Kenny Chesney's songs were blaring so loudly from the speakers of so many tailgating open-doored Tundras, Titans and F-350s it seemed like Saturday night's concert had already begun.

It was a warm and windy late afternoon, and a vendor roamed the parking lots selling purple and black zebra-striped cowboy hats to tanned, happy and sometimes drunk denim-and-linen-clad Chesney fans, prior to the first of the country star's two sold-out concerts for the weekend. The second show begins tonight at 7:30.

Chesney's shows have - in recent years - gained a reputation for solid tailgating, but Saturday's stop on the Flip Flop Tour didn't quite have the presence of a Parrothead event. The crowds seemed sparse and although they were spread through several parking areas, Chesney's fans have a lot of work to do before they catch up to the Jimmy Buffett gang.

No, it wasn't Margaritaville - it was Jacksonville ... Veterans Memorial Arena.

But that didn't stop the hardworking folks who were manning their own "Flip Flop Tour Tiki Bar" from taking it to the next level.

In addition to bringing the usual tailgating accoutrements, this team of 20-somethings, led by Jason Gibson of Jacksonville Beach - the self-proclaimed "El Presidente" of the group - brought two truck beds full of sand, a trailer full of lumber, palm fronds, inner tubes (for atmosphere), a fire pit, Christmas lights and what looked like a carload of margarita mix to the event.

They began setting up their elaborate-yet-ramshackle structure near the entrance to Parking Lot Z, opposite the stadium, at 11 a.m.

It's something the group has done for years, starting with a much smaller shelter built onto the bed of a truck. But the set-up definitely reached its zenith this year, Gibson said, after the group went Dumpster digging in a construction site near one of their houses for materials. (They did so with permission, he added.)