I took over for Jim again, at about 6:30, and since it was Saturday, we had great people until almost midnight. That meant that I played over 5 hours, but Warren played for almost 8, with only a few breaks for PB&J.
Right off the bat we had a girl come up who wanted to sing along. Let's just say that she was extremely enthusiastic, though I think that "drunk" would be a more accurate term. Anyway, I usually let people sing if they want to (and are doing it for fun, and not to be disruptive), but since they don't have a mic and I do, nobody can really hear them over me. She had a friend -- or instantly made one the way that only drunk people can -- who wanted to do the wiggle dance, so we really had some fun crazy on display, right away.
Later on, we had a nice couple who stopped to listen for a while, and turned out to be from Liverpool. I thought she might like "Ruby Tuesday", but discovered that Liverpudlians are offended by offers of Stones songs...
But apparently it was Karaoke Night (though nobody told *me*), 'cuz she eventually came over, not to request a song to hear, but to request one to *sing*. She chose "The First Cut is the Deepest", which I very seldom play, and played way too fast, but she had a huge voice and belted it out without need of a microphone. Impressive.
Toward the end, a guy came up and asked me if I knew any songs in the key of G. Strange question, but, yes, I guess a few of them are... Turns out, in keeping with the inexplicable Karaoke theme, he wanted to play harmonica along with us, but he only had one that played in G. I don't exactly have an index of my songs listed by key, and the ones I could think of weren't exactly harmonica blues tunes, so it didn't really work out, but he fumbled around a bit on "Georgia on my Mind".
There was also a group of ladies that were in the midst of a Bachelorette Party, and some random guy from the crowd grabbed her (recognizable by the tiara), and danced her around for a song, causing her friends to whoop and squeal. That was fun.
So it was a long night, but we made $145, and had lots of fun with lots of nice people.
Jim & Warren had procured The Corner, so I went down to "spell" Jim at 8:30 or so. When I got there, they had 5 or 6 people spellbound and glued to the bench for their Beatles set. But when that was over and Jim packed up to go home, the people evaporated, leaving me to start up with a completely empty bench.
But, within a half-hour or so, we'd managed to refill it, and had nice responsive people to play for most of the night. And at around ten o'clock, a girl named Gabrielle came by that Warren knows from some memorable appearances at the Full Moon Drum Circles. She wanted to sing, and/or dance, but mostly dance, and stood out in front of us doing her vaguely hula-like wiggle-dance, regardless of the tempo of the song I was playing.
She's quite a character -- she does "plus-sized" modeling, writes self-published travel books, "must" swim in the ocean at least once a day, and talks to (and gets answers from) the trees (and expects that we, as musicians, must do the same), and generally seems to make an industry out of just being herself.
She attracted a lot of attention, and a few tips went in the jar while she was swaying. A few songs in, a guy showed up with a movie camera and an idea for a "Spirit of Laguna Beach" documentary, so he shot her, us, and the attentive people around us, with some enthusiasm. He makes these movies and tries to sell them to TV stations or whomever, and asked us for our (verbal on cam) releases in case this one goes anywhere. He took my card and I hope he'll let me know if anything happens.
Around 10:45 Gaby decided that she needed to get down to the Hare Krishna temple and join in on the chanting, and the movie guy was thrilled to go along, so they left, and we packed up, but not before I gave Gaby a fiver (out of the $29) for her help with the act...
With the tourist season palpably winding down, I wanted to have at least one last go at it before they were all gone. More evidence that the other bands have given up already, 'cuz there was no one else out. That made it easy to get The Corner, and nice to not have any sonic competition from across the street.
We did get a moderate stream of friendly people, and brought in $68 for our trouble. Only sold one CD, but that's because I only had one -- I sold 5 the last time, and forgot to restock.
Anyway, it's actually not so bad when there are a bit fewer people out. They seem to feel less pressure to move on by. When there are huge crowds, they steam on by us, and when there's nobody, there's nobody. But the middle ground lets people pause to see if they want to settle in for a bit. That's when I can reel 'em in with some great old song...
I asked one couple that looked like tourists where they were from and they had come form Norway. Then I asked another, and they were from far-flung Pasadena. You never can tell...
A guy came by and was taking a video of us with his iPhone, which happens fairly often these days. But this guy runs a website called "Alert the Globe" that apparently just puts up random videos of bands playing, anywhere around the world. Sure enough, he posted the video the next day, right there on the World Wide Web. He had come at a particularly opportune moment, 'cuz there was a family there and the two sisters had gotten up to dance while I played "Kiss the Girl" (far too fast). I snagged a few frames from the video to create the panoramic shot above.
When I got there at 3:30, Tom and Tommie were hanging out on the Ice Cream Shop corner, not actually playing, but "taking a break", and preventing anyone else from setting up there. So I went over to the Fingerhut Gallery corner and set up there, where I could watch to see if the Tommies packed up. Which they never did, though they took several long breaks. It bugs me when they hog the corner but aren't actually playing. Uncool.
