Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- 13Jun2009

Finally, it's staying warm enough through the evening. All those Easterners who think it's always warm in California are dreaming...

Had a low-key, but pretty good night. Long periods of total silence between songs, but still people watching. Kinda like those inflatable crowds they use in movies these days.

But I played and played, and the sound was pretty good, for some reason. Seemed clearer than usual. Maybe I was just louder -- I was getting some feedback that I don't usually get. Anyway, it was pretty fun to just keep playing, and see what happens, see who turns up. Unfortunately, nobody very enthusiastic ever did, until about 9:40, when a couple of groups finally got the idea that I was a real live person. There was a group of 4 teen-age girl Beatle fans (more and more common lately), and some couples out listening, too.

All of a sudden, it was twice as fun as it had been the first three-and-a-half hours, so I just kept going, hoping the maintenance guys wouldn't be too upset. I played all the way 'til 10:30 when they showed up. They were cool about it, 'cuz I quit immediately at the end of that song, and moved my stuff quickly so they could take the table and lights away.

I guess I was doing better than the response indicated, though, 'cuz I made $53, and only one of the bills was a 5, so a lot of people threw in a couple of bucks. That's kinda cool.

One interesting thing: I was kind of trying to remember how "Hallelujah" goes, tinkering with the two intro chords, and a college girl looked up and gushed "Oh, I love that song!" I was surprised that (a) she knew it, and (b) she recognized it from just the two chords, played not even right yet. I'd been wondering how well-known it is, and I may have just gotten my answer.