Jimmy Buffett Added To Bluesfest

Bluesfest Byron Bay announced Jimmy Buffett and The Coral Reefers will play an exclusive show April 14 after headliners Neil Young and Barry Gibb pulled out of the Australian event late 2016.

Peter Barreras / AP Images for Alzheimer – Jimmy Buffett
Part the Cloud Gala benefitting the Alzheimer’s Association, Menlo Park, Calif.

Bluesfest director Peter Noble said, “He’s presenting his unique ‘island escapism’ style at the epicentre of Australian escapism ….. Byron Bay.”

The April 13-17 event also includes Santana, Zac Brown Band, Patti Smith, Doobie Brothers, Mary J. Blige, Mavis Staples, and Buddy Guy. Noble expects Buffett’s one-off appearance to be a repeat of the “Margaritaville” singer’s first visit in 20 years to Australia in 2011. Then he played shows only in Sydney, and fans journeyed from all over the country to see him. Unplugged shows in Melbourne and Brisbane a year later sold out in minutes.

He returned in April 2014 for a pair of secret shows on the Gold Coast, one at the Quiksilver Pro surfing competition at Snapper Rocks before 1,000 surfers, and the other at a local pub, which drew a sellout 400 patrons despite giving the venue only 36 hours to prepare.

Buffett has close ties to Australia, with “a congregation of Polynesian and Australian Buffetts” headquartered in Norfolk Island. He opened a Margaritaville restaurant in Sydney, and his daughter studied at the University of New South Wales.