Anyway, I was just there to experiment with the drum machine, which actually works quite well, though it's a bit of a production to get a song queued up. Before every song, I now have to: get the right capo setting and get tuned up on the guitar, find (or check for) the right harmony box preset and make sure it's in the right starting condition, get the drum app up on the iPhone, find the right tempo, find the right pattern, make sure it's Stopped ('cuz choosing a pattern also starts it playing), get the wire to the amp plugged in, hit Start, and quickly start playing, on the cue, at the right tempo.
And after all that, it's a bit tricky just to play along with it because I'm not really used to being held to a rigid tempo. It's even worse when the motorcycles come by and drown out the drums and I unexpectedly have to keep the pace by myself and hope I'm at the right spot when the drums become audible again.
But I'll probably only end up using it on the fast songs, which can use the drums to improve their dance-ability, and won't suffer too much from the rigidity of the robot drummer. Though I found a really nice pattern for "You've Got a Friend"...
Anyway, right after I got started, some college-age kids came over and were totally thrilled with my stuff, and were telling me "You're great!" in some strange accent. I asked, and they were from Kazakhstan. Quite a distance to come just to hear me! I also had a guy take my picture, and then explain, "Memories to Brazil." Indeed.
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I've been carrying around a small tambourine for a year or two, but haven't really managed to figure out how/when to deploy it. But this time, I had some little girls kind of hanging around, but not dancing -- just sitting on the front of the stage, and for some reason it occurred to me that they might like to play the tambourine. And they *really* did...
But of course, they weren't exactly experts with rhythm yet, so to try to help them catch on, I was stomping my big heavy boot on the stage, so they could feel the beat through their bottoms. And of course, once I'd started the tambourine-ready fast songs, I couldn't stop. I'm clearly way out of shape, 'cuz after 3 or 4 songs, I was exhausted! And it's hard to sing when you're panting (and vice versa)! Anyway, it turned into a big party, and I was having a blast and ended up playing just about every fast song I know. I'm gonna have to bring that thing out more often!
Later on, there was a family that had seen me before and already owned my Kid's CD. They're clearly Not From Around Here, and the little girl came up and asked, in her incomprehensible accent, for something about a princess. Since I couldn't figure it out, her dad jumped up and, in *his* incomprehensible accent, clarified that she wanted "The Indian Princess Song" -- the one I'd written for the Princess campouts, to the tune of "Puff, the Magic Dragon". I was baffled by that because she was clearly not old enough to be one of my Princess fans (they're all teenagers by now), but it's still on the CD, and she knows it from there, so I played the first verse and chorus and then switched to the "Puff" lyrics. It's embarrassing enough to sing the words "I'm an Indian Princess!" at a campout -- at the mall it's mortifying...
My third and final Sawdust gig for this year, and at their third and final stage. This one's called "The Tavern", where there's some fast food, desserts, and yes, alcohol. It's a nice little stage back in a kind of grotto, with some tables up front, and a bunch more farther back.
It was a lot quieter than the other two - I guess because summer's winding down, and it was a Wednesday night. But I had people to play for the whole time, and it's a nice, quiet, and friendly place to play. Still not fond of that half-hour on, half-hour off schedule, but I guess when you're getting paid, you do what you're told.
When I got there at 5:25, there was a girl playing classical violin on The Corner, but Warren had already talked to her and her parking meter was set to expire at 6:00, so we just hung out so that nobody else could snag it. And while I was waiting, a guy with a big professional camera took some (great!) pictures of me (and actually emailed them). So far so good!
There was a homeless guy there listening to Violin Girl, and he stuck around to listen to us, too. He seemed to like her stuff, but was totally enthralled with ours. Indeed, he was trying to get passers-by to stop and listen, and seemed amazed that anyone would just walk on by. I can't help but agree with his assessment, but because of his scruffy appearance, his only success at stopping people was with other scruffy homeless guys.
So, almost immediately, we had a bench full of scary homeless guys, and a flow of tourists speeding by even faster than usual. Only a few were brave enough to stop at the tip jar. Several of them ended up sitting on the benches across the street, where the sound carries well enough, but not the scary.
Two high school girls stopped and I brought them a list of songs and played "Over the Rainbow" while they looked it over. When the song was done, they walked over and gave back the list, saying "We'd like to stay, but that guy keeps trying to talk to us".
Now, I get that "homeless" also means "TV-less" and these guys have nowhere else to go, and nothing else to do. And it's very sweet that they love my music so much. But it's all a little much (one guy was so overcome with emotion (and the pass-around gin) that he came up and prostrated himself in front of me). But they stayed all night, and even the tourists that aren't scared of them can't find a seat, so they don't stop.
I tried to bore them away by taking 10 minutes to tune, and playing the same couple of songs again and again. But it didn't work. These are guys who are bored for a living.
