Mac McAnally and the Coral Reefer Band to perform in Gadsden AL

From The Gadsden Times: Gadsden to host parrothead party with Mac McAnally, Jimmy Buffett tribute band

There will be plenty of parrot headgear, margaritas and music in Gadsden on May 11 — and an underlying test of how far local residents will go in supporting an entertainment site.

What is currently billed as the “May Bash Parrothead Party” — that name is likely to change before showtime, according to city officials — will take place that evening at the Mort Glosser Amphitheatre.

It of course will be a celebration of the songs and vibe of the late Jimmy Buffett, featuring pretty much the top people on the planet to handle such a tribute.

The headliner will be Mac McAnally fronting Buffett’s actual Coral Reefer Band; the opening act will be A1A, the officially sanctioned Buffett tribute band.

The Gadsden City Council on Jan. 18 authorized a $36,000 expenditure for those acts, which Mayor Craig Ford came in significantly under the $60,000 budget that had been set.

And the test in question? “We wanted to see if we brought in a good headliner,” Ford told council members, “can we pack out the amphitheater before we come to you as a council to sink some money into it.”

City officials have spoken often of upgrading the 89-year-old sandstone facility, constructed by the New Deal-era Works Progress Administration, and scheduling regular entertainment events there.

Ford said the restrooms need work, the lighting must be upgraded and railings installed to bring it up to Americans with Disabilities Act specifications.

The mayor said he’d “never seen the amp packed out.” A “Mayor’s Memorial Day Bash” featuring country music’s Eddie Montgomery and some local acts failed to do last year.

“If this doesn’t pack it out,” Ford said, “then there must be a ghost over it or something. We want to see if we can pack it out before we ask to spend a couple of million dollars over there.”

McAnally, a native of Red Bay who grew up in Mississippi, has been a member of the Coral Reefer Band for 30 years and was a frequent songwriting contributor to (he wrote “It’s My Job”) and partner of Buffett.

He has an impressive resume of his own, however, with 10 solo albums and as solo or co-writer of No. 1 country hits for Alabama (“Old Flame”), Sawyer Brown (“Thank God for You”) and Shenandoah (“Two Dozen Roses”). He’s a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and as a session musician has claimed 10 Musician of the Year awards from the Country Music Association.

A1A, based in Atlanta, has been active on the tribute circuit for more than three decades, appearing in concert and in various Buffett- and Parrothead-themed events, and in 2016 actually backed the singer for a private performance at The Masters golf tournament.

Ticket information for the concert is pending. Ford said with gate receipts and anticipated sponsorships, the event “will pay for itself.”

John Moore, the city’s director of economic development and governmental affairs, said a restaurant and bar will be set up in the area at the amphitheater where the Gadsden-Etowah Patriots Association was formerly housed. At last year’s concert, food trucks were set up in the courtyard.

Moore said this is simply a “one-off” effort, with interest in Buffett still high following his death last September, to have something significant at the site. He and Wilson agreed that moving forward, it would be best for the city to work with a third-party vendor to land artists for and market concerts at the amphitheater through geofencing (using location services to identify and track potential ticket buyers in targeted areas) and social media.