Live by the Bay

rdf:langString Live by the Bay

rdf:langString Live by the Bay

rdf:langString Live by the Bay

rdf:langString Cover of the VHS release

rdf:langString Jack Cole

rdf:langString English

rdf:langString Jimmy Buffett

rdf:langString Tammara Wells

rdf:langString Live by the Bay is a 1986 direct-to-video concert film of American popular music singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band. It was released in 1986 by MCA Entertainment. The 87-minute film was recorded from back to back concerts in Miami, Florida on August 16 and 17, 1985, at Miami Marine Stadium and is the first concert video released by Buffett. Miami Vice star Don Johnson introduced Buffett to the crowd. A brief rain shower during the middle of the Friday night show prompted Buffett to retreat to his sailboat (docked by the stage) and caused a majority of the final video release to feature the Saturday night show. After the rain cleared on Friday, the band played Little Feat's "Dixie Chicken" to demonstrate the equipment still functioned before Buffett returned to the stage. The stadium was originally built for powerboat racing. It used a floating stage in front of the grandstand that allowed additional concertgoers to listen from their boats in the water behind the stage, as seen in video. The video introduction includes extended footage of "parrothead" fans on boats and in the water with "Gypsies in the Palace" playing in the background. Buffett returned to Miami Marine Stadium in 1987 for a concert with the Desperadoes Steel Orchestra, but the stadium was ultimately was condemned after Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and remains an abandoned hulk to this day. In 2009, Buffett recorded a short video supporting efforts to restore the stadium. Released on March 1, 1986, Live by the Bay was directed by Jack Cole, produced by Tammara Wells, and recorded and mixed by Elliot Scheiner. The film was released on VHS and LaserDisc. As of 2020, the video is out of print and has not been released on DVD. It was occasionally shown on television by the now-defunct VH1 Classic cable network as part of its Classic in Concert series. At the time, reviewers called the concert video "an amiable mix of folk, rock, country and calypso that conjures up images of good times and tropical breezes" played before "thousands of fans, most of whom seem to have had one too many".