Keith at Irvine Spectrum "Myrtle Court" -- 23Dec2009

When I emailed the girl who books the acts at Spectrum to tell her about The Amazing Hat Stealing Incident, she, apparently by way of apology, offered to let me play at the Myrtle Court stage again for free, but within December, and the weekend nights were already booked. Better'n nothin', I guess.

It was a lot like last time, lots of people streaming by, too busy (or cold) to stop and listen. Come to think of it, I think more people stopped to stand under the umbrella heater behind me than stopped for the music. I did get a few young families -- parents seem to like to show their little kids a Real Live Musician for some reason. Since no one else was listening, I tended to pull out "Rudolph" for the kids. It usually invoked some singing-along by some of the teenage girls and moms-on-a-mission zooming by, too. Hard to resist calling out "Like a light bulb!", I guess.

A few small groups braved the cold for a while and sat at the tables to listen. And lots of people gave me a smile as they whipped by. The sound is pretty nice there, and it's still fun to play "out", even to dead silence, if only for those occasional surprise bursts of applause when you unexpectedly capture someone's attention.

And at one point, a guy stopped at the edge of the stage and said, "Hey, Keith! You're doing a great job, man. I've walked by here several times, and you sound just like John Denver." Thank you! But wait, who?!? I get told that I sound like James Taylor a lot, but I think this was the first time I've gotten John Denver. Anyway, I quickly flipped to my new John Denver song, "Leaving on a Jet Plane", which I'd instinctively avoided because of its extreme John Denver cheesetasticness, but I tried it out after it appeared on "Glee", and, after transposing it down for my vocal range and working up a cool guitar technique for it, it plays and sings real nice.

I didn't think I'd made much in tips, 'cuz so few people stopped at all, but there were 6 CDs gone, and $50.08 in the jar. Good thing Janet waived the $50 setup fee...

Keith at Santa's Workshop -- 20Dec2009

This was my final gig (this year) playing for the line of families waiting to plop their kids on Santa's lap. I had complained (via email) about the treatment I'd gotten the week before, and the Activity Committee lady was *very* apologetic and "hoped it doesn't happen in the future". I replied that it would be very simple to predict that piece of the future -- check the schedule, and let me know if That (Mean) Guy was gonna be there this time, so I'd at least know what to expect. She said that she'd check the schedule and get back to me, but never did.

So I went anyway, hoping for the best. That Guy didn't appear to be around, so I put my table closer to the "entrance", but had to move it back a ways anyway because otherwise it would get soaked by the "snow" machines. Because it was still pretty invisible, it only collected ten bucks -- but it wasn't the lack of money as much as the bad treatment that I'd objected to, so that's fine.

Lots more people, on account of this being the Last Chance. And it ran an hour past the official cut-off time, too. The kids and parents were in a pretty festive mood, and the line seemed to be moving faster, so I could cycle around and repeat songs sooner. That helped 'cuz I don't really have too many Christmas songs that kids know/like.

So I did play some "regular" kids' songs. But the unexpected highlight of the evening was after I had played "Santa Claus is Coming to Town", explaining that I play a lot of James Taylor so this one is arranged as if it was being played by him. Some of the parents started asking for James songs, and some of the teenagers (presumably big brothers and sisters) started asking for some Beatles, which their younger siblings were seconding! So I played "Hey Jude", with half the crowd/line singing along on the main part of the song, and seemingly *all* of it singing along on the "Na na" part! That song usually gets a good reception at a gig, but this was the best ever. After it was over I said, "Well, I don't usually think of that song as a Christmas Tune, but I guess it is!"

I kept getting requests for more James Taylor, too, so I slid in "Sweet Baby James" (which James originally meant as a kid's song, for his new baby nephew), and "You've Got a Friend" since it seemed to be in the right spirit of the evening.

And although the Committee lady never got back to me, she apparently got a message to the other Committee members, 'cuz they were *very* nice to me -- asking to help move my stuff in and back to the car, and clapping loudly, and when it was clearly running late, one of the guys came over and asked me if I was OK 'cuz one of the ladies was worried about me. Also the Hot Cocoa lady brought me some, which I had to decline because chocolate clogs up your throat (see, I learned *something* in all those choir classes). She took it away and brought me a cup of water instead, which I had already gotten for myself, so now I had two, and later on she brought another one, so I had three!

After it was all over, as I was packing the last of my stuff in the car, I saw the guy who had apparently been playing Santa, coming out of the building across the parking lot. It was That Guy! That explained both why he hadn't been there to hassle me, and also why the line was moving so quickly. He's not the kind of guy to dote much on the kids -- but he does seem to "own" the Activity Committee, so I guess he decided to take the plum job for himself that night. Figures.

