CHARLOTTE, N.C. — After iconic singer and songwriter Jimmy Buffett passed away on the Friday before Labor Day weekend, Charlotte music fans, and a historian, are looking back on his performances in the Queen City.

Retracing Buffett’s steps in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s paint a colorful picture of his and the city’s shared history, including some of the former venues he performed at.

For example, behind the roller coasters and thrill rides at Carowinds, you can find a 13,000-seat concert space no longer in use.

“It’s really just for rehearsals. We’ve got some larger groups that use it for a meet-and-greet venue, it’s not really used for much anymore,” said Steve Jackson, referencing the Paladium outdoor pavilion nestled between Carowinds’ roller coasters. 

Jackson is one of Carowinds’ most tenured employees. He started at the park in 1984. He said he remembered getting tickets to concerts at the Paladium or sneaking over to catch a few songs while working. 

“I went to a lot of the concerts here, I think I went to seven or eight,” Jackson said.

But now, weeds and overflow storage from other areas of the park are slowly creeping into the old venue. In its heyday, the Paladium drew big acts like Charlie Daniels, Rick James and island-lifestyle icon Buffett.

“Yeah, it was our first big date, was the Jimmy Buffett concert here,” Jackson said, referencing his wife. “We went on a Sunday. He used to do two days here. He’d do two shows on Saturday and two shows on Sunday, and we went to the first show on Sunday,” he recalled.

Buffett performed more than 15 times at Carowinds, dating back to 1976, according to Carowinds. His many performances included a show in the mid-1990s, where Jackson had the memorable first date with his now-wife.

“It’s always a lot of fun to do a sing-a-long, but Jimmy was … he was just fantastic in concert. He had such a connection with the audience and everything else he was doing. It made for a great first date, and just overall one of those life experiences you never forget,” Jackson said.

Since Buffett’s passing, Jackson said he’s reflected on the melancholy nature of both the musician’s death and the fading of the Paladium as a venue.

“The Paladium here isn’t used for much anymore. I can remember when it was brand new. Out here at Carowinds, when you put a ride in and then you take a ride out, you know you’ve been here for a while. When you can see things born, and you can see things die, it’s a little melancholy, but you know, that’s life,” Jackson said while sitting in one of the venue’s dust-covered seats.

About 25 minutes away, change continues in another part of town. Musician Joe S. Cline said a once textile-focused area of Monroe Road has completely transformed. 

“Woonsocket Spinning was across the street, and this was basically an empty lot,” Cline said, referencing the newly built shopping center and townhomes across the street.

Cline used to come to the New Dixie Saloon on Monroe Road in Oakhurst to play bluegrass music in the mid-’70s.

“50 years ago, 48 years ago, something like that,” Cline said with a smile.

Now, the sound of street cars and suburban life replaced the sound of music. A pizza place, photography studios and a convenience store are on the site of that old saloon, which moved to the area originally in the early ’70s.

“The first one on Wilkinson was about 16 feet wide and about 75 feet long,” Cline recalled.

A weekend social media post from a Charlotte historian recalled Buffett performed at the saloon in August of 1975 for just $4 a ticket. While Cline did not attend the performance, he said the bar was transitioning in the mid-’70s to more high-profile acts before its eventual closure.

But, the social media post drew the attention of the new business owners, one of which said he had no idea Buffett had performed in the space back in 1975.

“I thought it was pretty cool, I actually grew up in the (Florida) Keys, been a Jimmy Buffett fan for pretty much my entire life,” Tony Ulchar said.

Part of the newly renovated building is Ulchar’s photography business, where he can’t help but picture what a young Buffett would have looked like as he prepared to go on stage.

“A little piece in the back of my head that thought, ‘Ah, maybe somewhere in our place was the green room where he hung out,’” Ulchar joked.

Like Jackson, Ulchar saw Buffett perform years ago and considered himself a fan. 

“It hit me pretty hard,” Ulchar said. “It’s always that thing as you’re getting older, and the people that you grew up watching and the people you grew up listening to … As they pass on it always kind of hits you a little bit.”