K&W in Laguna Beach -- Tuesday, 30July2013

My wife decided to come along and walk the dogs along the beach while we played. But we got the corner in front of the ice cream shop, and it was a very pleasant evening, so we did stay for quite a while.

When my wife came back, I got her to take some pictures. Otherwise, a pretty standard evening, but we brought in $51 and sold two CDs. Gotta love those summer nights...

K&W in Laguna Beach -- Saturday, 27July2013

When we got there at 5:00, the Tommies (Tom and his 11-year-old daughter, Tommie) were already on the corner, but not actually playing. "Taking a break", but really just bogarting the space. I guess he realized that they were being uncool to do that, and offered to let us have it until 8:00. I jumped at that offer because it's becoming increasingly clear that playing anywhere else is really a waste of time.

It was kinda slow at first, but got pretty good when the after-dinner crowd started to show up. The weirdest part was getting not one, but two requests for James Taylor's "Country Roads". I almost never get asked for that one at all (usually they want John Denver's "Country Road"), but getting two in one night was astounding.

When 8:00 rolled around, I had one of the yummy Greek "wraps" from the store next to the ice cream shop, and then we rolled our stuff up to the now-closed Hurley store's alcove, but there's no light in there, and nowhere for anyone to sit and listen, so it was a disaster. I think we made four more dollars there (after $56 on The Corner). I guess we know better now...

Keith at the Sawdust Festival -- Friday, 26July2013

This was my second Sawdust date, this time at the "Grill" stage, which is a tiny little deck built into the corner next to the Greek restaurant in the south corner. The good part is that you have a built-in audience of people having dinner there. And, since there are 12 tables with 4 chairs each, you can potentially have 48 people as an audience -- assuming you're not chasing people away...

And I did, almost always, have a full house, though I suppose most of them showed up for the food. But, I did notice that almost no one left before my set was over, even after they'd finished eating. So I guess they came for the food, but stayed for the music. On the other hand, the ones standing around out behind the tables weren't eating, so...

It was really quite pleasant. Quiet, good sound, friendly people out for some entertainment. And chairs. Very important, those chairs.

I put song lists out on the tables, and got lots of requests. Indeed, the only problem was that half-hour on, half-hour off schedule, which seems like about 5 songs, and it was disappointing when someone would ask for a kind of lame one. I always wanted to maximize these short little sets with by best stuff.

But I guess people were liking what they heard, lame ones or not, 'cuz I made $93 in tips. Lots of "big money" in the jar, too -- 9 fives and 2 tens, despite nobody buying a CD. I guess people who can afford to pay $12 for a pita have more disposable income than I'm used to.

K&W in Laguna Beach -- Wednesday, 24July2013

It seems strange, but weeknights when there are fewer people out seem to work better than crowded weekend nights. The people that do come by seem to be in less of a hurry on weeknights.

Anyway, we had a pretty good turnout, and people listening basically the whole time. I got a few pictures with my new guitar-mounted stealth-cam, but Warren got much better shots of the dancing guy and his granddaughter than I did.

Lots of great friendly people -- one couple early on had come all the way from Sweden (though probably not specifically to hear me sing...) And we brought in $71 in tips, on a Wednesday, so we must have been doing something right.

Keith at Chino Marketplace -- Saturday, 20July2013

This was my first time at this one. There had been thunderstorms in the early afternoon, but I went anyway, 'cuz it was clearing up and I never want to be "that flakey musician" that no-shows. Not to mention that I wouldn't'a gotten paid...

It's a nice outdoor mall, but more like Riverside (shops that share a parking lot) than Irvine Spectrum (where all the shops share an interior promenade). Hard to describe. But the bands are meant to set up over in the food court, so at least people have a place to sit, and a reason to, other than me. I just don't get why the property managers always put the live music right by the Giant White Noise Generator (a.k.a. fountain). Every time.

Anyway, I guess the rest of the mall isn't really a Walking Around kinda place, 'cuz two separate couples listened for a while, went off to browse around, and were back listening to me about 20 minutes later. I suppose being the Least Boring Thing is still something.

So, presumably because of the weather, there weren't many people out, but those that did come by were quite generous, and I had a few kids to pass bubbles out to. I'm always nervous about giving out bubbles when there's a fountain nearby -- I'm afraid some kid'll get the bright idea to pour the stuff in. And I'm doubly afraid to tell them, "Don't pour this stuff into the fountain!", for fear of putting the idea into their heads. Fortunately, it hasn't happened so far...

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- Friday, 19July2013

It was a pretty quiet Friday -- maybe summer is winding down. (Or maybe I should reconsider wearing my "Laguna Hat" at Spectrum -- it might be a bit too much for stuffy old Irvine.) When I got there, the four comfy chairs had been moved over into the corner, so I waited until they were empty and moved them back over to be pointed at the stage. I was hoping that it would imply that they were "for" people who were listening, not just hanging out. Kinda worked, too.

I only had a few kids, and never enough to get a party started. Some enthusiastic listeners, but mostly pretty quiet.

