Keith (solo) at Tustin -- 02Feb2008

Big fun! When I got there, there was a *very* familiar-looking little girl and her dad. I thought that maybe they were Indian Princess acquaintances, but it turns out that they had seen us play at the late-lamented Santa Margarita store, almost 3 years ago, as reported in this blog post.

Little Paige (she's 12 now) is just as charming, bold, and sassy as she was back then. She was there with her dad and her two "BFFs", a pair of look-alike sisters. The three of them had matching headbands and purses. Too cute. Her dad was actually there to see the band that was playing on the outdoor stage, just outside of Borders, but was waiting in the café until they started up. He went out there when we could hear them playing, but Paige and her friends stayed inside with me. They wanted to hear some Bear songs ("Teddy Bears' Picnic" and "Waltzing With..."), and some Beatles. It was great to have a clear way to get started, and they're a great audience, bustling around me, asking questions, and taking pictures and videos of me with their cell phones.

Later on, my brother and his wife came by, and happened to "steal" the girls' chairs, since they were up by me taking video. When Paige complained to Roy, he told them that he was my brother, which they didn't believe until I nodded (mid-song) to confirm. Then they were all instant pals and had some conversation as I tried to go on singing.

Paige's dad eventually came and took them away, and I think one of the sisters bought a "Bears" CD (Paige already has one). Later on after Roy and Keri had left, I looked over at the not-very-conveniently placed tip jar, and it looked like there was only one dollar in it. But at some point, somebody got up to put some money in it, and the rest of the room must have finally noticed it, 'cuz suddenly lots of people were up there buying CDs and filling the jar. Usually we don't sell any CDs at all, sometimes 1 or 2. This time, I sold 6! I set out 4 of each, and all 4 "Live" CDs sold, and 1 each of the "Bears" and "Tribute to My Dad" CDs. This was the first time I'd brought any of those, having only recently decided that I did some pretty good work on that one, and some people might prefer that era of songs. Apparently so. I made $33.56 in tips -- I think the little girl just gave me all the money she had, including $1.56 in change.

Towards the end, I looked out and noticed that there were several groups of people standing and listening. The café is pretty small, so they run out of places for people to sit pretty quickly, so standing out in the store is the only option. Other than just walking away, of course. It's pretty flattering when people will stop their shopping and stand there listening for a while.

Overall, great night. Originally, it was supposed to be a K&W gig, but Jim had to drop out of the J&W gig at South Coast Plaza the next night, so I took that one over for him, leaving Warren the option of one or the other, and he chose to leave me solo at this one. You just never know when it's gonna be great or lame, 'cuz it's almost entirely dependent on the audience. We're pretty much the same every time, it's the audience reaction that makes all the difference.