K&W at Borders South Coast Plaza -- 18Dec2009

I didn't know whether it would be crowded because it's Christmas and everyone's out shopping, or whether it would be empty because it's Christmas and everyone's out shopping. I guess, the former. It was pretty empty right at first, but then people showed up and it was quite full towards the end.

There was a group of high school kids doing "free" gift wrapping (with "donation" jars, up at the front of the room. I gave them a song list, and the girls were really excited and asked for several songs. When I played them, they stood up and grinned at me, swayed back and forth, and gave me the thumbs-up at the end. That was fun.

But we had lots of people come down closer, too, and lots of participation, requests, and a presumably record tip take, $23 each. Must be Christmastime.

I mostly avoided playing Christmas songs, 'cuz Warren's not fond of 'em, but a young family, who we've seen many times there before, stopped in, and I couldn't let them go without doing "Rudolph" for the little ones. And later on, I did "Merry Little Christmas", and maybe one or two more.

But it was also the first outing for "I'm Yours", by Jason Mraz, and my new arrangement (using my newly-discovered/invented "clawhammer" right-hand technique) of John Lennon's "Imagine". They both seemed to work OK, even though I'm still working out how to I want to play "I'm Yours", and when to use the Harmony Box.

Anyway, the night seemed very short, which, I guess, since I've been playing mostly 4 hour chunks at the Spectrum lately and this was "only" 3, it was -- but I think I was also Having Fun.

Keith at Santa's Workshop -- 13Dec2009

I had forgotten that they'd asked me to start at 6:45 this week (instead of 6:00) to allow a local kids' dance troop to perform, so I got there at 5:30. That turned out to be a good thing anyway, 'cuz it let me get my stuff set up while the kids weren't dancing yet. And when the teacher got up and started to completely inaudibly try to announce the start of the show, I quickly got out a microphone for her. Pretty much saved her show, since she needed to announce each different song and the kids' names, etc. She was lucky I was there.

I wasn't quite so lucky. When I got there, I hauled all my stuff out, including the card table that I've been putting my tip hat and CDs for sale on. This was fine last week, and last year, too, but this time, a hard-nosed Activity Committee member immediately asked me, "What's this table for?". I told him, and said that it had been OK before, but he didn't want it there by the entrance where it's been, or even on the other side, and made me put it way back away from the walkway, where the families walking up to and back from Santa's house wouldn't even see it, much less be inclined to stop. I tried to reason with him, but it was clearly a closed matter.

I put my new signs, hat, and CDs out anyway, and hoped that people would seek it out if they wanted to contribute. And after I'd played and was tearing down, a guy came up and wanted change for a ten because he wanted to put five in the hat. I took this as a good sign, gave him his change, and watched him go back to the table and take one of each CD. Didn't expect that, but it's OK -- at a buck apiece to make 'em, I'm still "up" 3 bucks. And whatever else is in the hat...

Which turned out to be... exactly what I had put in there at the beginning; not a dollar more.

Now, I know I keep dwelling on the money, but that's really not why I play. I play for the appreciation (which the tips are a tangible token of, but clapping is just as good). And if they'd'a asked me to play, and told me up-front that I couldn't collect tips, I'd'a done it anyway. But I really didn't like being made to feel like a panhandler. That really threw me, and made it pretty darn hard to even go through with it.

But I eventually started playing anyway. I figured that that One Guy didn't want me there, but that he was in the minority. And I had fun. I'd learned "Feliz Navidad" over the week, since I had several requests for it last Sunday, and it went over pretty well for such a dumb song. There were more people there this time, and some pretty good applause. And I love the row of little kids staring at me through the little picket fence...

Towards the end, some of the Activity Committee members (not including That Guy) sat on the benches out in front of me and clapped loudly after every song. And as I was packing up, "Mrs. Claus" came out in her street clothes, thanked me, and said that she'd had to ask the Helpers if that was a recording or a live guy.

It's weird -- I know the guy in the red suit last week, and the white-haired lady this week, aren't really Santa and Mrs. Claus, but somehow their compliments warm me up twice as much as other peoples' do anyway.

Keith at Santa's Workshop -- 06Dec2009

The city of Mission Viejo builds a big display in the parkway between the city Library and the Civic Center and puts on a pretty elaborate Santa's Workshop and visits with Santa (and Mrs. Claus) every year, for the three weekends in December before Christmas. They finally figured out that they could get local people to come down and entertain the line of families that are waiting their turn to talk to Santa. Me, anyway...

It's pretty fun -- a nice, "targeted" (i.e., all about the same age), and captive audience. I just set up on the lawn beside the line (safe on the other side of the picket fence), and play Christmas songs. It goes over pretty well -- the kids like me, and the parents are grateful for anything to distract the kids so they don't go ballistic while they're waiting in line.