I did get the chance to try out my remote-controlled iPhone camera, but it turns out to be a bit restrictive that I can't aim it towards the action, since it's affixed to the music stand. On the other hand, I can spin it around and take a selfie...

Towards the end, I had a group show up, and one lady came over and started asking for songs from the list. She just stood there and had me play 5 or 6 songs before her family dragged her off. She listened to each one, and at the end would say, "Brava! Now play..." and demand the next one. It felt like some kind of test or something...

K&W in Laguna Beach -- Tuesday, 16July2013

Both corners were occupied when we got there, so we set up in the Hurley Alcove/Cave. I'd brought some battery-powered lanterns to help with the gloom, but after two songs (and before it was completely dark), the Fingerhut Gallery corner opened up, so we moved over there.

Which may have been a mistake. We had almost no response all night, except for a nice lady who stopped short when she realized I was playing her Favorite Song, "Homeward Bound". And since they were stopped, her husband asked for "Sounds of Silence" and then they had to hear "Alison", just because that was their daughter's name.

Their attention and the small flurry of interest that it caused from other passers-by turned out to be just about it for the night. Next time, maybe we ought to stay in the Hurley Cave, and see how that goes.

Though we did have a batch of high-school girls who came by with a plate of cookies that they really wanted us to take some of, even though I pointed out that I can't really sing while I'm eating. In retrospect, I think they may have had an idea to "do something nice for the poor homeless guys downtown". Do I look that scruffy?

Keith at the Sawdust Festival -- Wednesday, 10July2013

I've been trying to get into the Sawdust Festival for several years now, but they book it up really early and I've never managed to get my application in on time. This year, I sent it in right after I was reminded by driving past the "Sawdust Festival Winter Fantasy" signs at Christmas. Finally!

They gave me three gigs, one on each of the three stages. This first one was the biggest and best stage, called "The Deck". It's right in the middle, slightly up the hill so it overlooks the whole place. There are benches for an audience, and it's kind of nice to play towards the waterfall. But it's also a thoroughfare to the upper booths, so there are frequently people just wandering right through.

Which doesn't bother me, of course -- I'm used to it from Spectrum and the street corners.

The weird part is the schedule. They're pretty adamant about the Festival being about (selling) The Art, not The Music. So they make the bands play a half-hour on and a half-hour off, alternating between the upper Deck stage, and the two ground level stages ("Tavern", and "Grill"). This has exactly the desired effect of preventing people from staying seated (and not browsing Art) for more than a half hour at a time.

It's a bit annoying, knowing that if you manage to accumulate an audience, it'll be compulsorily broken up at the top of the hour. But I guess that gives you a chance to accumulate another one...

The weird monsoon weather presumably kept a lot of the crowd away, but those that came seemed to like my stuff. In the breaks, people wandering through kept mistaking me for a real musician and asking me when the music started, and promising to come back for it. And they mostly actually did.

I didn't have many people at any given time, but at least a few all the time, and most of them quite engaged. What was really flattering was the vendors all around the stage kept coming over to stand at the edges and listen, and many of them would applaud from their remote locations. Apparently they were glad to have someone on that stage that they actually liked. One artist guy came back again and again to insist on "Over the Rainbow" as my closing song for each shift (which was gonna happen anyway), and to bring in a request from "Dave at the glass blowing booth" for "Hallelujah".

So it was fun. Weird to be there for four and a half hours but only get to play for two and a half. But it's a paying gig, and I made a little more in tips, and it's a very pleasant place to play.

K&W in Laguna Beach -- Tuesday, 09July2013

We lucked into the ice cream corner again, and had lots of nice people just about the whole time, except when some of the scruffier homeless guys were occupying the bench. They tend to make the tourists a bit nervous...

For some reason, "Blackbird" was Top of the Pops, and was requested three times. One lady listened for a while, came over to put something in the tip jar, and said "You guys are too good for this". That was a pretty nice thing to say, but unfortunately, she didn't have any practical advice about where we should/could be playing...

We also had some "help" from a guy named Spider, who plays around there sometimes, but this time he was pretty drunk and being obstructionist. I don't know if he was grumpy because we had the best spot, or because we sounded better, and were doing better, than he could. Just one of the things you deal with in the anarchy of street music...

Along with the street brawl that some teenagers started up in the outdoor alcove of the restaurant next door, and thundered right through the "stage" and across the street. Right in the middle of, you guessed it, "Blackbird". I carried on for a half a verse, but gave up. When the excitement died down, the lady who had requested it said, "I guess you'll have to start over". Pretty much.

But other than all that, it was a pretty good night.

One thing that's always bothered me when I play, is that, naturally, the best stuff happens while I'm playing, not between songs. Of course, that's when my hands are occupied, so I can never get any good pictures. But my day job recently supplied me with a new iPhone, which has a pretty good camera built in, so I figured out a way to trigger the camera with a remote control, and stuck the remote to the back of my guitar's headstock, where I can reach the button with my left thumb -- the only movable piece of me that's not otherwise occupied while I'm playing. (And with my wireless guitar and mic, I can even walk out in front of the camera and get pictures of myself, as above.)

