast chunks. Each chicken breast chunk item is sold in a 25 oz. bag and includes 2 sauce packets with flavors and spices inspired by Island cuisine. The flavors include Island Buffalo, Sweet & Sour Mango and Spicy Orange. The two packets in each bag provide ample sauce perfect for tossing and/or dipping the product.

“We received excellent feedback on our new chicken products from buyers and guests of the FMI show and look forward to consumers having the same reaction now that the product is in stores,” says Joe Ferraro, Vice President Marketing and Sales. “We believe the Margaritaville Chicken line is an excellent complement to our frozen seafood, chips and salsa, salt rimmers and mixers, Paradise Key Teas and Landshark Lager.”

Visit MargaritavilleFoods.com to see all of their products.

Jimmy Buffett’s sister Lucy has written an op-ed for Alabama’s Press-Register about the oil spill and tourism along the Gulf coast: ‘The coast is open for business”

The Gulf Coast is where the everyday person can play. We love where we live and are proud of it.

We get amused sharing it and seeing the surprise on folks’ faces when they realize that a little piece of unlikely paradise exists smack at the bottom of this magnificent country of ours.

So imagine our dismay, anger, grief and absolute heartbreak over the ongoing catastrophe of crude oil continuously and arrogantly flowing into our beautiful Gulf of Mexico.

This is indeed a major challenge for us physically, emotionally, environmentally and economically.

Personally, I prefer to remain positive about the oil spill’s impact, because I know mountains can be moved with a positive attitude. Why wouldn’t that work with a runaway well?

I do, however, live in a very real world, and I know that our corner of this world stands to be affected by the oil spill.

As we are called to action, we will respond with the dauntless spirit of coastal people, especially those born in the hurricane corridor. We will weather this storm as we have weathered the other monsters that have roared upon our shores in the past: by working hard, side by side, with dedication, compassion and a sense of community, and earning some fun in the process.

I am hoping that there will be little damage or interruption of beach recreation. Perhaps the oil spill will be just an inconvenience, much like too many jellyfish in the water or the occasional riptides.

If not, we are going to need everyone’s love, support and help. So I have a very special invitation for people to join us here in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach and on Dauphin Island and Mobile Bay.

Don’t cancel your plans or reservations. This could be one of the most memorable vacations you will ever have.

Most of you travel with children. What a great opportunity to teach our kids so many valuable life lessons — from the beauty of volunteering to the importance of helping your neighbor during a crisis, learning about the fragile ecosystem that created the remarkable Gulf of Mexico, and meeting new friends from all over the country with the same purpose of keeping our beautiful shores safe for our children and wildlife.

Read the entire letter here.

Lucy Buffett own’s Lulu’s at Homeport Marina restaurant in Gulf Shores. Visit their website.