K&W at Borders South Coast Plaza -- 21Jan2011

I think this was the emptiest I've ever seen this place -- maybe it's Winter Break at UCI, so we didn't have the usual contingency of Calculus, Bio, and Engineering studiers. Not that those kids, with their permanently-embedded iPods are much of an audience anyway...

So it was a pretty quiet night. I had an unusual amount of trouble getting the sound right -- the settings for "outdoors" and "recording at home" apparently aren't conducive for the acoustics of this place.

But I eventually got it worked out, and later in the night some people showed up who seemed to like us. One particular guy asked for lots of "classic rock" songs, including "Southern Cross", but I convinced him to take "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" instead, 'cuz I think I manage it better. He actually stopped his car to get out and shout something encouraging to us as we were talking later in the parking lot. That was nice.

I did set up a bunch of video cameras, but I was never particularly inspired, so nothing much to glean from the footage.

Some girls way in the back had circled six songs, mostly Beatles, on the Song List and brought it up. I played most of those, and then later, they brought up another List, with six more songs, mostly Beatles again, "written in". I don't know if they were just suggestions of songs I ought to go learn, or if they somehow expected me to just play them. Amusingly, they had written them on the List in the approximate places they'd have to be inserted. Thanks for the alphabetization help, girls!

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- 15Jan2011

Big fun! It was pretty warm outside, so lots of people came out. And the thumpa-thumpa-cart was nowhere to be seen (nor heard!).

Maybe it's the season, or maybe it's this "big space in front" layout, but I'm beginning to notice that the nature of the gig has changed. At the old food court, I was playing to people who were seated, and usually eating -- and whether they wanted to hear me or not. Now, there are people (sometimes *lots* of people!) out on the sofas and around the planterbox bench, but I'm also roping in people who are "strolling". I guess they're there to just cruise around, and stopping for a while to hear some tunes is OK -- they weren't going anywhere in particular anyway.

These fall into two main groups: teenagers, and young families. The clumps of teens stop to see if I know any songs that they're interested in, and end up requesting the few "new" songs I know, and maybe some Beatles, too. The young families stop to let the kids have a gander at the man making music. The stroller-bound ones just stare, but the mobile ones dance, either spontaneously, or led by the moms. Either way, neither group would have been inclined to sit down, especially at "picnic tables", so the big open space suits them fine, and is working out far better than I'd expected.

The teens are surprisingly civil. They ask for the songs they recognize from my list, and frequently sing along, if their group is big and rowdy enough. And I seldom get any smart remarks. I definitely need to learn some more songs from within the decade, but I'm actually surprised that they want to hear me play "their songs". Seems like, when I was seventeen, if some Old Guy was up playing "my songs", I'd'a been disdainful, but these kids ask me for 'em, listen, and even tip me (sometimes with "all the change in my pocket", which is actually pretty endearing).

As are the little kids dancing. Some of them just shuffle back and forth, some stand and stare, some run around with their hands out, airplane-style, and some older ones actually aim at some "moves". I have to quickly dig out the more danceable tunes in the book (which I also need to learn more of). And as other parents wander by and see the Little Kids Dance Party going on, they stop, too. This happened twice on Saturday -- the first one breaking up only because the power timers went off again, at 7:30 exactly. I definitely need to have a word with the Management about that. It sure saps the momentum out of the show to get cut off mid-song...

This time I immediately rewired everything to run directly from the battery-powered amp, but even those two minutes broke the spell. Not the end of the world, I eventually got a second batch of dancing kids, but not very professional, at minimum. And, wow, does it sound different without the Harmony Box in-line, even when I'm not using the harmonies. The Box adds "vocal effects" (compression, reverb, etc.), and apparently does a great job, 'cuz it sounded suddenly pretty sad without all that. Fortunately, they got the power back on pretty quickly this time, and I re-re-wired everything to get "my sound" back.

They had also failed to bring out the table, tablecloth, and lights. I thought they were just late (and I had already found the table, tucked up underneath the stage), but I called them when it was time to start and they still weren't there. They guy said that I wasn't on *his* schedule, but he'd bring out the lights. A long while later, they brought out the tablecloth, but the lights never showed up. But the upside of that is that they didn't have to come to take them away either, so I was able to play way past the 10:00 "deadline".

So, big fun, interesting evolution of the gig itself, and 59 bucks in the jar. I may be getting the hang of this...

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- 08Jan2011

It was my first time back at the rebuilt Food Court area since the terrible experience 6 weeks ago. It's definitely much improved! They moved the stage out into the plaza some, and brought the outdoor sofas a third-again closer. And they moved the thumpa-thumpa (animated T-shirts) cart way back to the corner.

