Jimmy Buffett (REUTERS FILE PHOTO /Andy Newman/Handout)

For Parrotheads everywhere, it’s good to see Jimmy Buffett on stage.

And remain on stage.

Early on during his more than two-hour Fin Land 2011 tour stop at a nearly sold-out Molson Canadian Amphitheatre Saturday night, the barefoot Buffett made light of his fall from a stage in Sydney in late January. He luckily escaped serious injury after landing face first onto the concrete and being knocked out, ending up with a few stitches to mend cuts to his head and arm.

“You would think I would know how to make the proper exit off the stage,” he said before Off To See The Lizard, creating a verse in the tune addressing that “sudden plunge.”

Generally, the summery, festive atmosphere was sprinkled throughout the show as fans sported leis around their necks, grass skirts, coconut bras and loud flowery shirts best left in a Honolulu gift shop. Buffett’s large Coral Reefer band also added to the breezy atmosphere with steel drums, percussions and horns on the engaging, bubbly One Particular Harbour and later during the island-soaked sounds of Volcano.

The beer was also flowing, with Buffett and longtime cohort Mac McAnally having a go at It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere with McAnally discussing a theory of “drink-tivity” he had discovered in his travels.

Thanking the audience for sticking with him through the decades, Buffett also made a point of thanking the Maritimers in the audience as he has family and friends on the East Coast, referring to his “goofy Newfie insanity” prior to the up-tempo, boogie highlight Pascagoula Run.

One of the biggest differences between this show and prior visits was no intermission breaking the flow. It seemed from the opening Buffett wanted to work quickly yet still have time to banter a bit between songs. This was evident on a surprising cover of Gordon Lightfoot’s For Lovin’ Me as he remembered seeing Lightfoot play Massey Hall.

When he did take a break, things kept humming along as backing vocalist Nadirah Shakoor covered Bill Withers’ Use Me while many heading for a beer run.

With images of the warm waters of the Caribbean and elsewhere often as the backdrop on the large video screen, Buffett appeared to get a bit stronger the longer the show went with the obligatory Margaritaville while Knee Deep – a new song by the Zac Brown Band which Buffett appeared on – fared quite well.

After A Pirate Looks At Forty and The Great Filling Station Holdup Buffett concluded the roughly two-hour main set with Fins as fans put their hands above heads to make a fin shape as they moved side to side.

Prior to the encore that opened with Southern Cross, Buffett said he preferred summer shows in Toronto more than a November, 2009 date at Air Canada Centre.

Given his light, breezy style, it’s hard to envision Jimmy Buffett on a cold, winter’s night.

Setlist

The Wino And I Know

Brown Eyed Girl

Off To See The Lizard

Ragtop Day

It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere

Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes

Come Monday

Trip Around The Sun

Life Is Just A Tire Swing

Cheeseburger In Paradise

Son Of A Son Of A Sailor

Pascagoula Run

One Particular Harbour

Use Me

For Lovin’ Me

Jolly Mon

Volcano

Knee Deep

Margaritaville

A Pirate Looks At Forty

School Boy Heart

The Great Filling Station Holdup (with Midnight Rider)

Fins

Southern Cross

Last Man Standing

Lovely Cruise