Fenway Park neighbors are closing their windows and blocking their driveways as the neighborhood prepares for tonight’s expected onslaught of Jimmy Buffett fans, better known as “Parrotheads.”
Buffett is scheduled to play to sold-out crowds at Fenway Park tonight and Sunday, with many fans paying as much as $2,000 for a chance to find their lost shaker of salt.
Unlike last year’s Bruce Springsteen concert at Fenway Park, noise concerns have taken a back seat to fear that Fenway-area streets will be overrun by Buffet fans, who are notorious for holding large pre-show tailgate parties.
But Fenway-district City Councilor Mike Ross said sufficient preparations are being made to ensure that this will not be a repeat of the Springsteen Concert, which kept many residents awake well after sundown.
“I requested that the words ‘no tailgating’ be printed on the tickets,” Ross said. “We are not on a cornfield in Iowa; there is no place to do tailgating. It is simply not a logical gathering in Boston.”
The concert is being ended at 9 p.m. on Sunday so as to not disturb residents. Buffett will not be playing on Saturday because it is the anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.
Ross said crowds should not be a problem since extra police have been asked to patrol the event.
“I am aware of the community’s concern. My role is to say how we can effectively limit these concerts so they aren’t impacting daily life of the community and we can do this with an occasional show since Fenway Park has always been very responsible with how they address their interaction with the neighborhood,” Ross said. “I’m optimistic to see what happens.”
But the Fenway Action Coalition, an independent community activist group in the Fenway neighborhood, said its efforts to help contain the concert have been largely ignored.
“The Fenway community has been destroyed,” said Peter Catalano, a founding member of the Fenway Action Coalition. “Many members that held leadership roles in our coalition have moved out of the neighborhood since life in this neighborhood has become unbearable for them. The community has become a dumpster for Red Sox parking lots, and our voice as an action coalition is virtually useless.”
Catalano said the neighborhood has been deteriorating since 1998 and said he does not believe that Mayor Thomas Menino or city councilors are concerned with residents’ concerns about specific problems.
“The people who work at the coalition are all volunteers, no one is getting paid.” Catalano said. “These people really care about their community, and now … there are no permanent residents, which means the rent gets jacked up and the city council isn’t going to do anything about it because of their ties to the Red Sox and the growing number of students that are moving into the neighborhood.”
Bill Guerrette, president and chairman of the Parrothead Club of Eastern Massachusetts, said each Parrothead has his or her own unique activity before a concert and he does not foresee any problems with Buffett fans.
“Preparations can range from bus trips in to the show to small group cook-outs,” Guerette said. “The only limitation is your imagination and Parrotheads are renowned for their ingenuity.”
Guerette also said the neighbors are basing their opinion on past experiences with sporting events and other non-Buffett concerts and have the wrong impression about Parrotheads.
“The community and environmental work Parrotheads perform is underrated,” he said. “For example, during the first six months of 2004 the approximately 600 members of [the Parrothead Club] volunteered 1,308 hours and donated $23,750 to various causes around the state.”
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