Well this'll probably be my last Tuesday for a while -- it was completely dead. Of course, in a few weeks, we'll cross over Thanksgiving, and it should pick up again as people come down for Christmas shopping. That's my theory, at least...
But since there was nobody there, we got to play a bunch of songs that I never pull up when there's better, or more practiced, songs to play. And I'd learned two (or three) new Simon & Garfunkel songs. The first one was Mrs. Robinson, which I'd learned before, but the guitar part eluded me (and still does, but I'm getting nearer), and it just sounded flat without the vocal harmony. Now with the box, it sounds pretty good.
The second one was "Hazy Shade of Winter", which I've always loved, but again, never sounded right without the harmony. Now it sounds great, and after I discovered adding a "rhythm track" by stomping my foot-tambourine up and down to get a Ching-Chee pattern on the down and upstrokes, it sounds *terrific*. And it's an aerobic workout...
The third one, kinda, is "59th Street Bridge Song", better known as "Feelin' Groovy". It's really easy to play, and the essence of its cheesy time, so it's embarrassing to play, but I thought it might be nice to have "in the quiver" so to speak, in case the right circumstance comes along.
We did have some fun when Mikey the Greeter came by. I'd heard that he's been frequenting the karaoke night at a local bar, and his favorite song to do is "Like a Rolling Stone", with customized Laguna-specific improvisations. So I learned the chords and put it in my Book, and since there was nobody around anyway, it seemed like a perfect chance to let him sing it and see how it went. I put my head mic on him and let him go for it, but he's not very musical, and can't "feel" the gaps between vocal lines without the karaoke monitor showing him his place, so it was a challenge to try to skip forward in the chords to keep up with him.
He had a great time, though, and thanked me profusely for letting him do that.
At the end of the night, we had two dollars in the jar -- one for me and one for Warren. A new record low, obviously. First time the tips didn't even cover the parking meter...
Click 'Play' to hear the "podcast version". (Fair warning: it's really just me ramblin' on about this gig for 5 minutes.)
Warren was still on vacation so I went down to see if I could get The Corner and do a solo Saturday. When I got there at 5, though, there was a young girl sitting on the bench, strumming a singing, mostly inaudibly. I stood back and listened to her, but I didn't recognize any of the songs, either because they were her own, or because I'm too old.
I talked to her for a while, and she's just starting out, has done some open mics, but she's "so nervous!". I told her that she sounds great, and besides, being just acoustic here on the street corner, nobody could hear her anyway...
After a while, she said that she wanted to hear me play, so I set up my stuff, and played a few songs. Of course, with my amp, I was about 10 times louder than she had been, so after 3 or 4 songs, I beckoned her to come over, and I strapped my head mic onto her and plugged my guitar interface into her guitar. She was blown away by all the sound, but managed to play a few songs, and people were stopping to listen, too. She finished with "I'm Yours", and I kicked on the harmony box and really blew her mind.
Her parking meter was running out, and I think she was out of songs, too, so she thanked me profusely, and left (I fished the tip money out of my jar that had been put there while she was playing -- it's only fair). I'm actually not sure why I as helping and encouraging her so much -- I don't need to create any more competition for The Corner down there...
After she left, I did quite well -- lots of people came by to listen. I guess all the drunken rowdies were somewhere else, 'cuz I didn't have much trouble with them at all. Except at one point, a probably-drunk tourist came up and stood right in front of me and asked me to play "that song they do in Vegas... 'Tie a Yellow Ribbon'!"
I told him I didn't know it, and he thought of another one, then: "Moon River". I actually learned "Moon River" for the CD I made for my dad, but I don't remember it well enough, and I thought this would just be trouble anyway, so I declined again, and said "How about this one", and started "Hallelujah". He'd apparently never heard it before, but tried to sing along anyway, clumsily sliding notes up and down, trying to keep up. By the end of the song, he'd gotten ahold of some of it, but it was weird to have him singing right into my face from 3 feet away. Thankfully, at the end of that song,his buddy dragged him away.
