At
the end of January two of my favorite bands at the time, the Eagles and
Jimmy Buffet were going to be together for a concert at Florida Field in
Gainesville for the Eagles Long Run album tour. I had to go. After
talking to several of my buddies who I worked with at Harris we decided
to go see them. I drove since I was first, familiar with the trip and
stadium, but also because I had my ’76 Chevy “hippy” van, carpeted wall
to wall with a bench seat in back that folded down into a bed. Someone
threw in a couple of beanbag chairs and we were ready to go. I had
driven to Gainesville and back so many times alone it was nice to have
others in the van with me, plus we smoked several joints on the way. I
was familiar with the stadium, having sold cokes and going to football
games there as a kid and then working across the street from the stadium
at Weil Hall so when we arrived I soon found parking and we entered the
stadium. A large stage was setup on the field facing the west stands
where the audience were seated, we had seats right in the middle, just
off the 50 yard line about 40 rows up so we had a great view looking
down on the stage. We got to our seats early, joints were passed around,
sometimes being passed from someone who was even in our group. As soon
as one was done another was soon started, not just our small group, but
just about everyone in the stands. You hardly needed to take a toke on
the joint as it passed by as so much smoke hung in the air, which slowly
settled down the side of the stadium to the stage. We were in a good
state of mind when Buffett came on and played some of his best songs,
Margaritaville being one of my favorites. Buffett was great, but then
the Eagles came on and were even greater, playing songs The Long Run and
other songs from their new album but also many of their best songs
including my favorite Hotel California
Updated: 05-10-2023