I was anxious to get down to Laguna and sing some Christmas songs, now that it's past Thanksgiving. But too early still, I guess. Although the street was all decorated up with Christmas lights, nobody seemed to be "in the spirit" yet. The only people I got to stop were a couple of young families with little kids, for whom, of course, I played "Frosty", "Rudolph", etc.
Oh, and one other guy -- a drunk and addled homeless guy who sat down on the bench across from me and proceeded to shout, whisper, cry, and rant, to nobody in particular. At first he seemed somewhat reasonable, but he got louder and more crazy as time went on. And, of course, he was scaring away anybody else who might want to stop.
I tried to just overpower him, playing louder than his ranting, but he didn't seem to mind or even notice. Then I thought I might be the reason he was hanging out there, so I "took a break", hoping to bore him into moving on. But, no -- he didn't need a reason to be there, nor anyone to actually be talking to.
Occasionally he'd hit a patch of near-coherency. At one point he was proclaiming his "bottom of my heart" love for Eve -- *the* Eve; you know, Adam's girlfriend. Not sure how he knows her. And later on he was describing his emphatic belief that Ian Anderson (of "Jethro Tull") was the greatest musician that ever lived. And he *is* pretty good, but I think even Ian would agree that he's no Mozart...
Anyway, it was pretty awful. You can't help feeling sorry for the guy, but at the same time, there was nothing I could do for him. And he was certainly ruining my evening, along with his own. Finally one of the "regulars" down on the corner came by, a big guy who does a lot of Tae Kwon Do, and decided to help me out, forcefully telling the crazy guy to move along. Which he just up and did.
But it was too late -- the foot traffic had disappeared, so I played a while more, and gave up. Somehow I made $34, though, which was weird since almost nobody stopped. So I guess I'm considering going again, sometime closer to Christmas. Not sure when I'll be able to, though -- I'm booked pretty solid at Spectrum and lots of Santa Claus Workshop gigs.
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Monday, November 19, 2012
Indian Princess Reunion Campout
One of the dads from our original Indian Princess tribe organized a "reunion" campout, at my favorite local campground: San Mateo. Of course, it's hard to get onto people's schedules anymore, but 5 dads and 8 daughters showed up.
Some of the girls hadn't seen each other since they were half the size, and in some cases wouldn't have recognized each other at all, but within minutes they were all "besties" again; climbing trees, exploring the nearby "wilds", and doing whatever it is that kids do on these things when they're out of sight of the dads.
When night fell, we had dinner around the campfire, and the girls surprised us with a short program of nostalgic Princess skits ("School on Fire" and "Candy Shop"), cheers (Watermelon, Roller Coaster), and songs (my "I'm an Indian Princess"). That was pretty cool, and great of the girls to think of it. Warms a daddy's heart.
Of course I had brought my guitar, and played some of the old songs, and the girls started singing along to the kids songs I used to do at Princess campouts, but also to every Disney movie song I know. And also the few recent pop tunes that I've picked up to play at Spectrum. It was really great to have actual Singing Around the Campfire, though Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift are a far cry from "Comin' 'Round the Mountain"...
It sprinkled on us a few times, and finally turned into actual rain so I had to put the guitar away, but it let up after a while and the girls reappeared when the S'mores fixin's came out.
The next day, we walked down to "Trestles" beach (which is one of the big attractions of this campsite). Of course, the water was way too cold to get into, but the girls wandered off to explore, just like they used to do 10 years ago.
It was really great to get together with these guys and girls again. We're planning another one for next Spring, and hope to get even more of the old gang.
Of course I had brought my guitar, and played some of the old songs, and the girls started singing along to the kids songs I used to do at Princess campouts, but also to every Disney movie song I know. And also the few recent pop tunes that I've picked up to play at Spectrum. It was really great to have actual Singing Around the Campfire, though Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift are a far cry from "Comin' 'Round the Mountain"...
It sprinkled on us a few times, and finally turned into actual rain so I had to put the guitar away, but it let up after a while and the girls reappeared when the S'mores fixin's came out.
Keith at Mission Viejo Farmer's Market -- 16Nov2012
They've added a "Craft Faire" to the usual farmers' booths, so I was expecting (hoping?) that they'd be Christmas-y, so I could play some Christmas songs, even though it's before Thanksgiving. But they were just regular crafts, not Christmas stuff, so that didn't work.
So, a pretty standard, quiet, gig. I guess I'm just background music, since everybody there is either shopping, or selling. Maybe a dozen people come over to the tables out in front of me to eat lunch, but they pretty much ignore me, too. It's a good thing I'm getting paid, 'cuz it's really not a lot of fun to be playing to nobody. I can do that at home.
The bread guy wasn't there, so no free bread this time, but I did run into some ladies (don't know what booth they'd been running) in the parking lot on the way out who told me how pleasant it was to have me there. I said that I was glad they liked it, 'cuz I'll be back in three weeks...
So, a pretty standard, quiet, gig. I guess I'm just background music, since everybody there is either shopping, or selling. Maybe a dozen people come over to the tables out in front of me to eat lunch, but they pretty much ignore me, too. It's a good thing I'm getting paid, 'cuz it's really not a lot of fun to be playing to nobody. I can do that at home.