There are some Girl Scout volunteers acting as elves, holding the line back and letting each family go up to Santa's house one at a time. I set up a card table there at the head of the line, with a stack of CDs and a tip jar. Last year it worked really well -- the next-in-line family is kind of stuck there, staring at my table, having been listening to me for the last 15 or 30 minutes ("hint, hint"). A lot of CDs disappeared, and a lot of money took their place.

But this year, they've added a snow machine just above that entrance, with spotlights pointing down from the mast to show the snow as it flutters down. Unfortunately, the new stuff blew the fuse for that whole area and it all went dead,and nobody there knew where the breaker box was. There was plenty of ambient light around from the other displays and street lights, but it pretty much put my little display table in a dark hole. I guess that, plus the pretty light turnout (this was the first weekend), made for a light "take" ($29 -- still not too shabby).

I had fun -- it wasn't *too* cold, it's a nice amount of time (2 hours), and I like playing for (civilized) kids. And Santa's-lap aged kids are just about the right bracket. They all sing along with "Rudolph" and "Jingle Bells" (as do some of the moms). It's actually kind of surprising, though, how few actual kids songs there are for Christmas. Most of them are of the "White Christmas" and "I'll Be Home for Christmas" soppy type. I can't really play those for the kids, so I augment the list with a few normal kids' songs like "Puff", "Lollipop Tree", and "Rainbow Connection". I did get several requests for "Feliz Navidad", so I guess I'll have to learn that one before next Sunday.

Keith at Irvine Spectrum "Myrtle Court" -- 05Dec2009

Right after Halloween, in a fit of hubris caused by two quite lucrative gigs in a row, I signed up to play at the Main Stage at Irvine Spectrum, which they call "Myrtle Court" for some no-doubt logical, but unknown to the general public, reason. I figured it would be Christmas time -- there would be lots of people there; I'd get to do my Christmas songs and sell my Christmas CDs; and if I got my daughters to sit at the Sales Table, we'd make out like bandits, even though you have to pay a $50 "setup fee" to play there.

Well, let's just say it didn't work out the way I'd pictured it. Actually, come to think of it, I did pay the fifty bucks, and there were lots of people there, and I did play lots of Christmas music, and my daughters did sit at the table "selling" the CDs -- I guess it's just the "bandits" part that didn't work out.

We did sell a handful of CDs, and covered the fifty plus eighteen, but I was really hoping to do better than that -- mostly because I had promised the girls that they could split anything over 50, but 9 bucks apiece wasn't really what any of us had in mind. (I gave them each $30, putting myself solidly in the red for the evening.)

But that's OK! I'm not in it for the money. It was actually a pretty nice place to play -- they turned down the fountain so it's hardly noticeable (and it's at least a consistent sound unlike the Food Court fountain), and the "house music" was completely off, unlike the Food Court where it's gotten louder than ever, made even worse by the new stage location even nearer a pair of speakers.

The side walls there are also parallel, and seem to make a nice little auditorium. It sounded pretty good to me. And I was singing pretty good, after so many weeks of this cruddy throat. I even seemed to have expanded bass range, but still could hit the high notes. And it wasn't too cold for my fingers to play, either.

My brother and his wife came by, as did a good friend from the Indian Princess program with his. And an old high school friend stumbled on us early on, completely surprised to see me there. The girls were there with me, and Daleen came by later on with the dogs. So I had friendly faces most of the night to sing to, which always helps a lot -- so big thanks to those that came out.

And, as I said, there were lots of people -- but they were all in a big hurry, either to get to the shopping, or to get out of the cold. There are tables and chairs along the fountain, and when Warren and I played there in the summer, there were lots of people sitting around, hanging out and listening. It sounds painfully obvious now, but people apparently don't just hang out when it's freezing outside.

Oddly, it now seems like the Food Court is a better place to actually rope people in, and collect some tips -- at least for a "cover band" like me (not to mention it's free). People are obliged to sit and listen for a while, at least while they're finishing their pizza, and can get hooked -- maybe get comfortable with how this is working, and make a request or two. At Myrtle Court, I'm just a curiosity that's impeding the traffic flow, and no one hears enough on their way through to really want to stop and listen more. And frankly, I hate to be immodest, but I think that I sound *too* "professional", and people assume I'm the paid entertainment, so they don't need to tip -- or even applaud. Still, I do think I'll want to try it again sometime when the weather's nicer.

But the big excitement for the evening was later on, when I was singing away, and a guy jumped up on the stage from behind me (which is a big open area), and stole my hat, mid-song, right off of my head! Everyone assumed that he was some friend of mine messing with me, so no one really reacted. But I sure didn't recognize him as he was disappearing into the crowd, so I told Geneva to "Chase that guy down!", and she leapt up to do that.