But I guess that's part of the anarchy of street-playing -- you get what you get, and can't do much about it. In contrast to last Tuesday's record-breaking $167, we made $28 by the time I gave up at 8:30. Bottom line: as everyone knows, you learn to play guitar to attract pretty girls, not a bench full of ugly old men...
We did so well on Tuesday night that I was tempted to go down again right away. Wednesdays are the usual Jim & Warren nights, but Jim is a recent (re)newlywed and likes to go home kind of early, so I showed up to take his place around 8:30.
And it was a great night. Nice weather, lots of tourists out. Four blonde college-aged kids stopped for a while, and I thought they were locals until I asked one of the girls for a request and she replied with her heavy accent that they were from Russia and didn't know any of these songs... (But I played some Beatles, and they really did.)
Later on we had a family from Arizona, and the little girls were unable to believe that I didn't know their favorite song, "Thrift Shop". Do I *look* hip-hop? Maybe it looked to them like my hat and vest must have come from Goodwill...
We had some unpleasantness when one of the local homeless guys, who is usually a nice guy, had gotten quite drunk and was shouting obscenities at us from across the street. Seems he felt like our being there was precluding his ability to make enough money to buy beer. I couldn't help but conclude that he'd had plenty already, so I tried to just ignore him and keep playing. The people on the bench looked uncomfortable, but stayed around, so I guess the music was loud enough to drown him out. Warren finally went over and talked him down a little, and he eventually gave up and went away.
Towards the end, we had some people from Iowa who were out visiting their very gay Laguna Beach friend. He danced around, and actually stood out in front, lip synching me -- never had that before. So I gave him my hat, which he loved, and he danced around some more and tried to get people to put money in the hat -- and managed to get a buck, too.
So we had a pretty fun time, ignoring the unpleasantness with Gus, played until 11:30 (on a work night!), and ended up with $75 in the jar. When it's good, it's great.
It started fun, right off the bat. I was playing the first song, which is always "Hotel California", and I walked out in front of the amp while I was playing to check the levels (since I'm entirely wireless now). There was nobody around yet, so I just went ahead and sat down on the bench to finish the last verse. Out of nowhere this crazy neo-hippie college girl appears and sits down right next to me. Well, hi! If you're gonna sit so close, you're gonna have to take over the fretboard duties.
Her friends wandered up, too, but she was busy telling me what song to do next, and dancing around, and generally being a "free spirit". I should have broken out "Ruby Tuesday"...
Much later, a guy came over and held up a twenty dollar bill, and asked me if I knew any George Strait. I told him, no, but I know some Willie Nelson. He made a face that meant no thanks, and asked about Garth Brooks. The only Garth song I know is "To Make You Feel My Love", which is really a Bob Dylan song, sung by Garth in a movie, but apparently not actually a hit for him, 'cuz the guy'd never heard it.
But he put the twenty in the jar anyway, to hear a song he'd never heard of, by an artist he didn't want. And then he missed it anyway 'cuz his phone rang...
But the best part was a family who had seen me before and already owned my kids' CD. I know 'cuz the dad came up and told me so, and asked for "Waltzing with Bears". They stayed for quite a while and the younger sister danced along to a lot of songs. After a while they wandered off, and then reappeared later for more songs and more dancing. When it got pretty late, they left again, but the younger one turned as she left, and "threw me a hug" by pulling her little arms and fists in to her chest, and then pushing them out to me. Melted my heart...
On my way out, one of the security guards told me that I'd done a great job and that he had especially liked "Cat's in the Cradle" from a couple days ago. But I don't actually do that song, so he was either thinking of a different guy or a different song. Thanks anyway...
Kooky self-appointed greeter Mikey has gotten himself a little gig co-hosting the morning show on the local Laguna Beach radio station, along with DJ and station owner, Tyler. Mikey's been bringing in guests -- usually the street musicians that he hangs out with. Jim & Warren did a show a few weeks ago, and Mikey invited me to do one.
Tyler asked me to be there at 7:45, but since I usually get to work at least that early, it wasn't much of a problem -- except that it's pretty hard to sing that early in the morning. But I sang in my car all the way there so I was reasonably warmed up.
I got there plenty early to relax in a little, and Tyler's a pretty amiable guy. I was still a little nervous, like I always get in a new situation, and I could hear an unusual quavering in my voice at times. But it was mostly no problem -- picking songs that I can do in my sleep ("You've Got a Friend" and "Over the Rainbow") helped.
Unfortunately, he didn't ask me the questions I'd expected/hoped for in the interview part, so I didn't get to tell the stories I had wanted to, but I guess that was bound to happen.
I kinda thought he'd ask more distinctly about where I was playing and when -- I never got a chance to plug the Sawdust Festival gig the next Wed, for instance. He did mention the Spectrum gig on Saturday, though. Not that anybody's actually listening, nor would any of them rush down to see me at the next gig...
But it was fun, and a different experience, for sure. And he records stuff like that and posts it as a podcast, so I was able to play it for my mom. That's all that counts anyway.
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