So I was able to get some pictures of a sweet old couple dancing to "The Way You Look Tonight". It was doubly cute, because the same couple had been by last summer, and danced then, too. Click here to check 'em out in my blog post from last August 28:

http://y7alanzo.blogspot.com/2012/08/k-at-laguna-beach-28aug2012.html

That time, Warren just stopped playing to grab his camera -- this time he didn't have to.

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- Saturday, 06July2013

It was unexpectedly not-incredibly-hot, so there were lots of people out. Before I even started, I had a cute little girl, who just needed any kind of music to start her dance, which was just bounce/hopping up and down. So I played my usual "Hotel California" first, and then "Twinkle Twinkle" for her. She was quite thrilled -- maybe too much so, because she spent the next hour coming up to say "Twinkle Star!" at me between literally every song.

I played other songs just to keep the adults from walking away, but I'm not a monster -- I ended up playing "Twinkle Star" 4 times before her mom finally had pity on me and took her home.

Later on, I had 4 or 5 kids that were kind of dancing along, so I thought I could get them more interested if I gave them some fingerlights. As soon as I started handing them out, though, a million kids came out of the woodwork. I literally gave away 20 or 25 lights -- it was completely out of control. They're supposed to be for kids who are really there to listen or dance along, not just every kid at the mall!

A little while after that, a bunch of parents kind of joined the crowd of kids -- they usually stand out at the edges. But I had this huge crowd of kids, and then the parents, too. And one of the moms asked for "Old MacDonald", which I don't know, but figured I could fake the chords, and probably remember the words, so I fired it up, and the crowd doubled again! Probably the most "successful" song I've ever played, and I didn't even know the chords! I don't really want to turn into Raffi, but I'll definitely keep that one in the line-up (and learn it properly).

Anyway, I had lots of nice people all night, and ended up playing until 11:30 again. I didn't quite manage to break the $200 line like last week, but at $187, I came pretty close. And seven people liked what they heard enough to take home a CD. That's always flattering.

K&W in Laguna Beach -- Friday, 05July2013

Most folks had this Friday off since the day before was 4th of July, and the tourists certainly did, so we went down in the afternoon to try our luck.

There was a guy on the ice cream corner already, but he was ready to quit, so we moved in. The problem with afternoons, though, is that there's a 3 hour limit on the parking meters, and you can't even really just go put more money in, 'cuz there's also a "move your car after three hours" law. So we played from 3:00 until 6:00, and had to quit to get our cars on home. (After 7pm, the meters turn off and the rule doesn't apply.)

Anyway, a good turnout, and good tips ($67). We had a young family stop by and listen for a long time. I gave the kids some bubbles of course, and they ran around and/or danced. After a while, they coerced me to play/fake some kids' songs that I don't know like "You Are My Sunshine" and "Old MacDonald".

As they were leaving, the little boy came over to say thank you and goodbye, and I sat down on my curb/stage to listen to him impart some serious advice: " When a little boy and girl come by here, play them a really great song."

I'll have to keep that in mind...

K&W in Laguna Beach -- Tuesday, 02July2013

It seems strange that we're having way better luck on these Tuesdays than on the weekend nights. I guess for vacationers, it's all the same, but on weekends, it's nearly impossible to get on the ice cream corner, or sometimes even to get one of the fallback locations. There's a bit less traffic on weeknights, but the people seem a bit less frantic, and more willing to hang out and listen to the guy in the funny hat for a while.

We went down at 7:30, and found *nobody* on any of the spots. So we had the ice cream corner, and the audio space, all to ourselves, all night. There was a group that was asking for country/cowboy songs, which I have a few of. When I asked where they were from, expecting something like "Texas", it turned out they were from Rancho Cucamonga, just a couple of hours away. But maybe they're cowboys out there..?

Later on, we had a group of 4 Asian couples. I couldn't hear them talking to one another, so I finally asked where they were from. I was relieved to hear it was Korea and not Japan, 'cuz if they were Japanese, I'd'a felt obliged to try to sing "Sukiyaki", but I've only got it 3/4 learned, and I'm not sure it would have gone well.

Anyway, we had people listening pretty solid all evening, and I started up a Kids' Dance Party when a family of 5 or 6 blonde kids came by. The 10-year-old had clearly had some lessons, 'cuz she was executing some impressive moves.

We pulled in $77, and sold 3 CDs -- one to a guy who complained that he had to make his own change for a twenty out of the jar. I told him he didn't *have* to make change...

After we'd packed up, as I was sitting on the bench counting the money so I could split it with Warren, some high school girls came up, and one of them told me that she was getting married tomorrow (which I doubted, but I played along anyway), and did I have any marriage advice. I thought about it for a while, and told to just be sure to marry your best friend. She wrote that down in her little note/autograph book next to her description of me ("Top hat musician"), and had me sign it. I wonder what that was *really* about...