He didn't seem to realize that he was being chased, so he slowed down inside the Barnes and Nobel, and she shouted, "Hey you, gimme back that hat", and just snatched it out of his hands as he stood there surprised. Obviously she wasn't going to try to detain him, so he snuck out the back door. She did exactly the right thing -- she got the hat and got away from him, 'cuz who knows how crazy he could really have been. Fortunately, where she caught him, there were lots of people around, so it probably couldn't have gotten *too* crazy.

I couldn't think of anything else to do but wait to see if she did or didn't manage to catch up to him, so I just went on playing. A song and a half later, Geneva reappeared with the hat, and got a round of applause and hoots from the crowd.

This morning, as I was wondering about how the video I usually take came out, it occurred to me -- did I catch the whole thing "on tape"? Sure enough.

Turns out he had his girlfriend with him, watch for the lady in the long yellow coat, behind me right at the beginning. They're just strolling down the mall like anyone else. He apparently tells her what he's planning, and she just laughs while he's committing his daring robbery. After he takes off, she just walks back the other way after him. We didn't even know about the girlfriend until I found the video.

Anyway, pretty amazing. How can a guy just think that that kind of thing is OK? I can't even put it off on "Kids these days", 'cuz the guy's not even a kid. But he clearly thinks it's some kind of joke, 'cuz he's got a big grin on his face the whole time.

But, all's well that ends well, I guess. Geneva got the hat back, an amazing story to tell, and earned a new nickname: "Ninja-neva". It was a total miracle that she was there at all, 'cuz I'm all tied up with cables and a guitar, so *I* sure couldn't have caught him!

Of course, I'll never be able to wear that hat again without thinking about this, and it'll be worrisome to do gigs where the back side of the stage is open to the public (which is, now, *both* stages at Spectrum), but I'll get over it, I suppose.

So, crazy night all round. And like John Sebastian said, "We did it for the stories we could tell".

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- 21Nov2009

It's getting colder, but this time I was clever enough to put the heater directly behind me so I was at least evenly warm on the back, though colder on the front. But it kept my fingers from getting too bad, both hands.

I had a pretty bad cold coming on, with a pretty scratchy throat -- and we were all out of cough medicine. I went for it anyway (of course), and only really crashed a song once with a coughing fit.

Just before my Halloween gig, I bought some of those little Mini Tootsie Rolls, in the little individual wax paper, twisted-on-the-ends, wrappers. I gave away some of them, but had lots left, so I've been trying to use them as "bait" to get people to come up to the Scary Table to get a song list. So I keep a half dozen scattered on the table next to me.

Late in the evening, a little family was listening off to the side: mom, dad, and little baby. After a while, the mom kinda snuck up (in plain sight) and put a small handful of twisted-end candies *on* the table. I thought that was a bit strange but sweet, until, an hour later (and after they were gone), I looked closer to find that they were actually throat lozenges. More sweet of her than I'd realized! And once I'd found them, they really did save my skin for the last hour or so.

Lots of kids were out, and kept asking for "Hey There Delilah" (as they do), but since that song is one of the three or four that inexplicably trash my throat even when I'm in good condition, I had to refuse. After the third of fourth group requested it, I finally said, "Sure I'll play it, if one of you will sing it". One of the girls turned out to be an OCHSA vocal music student, and her friends immediately forced her come up and do it -- and pretty well too, though not exactly her key. A big thrill for the group of them, and a nice breather for me.

K&W at Borders South Coast Plaza -- 20Nov2009

A nice little evening made novel by the appearance of our first "opening act" -- a couple of friends of Warren's wife who sing harmony doo-wop through a high-end karaoke machine against a piano on CD accompaniment. Sounds silly, but works out pretty well. I got there early to hear their last 3 tunes ("Calendar Girl", "In My Room" and "Love Potion Number 9"), and they're not half-bad. Apparently there used to be 4 guys, which was probably more impressive, but they do OK with two. (And hey, and how come *we* don't have matching outfits?)

Anyway, Warren hooked them up with the entertainment manager of that store (since all the music is individually booked now), and she either only wants music on one night a week, or mistakenly got the impression that the two bands were inextricably linked. Whatever.

Their being there had the unexpected side effect of prying Warren's wife out onto the town, so she heard us play for the first time in a long time. She was particularly interested in hearing the harmony box do its thing -- no doubt she's heard a lot about it (good and/or bad) from Warren. But she's always a pretty good audience. And after they'd found someplace for dinner, her friends came back to hear a few of our tunes, before they had to cut out for late-shift jobs.

Later on we had a friendly middle-aged lady completely involved, listening and requesting. Turns out she was visiting from Australia -- our second unaccompanied Australian lady in as many gigs. What's up with that?

We made $26 to split, but $20 of that was a single bill from our new Australian friend. She either really liked us, or it was that "Foreign Money looks like Play Money" effect, like I used to get whenever I was in Japan.