The bread guy wasn't there, so no free bread this time, but I did run into some ladies (don't know what booth they'd been running) in the parking lot on the way out who told me how pleasant it was to have me there. I said that I was glad they liked it, 'cuz I'll be back in three weeks...
Monday, November 12, 2012
Keith at Laguna Beach -- 11Nov2012
I had gone down to Dana Point to eavesdrop on new music-acquaintance Joe Cannon's party (though I didn't want to be seen, nor pay the $15 (!) to get in). I only heard the first verse of "Teenager in Love" and decided that that was enough.
From there, though, I stopped by Forest St. and nabbed a parking spot across from Acoustic Alley. There were some guys parked on the bench at The Corner -- one was idly thumping a djembe, and the other seemed to be sketching. I got there at 5:00, and there was some pretty decent foot traffic, so I played in the Alley for a while, just me and my guitar, which made it easy to just walk down to The Corner every 20 minutes or so to see if they'd gone away yet. But they never did.
Playing "au natural" was interesting: no mic, no amp, no harmony box, no tip jar, and no music book. I got the chance to see not only what songs on my list I know how to play without the song sheet, but what songs on my list I can even remember are *on* the list. I hit the top 5 Obvious ones ("Hotel California", "You've Got a Friend", "The Boxer", "Over the Rainbow", "Let it Be"), and then, um, what other songs do I know, again? Oh yeah, "Sweet Baby James", "Crying", and um, "Wonderful Tonight". And then, um, "Over the Rainbow" again.
Anyway, at 6:00 I resolved to walk by the guys on The Corner, carrying my guitar, and see if they'd volunteer to be done, or maybe back off on the drumming and let me play anyway. But loony Mr. Frequency was there, regaling and/or berating them, and I'd had plenty of that last time, so I spun around and went on home. I guess I broke even for the evening, though, tips versus parking, since I happened to be playing "Sweet Baby James" when a family came by, and the newborn strapped to the lady's tummy was named "James", so the dad sent the 4-year-old big sister skipping back to hand me a dollar.
From there, though, I stopped by Forest St. and nabbed a parking spot across from Acoustic Alley. There were some guys parked on the bench at The Corner -- one was idly thumping a djembe, and the other seemed to be sketching. I got there at 5:00, and there was some pretty decent foot traffic, so I played in the Alley for a while, just me and my guitar, which made it easy to just walk down to The Corner every 20 minutes or so to see if they'd gone away yet. But they never did.
Playing "au natural" was interesting: no mic, no amp, no harmony box, no tip jar, and no music book. I got the chance to see not only what songs on my list I know how to play without the song sheet, but what songs on my list I can even remember are *on* the list. I hit the top 5 Obvious ones ("Hotel California", "You've Got a Friend", "The Boxer", "Over the Rainbow", "Let it Be"), and then, um, what other songs do I know, again? Oh yeah, "Sweet Baby James", "Crying", and um, "Wonderful Tonight". And then, um, "Over the Rainbow" again.
Anyway, at 6:00 I resolved to walk by the guys on The Corner, carrying my guitar, and see if they'd volunteer to be done, or maybe back off on the drumming and let me play anyway. But loony Mr. Frequency was there, regaling and/or berating them, and I'd had plenty of that last time, so I spun around and went on home. I guess I broke even for the evening, though, tips versus parking, since I happened to be playing "Sweet Baby James" when a family came by, and the newborn strapped to the lady's tummy was named "James", so the dad sent the 4-year-old big sister skipping back to hand me a dollar.
Thursday, November 08, 2012
K&W at Laguna Beach -- 07Nov2012
We thought we'd give it one more go down in Laguna, especially considering the little warm snap we had. (Originally, we meant to go down on our usual Tuesday night, but bumped it a day when Warren's wife pointed out that it was election night. D'oh!) By Wednesday, the warm snap was over though, and almost nobody was out.
We did have fun for a while, playing for a three-year-old boy and his mom, who had come out to get some groceries. He was quite a dancer, and Mom had a hard time dragging him away. And I didn't help matters much when I deliberately broke out the kids' Christmas songs...
And we attracted the attention of a new homeless guy, who seemed quite lucid at first, but was, shall we say, riding a different bus than the rest of us. He decided that we "sounded really good", so he settled in on the bench to add some harmony. Unfortunately, his definition of "harmony" is somewhat different than usual, and he'd just start sing/chanting a kind of "rhythm track" of something like "ticka-bit-a-tick", over and over, without any particular pitch, nor any rhythmic relation to the sing I was singing. But he was totally committed to it, and kept it going, essentially at random, whether I was in a song yet or not. It was terribly distracting, of course, but I just kept on playing, presuming/hoping that the amp was louder than he was.
He stayed for far too long, but suddenly stood up and gave us a parting lecture on "the *freq*uency", and how he "*was* music", and a lot of other stuff that was delivered in completely authentically composed sentences that were nonetheless, absolutely unparseable. It was actually kind of amazing, because it was *so close* to making sense, but just didn't, quite. I wish I'd'a had a recorder...
