The setup space was a little different, so I wasn't on the lawn, and had a fence behind me so I didn't have kids running around, tripping on the wires. And I was near a set of park furniture, so some kids and moms would come over and sit "up front". Lots of kids dancing and singing along.
One little toddler boy, bundled up so much that he was a immovable unit, staggered over, unsupervised. Cute, but potentially dangerous with the wires everywhere on the ground. Between songs, I inexplicably stuck out my hand, and he slapped it -- "low five". He seemed to be happy where he was, so I started the next song, but halfway through, he put up his fist for a "bump", which I managed to fit in in-between chords. His mom kept zooming over to snatch him up, but he'd be back in a few minutes. Some kind of junior Houdini, apparently.
I had a small table up, mostly to hold my Dew, but also with my little sign on it, and my "stealth tip jar" -- a small Tupperware with some business cards and wrapped candies, and a dollar bill. The kids discovered the candy, and the parents noticed the dollar, and it started to accumulate tips. I'd done it as a "candy dish" for plausible deniability if the cranky guy from previous years came along. Got away with it too, and made $34. Mostly I had to do *something* to prevent the parents from coming up and trying to hand me money while I'm trying to play, as they do, and it's awkward all around.
Got two requests for "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer". These were most likely instigated by parents, sending the kids over with the request. I don't play that one -- not to be a snob, but that level of redneck humor is lost on me. Problem is: what to say when asked. I can't really say, "Sorry, that song is just too lame" to their face. I told the first kid "I don't do that song -- I *like* my grandma.", but he just looked confused by that explanation, which admittedly has faulty logic if you take the song's first-person narrative as a true story. The second time, I just said I didn't know it...
Anyway, I love playing these Santa gigs -- it's a shame that I only got three and got gypped out of one of them. The last one is this Wednesday evening, and the booking lady's incommunicative messages may or may not imply that even though I'm not officially booked, I can come down and possibly play the last hour and a half after a theoretical short "first act". It may turn out to be somewhat awkward, depending on who the first act happens to be, but it's definitely worth a try.
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