So the audience is only "far away", not "stupid-far". Most of the night, I had people camped out in the sofas and along the planterbox bench, just listening. To me. Wow. They're a bit far away to want to shout out requests, but some were brave enough to. And quite a few young families were out, and would let their little kids dance with (or stare at) me from the "dance floor" in between.

Early on, a birthday party of 20 or so 15-year-old girls came by, in costumes. Chicken, clown, cheerleader, superman, cone-head, etc. There was also a couple of young guys hanging out with me, one of whom had his Christmas-present ukulele with him, so I had just fired up "I'm Yours". The girls heard that and had to come over and sing/shout along, and then ask for a few songs before moving on into the food court for dinner. That was fun.

My brother came by, and heard a few songs before the thumpa-cart guy started up his break dancing show, which he apparently does once a night. This meant that his music got twice as loud, and that it was apparently time for me to take a break. I'm not sure if I "own" the sonic space there, but since he had drawn a much bigger crowd than I had, I guess he's somewhat entitled -- though I'll have to send a message to the management asking what the deal is there.

After he was finished, I started to play my new "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" for my brother, got through the first line, and the power went out. I had just bought a new parabolic heater that day, specifically to try to keep warm out there, but it had apparently been too much for the circuit. I called Maintenance, and they poked around for half an hour before discovering that it wasn't a circuit breaker at all -- they had put that outlet on a timer, since it used to be powering some tree lights or something. My brother gave up and went home before they got it fixed, and I took the chance to go talk to the thumpa-cart girl to ask, when/if they got my power back on, could they maybe keep the thumpa-music down a bit. She was really nice about it, and it worked, for a while, most of the time.

But the new location is much more prominently "just outside the theaters", and after 9:00 or so, lots of people on dates come wandering out, so I started doing the softer more romantic stuff, and drew in a lot of people. And when the thumpa-music was down (or later, off), I could really hear myself pretty well, so I was able to really get into it, and felt like I was giving some pretty good performances. I guess the difference is that I'm finally far enough away from the turtle fountain that I don't even notice it. Yay!

I guess some other people noticed that I was "on", too, 'cuz I made $82 in tips and a few CD sales. Part of that was a twenty dollar bill, which was, presumably, for a CD (or 2? I keep forgetting to count how many I'm putting out.)

Naturally, since I was doing so well, I didn't have any cameras set up. Or is it that I was doing well because I didn't have any cameras intimidating me? Either way, a really really good night. I felt good, was singing strong and playing well, I didn't get too cold, and just had a blast. After last time, I was beginning to think that they'd "ruined" the place, and that I wasn't going to want to play there anymore. Now, I can't wait to go back.

Keith at Irvine Spectrum, Myrtle Court-- 23Dec2010

I got to play the Main Stage at Spectrum again, coincidentally exactly a year from the famous hat-stealing gig of 2009. This year I swore to play facing *away* from the fountain, which is also away from any potential audience sitting at the tables along its sides, but at least it doesn't leave my "six" unprotected.

At first it seemed like a huge mistake -- it felt weird to deliberately turn my back on the people at the tables, but after I got started, I was able to almost continuously attract at least a small (and sometimes satisfyingly large) group in the standing-space in (my new) "front", and some lingerers sitting on the bench/planter boxes at either side. I guess that's the way it works -- once you're playing, you attract the attention of the tide of people coming down the corridor. Most go on by, but the ones that like what they hear can stop for a while.

I got lots of families with small kids, many of whom stop to let their kids see what Live Music looks like. I must have played "Rudolph", "Frosty", "Jingle Bells" and "Up On the Housetop" a dozen times each. Of course, having little kids gives me the excuse to play those, but the teenagers who come by while they're playing always join in, either on the main part, or with the "...like a light bulb!" descant on "Rudolph". I guess once you learn it, it's irresistible.

I made $49 in tips -- I'm sure it would have been more, but the arrangement forces people to split into two "streams" around me, so half the people didn't happen to walk by the tip jar. Next year, *two* tip jars.

Fortunately, I'd convinced the Booking Girl that, although her Original Material bands can probably sell enough CDs to cover the $50 Setup Fee, poor widdle me, playing well-liked but "cover" material, entertains the crowd, but doesn't sell enough CDs to afford to pay for the privilege. So she waived the fee, or I'd'a been a buck in the hole for the night.

So it all worked out -- I had a great time, played for a lot of people, made some Christmas money, and I still have my hat.

K&W at Borders South Coast Plaza -- 17Dec2010

A pretty good night -- unusually many people were tuned in. Was it the Christmas season, the Christmas music, or just the luck of the draw? No way to tell, I guess.

We did pretty well, tips-wise, but most of it was a twenty dollar bill that was ostentatiously left by a bearded guy we've seen before, who sat up front in the comfy chairs (*too* comfy?), asked for a few requests, and then fell loudly asleep. Not sure whether the $20 was an apology, or a thank you -- apparently he needed the sleep.