Later on, we had another "Laguna Only" moment when a homeless burnout surfer type guy wandered through, carrying a box, and with a live crow perched on his wooly stocking cap. The crow seemed reasonably comfortable up there, but the feathers on his tail and one wing were pretty trashed, so he probably couldn't fly and been rescued by the surfer, who will hopefully keep him fed until the feathers grow back and he can fly away.
We did have fun for a while, playing for a three-year-old boy and his mom, who had come out to get some groceries. He was quite a dancer, and Mom had a hard time dragging him away. And I didn't help matters much when I deliberately broke out the kids' Christmas songs...
And we attracted the attention of a new homeless guy, who seemed quite lucid at first, but was, shall we say, riding a different bus than the rest of us. He decided that we "sounded really good", so he settled in on the bench to add some harmony. Unfortunately, his definition of "harmony" is somewhat different than usual, and he'd just start sing/chanting a kind of "rhythm track" of something like "ticka-bit-a-tick", over and over, without any particular pitch, nor any rhythmic relation to the sing I was singing. But he was totally committed to it, and kept it going, essentially at random, whether I was in a song yet or not. It was terribly distracting, of course, but I just kept on playing, presuming/hoping that the amp was louder than he was.
He stayed for far too long, but suddenly stood up and gave us a parting lecture on "the *freq*uency", and how he "*was* music", and a lot of other stuff that was delivered in completely authentically composed sentences that were nonetheless, absolutely unparseable. It was actually kind of amazing, because it was *so close* to making sense, but just didn't, quite. I wish I'd'a had a recorder...
Later on, we had another "Laguna Only" moment when a homeless burnout surfer type guy wandered through, carrying a box, and with a live crow perched on his wooly stocking cap. The crow seemed reasonably comfortable up there, but the feathers on his tail and one wing were pretty trashed, so he probably couldn't fly and been rescued by the surfer, who will hopefully keep him fed until the feathers grow back and he can fly away.
Thursday, November 01, 2012
Keith at Laguna Beach -- 31Oct2012
When I got home and told my wife how deserted it had been down in Laguna on the night before, she said, "You should go down *tomorrow* night", meaning, on Halloween itself. This sounded like a terrific idea, so, although I don't normally do (or have the stamina to do) two nights in a row, I went down.
Great theory, but, nope, nobody out. None of the hoped-for crowds of costumed revelers; no photo opps with crazy party people (and I'd brought my camera). The city of Laguna Beach is really missing a bet, not hyping up a big downtown party like New York does.
Oh well. There were a few of the homeless guys out, and a nice couple stood on the opposite street corner and listened for a while -- not sure why they were so shy. Afraid of the homeless guys? And later on, a couple pulled to a stop 'cuz the guy was impressed that I was playing "Scarborough Fair" correctly. Their appreciation 3 bucks and 2 more made up the lowest tip-jar count in recent memory.
At least, having learned a lesson the night before, I gave up at the early hour of 8:00, and got enough sleep for a change.
Great theory, but, nope, nobody out. None of the hoped-for crowds of costumed revelers; no photo opps with crazy party people (and I'd brought my camera). The city of Laguna Beach is really missing a bet, not hyping up a big downtown party like New York does.
Oh well. There were a few of the homeless guys out, and a nice couple stood on the opposite street corner and listened for a while -- not sure why they were so shy. Afraid of the homeless guys? And later on, a couple pulled to a stop 'cuz the guy was impressed that I was playing "Scarborough Fair" correctly. Their appreciation 3 bucks and 2 more made up the lowest tip-jar count in recent memory.
At least, having learned a lesson the night before, I gave up at the early hour of 8:00, and got enough sleep for a change.
K&W at Laguna Beach -- 30Oct2012
Well, street-corner playing is definitely all over, at least for weeknights. And at least until the Christmas shopping season. It was pretty much a ghost town. Not only that, but a couple of guys had gotten to The Corner before I got there at 6:30. So I strolled around and talked to the bored restaurant hostesses and the girl who works at the nearby T-shirt store who frequently comes out to listen when she's bored. It was actually kind of nice to look around the area, since I normally have to bee-line to The Corner and don't get to sight-see.
Warren got there at 7:00, and the guys hadn't give up yet, so we went and played in the Alley for a while. I just played and sang acoustically, since there wasn't anybody there anyway, and it gave us a chance to play through some new, as-yet-unlearned songs.
After a while, the Other Guys walked by, having abandoned The Corner, so we relocated and I deployed the amp and all, but it didn't get much better. We somehow pulled in 18 bucks, but even the homeless guys weren't out. Maybe everybody was at home, working on their costumes...
Warren got there at 7:00, and the guys hadn't give up yet, so we went and played in the Alley for a while. I just played and sang acoustically, since there wasn't anybody there anyway, and it gave us a chance to play through some new, as-yet-unlearned songs.
After a while, the Other Guys walked by, having abandoned The Corner, so we relocated and I deployed the amp and all, but it didn't get much better. We somehow pulled in 18 bucks, but even the homeless guys weren't out. Maybe everybody was at home, working on their costumes...
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