After he left I said, "Well, that was interesting..." and all the people on the bench laughed.
Click 'Play' to hear the "podcast version". (Fair warning: it's really just me ramblin' on about this gig for 8 minutes.)
Fridays are getting slower and slower at Spectrum. It really felt like the 10:00 hour the whole time. But it was kind of nice to have less of a rush past me -- people were able to go slower and were more likely to stop.
I brought out only the three toy tambourines and four of the new little shaker eggs, and kept all the glow balls and stars on the table so they wouldn't look like toys. This worked *way* better -- nothing broken and I didn't need to divert so much attention to keeping track of everything. And that made enough noisemakers that no little kids were disappointed when the dance parties started up.
I noticed a bit of irony -- when I have a toddler come by, I play "Twinkle Twinkle", and I look directly at the kid so that anyone who's wondering what the heck I'm doing can figure it out by following my gaze. And lots of adults notice the anomalous song and stop to watch the baby. And they smile and smile at how cute this all is, and at the end of the song, such as it is, I get a huge round of applause -- bigger than my "real" songs. But I suppose I shouldn't be disappointed at being unable to compete with the cuteness of babies -- who can?
Late in the night, a Persian couple came by with their little 4 or 5 year old daughter. (What is with Persian families and their disregard for bedtimes?!?) I've seen her before -- she's totally cute, and totally crazy. She grins at me, and tells me stuff that I can't hear and can't decipher, and dances, and hops around, and it's amazingly cute. She grabbed one of the tambourines, and played with it for a while but then noticed that I have one on my foot (the special one that has an elastic strap on it). So she started trying to put the toy one on *her* foot, and ended up flinging it up into the air when she'd kick. Which, of course, was big fun, so she did it again and again...
I'm usually so busy playing that I never even stop to wonder what time it is, but it was so slow that I checked and it was only 8:15. I thought, "Well, this'll be a first -- me going home at the actual 10:00 stop time." But I guess I started having fun after that, and time fly-ed, and when the maintenance guy came for the lights, I checked again and it was 11:00. I just can't help myself...
Click 'Play' to hear the "podcast version" (it's really just me ramblin' on about this gig for 6 minutes.)
I went down straight from work and had dinner at the yummy gyro place next to the ice cream shop. Digger was on the corner, but his heart wasn't really in it, and he packed up and left before I was done eating.
It seemed like "Couple's Night" somehow -- we had a couple come by for a while, and as soon as they left, another couple came, and after them, another one. And an older guy came by who was a big James Taylor fan, and asked for several songs, and then asked me if I gave lessons. I turned him down 'cuz (a) I don't have time, and (b) I've tried teaching before, and it's too frustrating.
After the tambourine success/fiasco at Spectrum, I broke down and bought some small "shaker eggs" so I could have lots of them available and not have some kids disappointed. I didn't get any kids this time, but there were some young people and the guy was slapping his knees to the song, so I figured he must be a drummer. So I offered the shakers, and his girlfriend wanted one too. They had a great time, and stayed quite a while, playing with them.
But about 9:00 a bunch of the local drunks showed up and were shouting at each other and being way too boisterous, so I decided that I'd just call it a night. I was hoping that they'd notice that bad behavior just causes us to quit, but they probably didn't...
Click 'Play' to hear the "podcast version" (it's really just me ramblin' on about this gig). (3 minutes)
It was a really nice Sunday afternoon (and sunset!), so I went down to play. Not a lot of people out, though, except a nice Muslim family. The matriarch wanted to hear "anything by Cat Stevens". I've seen this before -- I guess now that he's famously and extremely Muslim, they all like to hear music by somebody on the home team. Suits me, I like his stuff.
Unfortunately, around 7:45, the homeless people started to show up. One nice young engaged couple was there (I wish they wouldn't monopolize the whole bench storing their camping gear, though). After a while, a belligerent tough guy appeared, and started facing off with the boyfriend. He must have said something unforgivable about the girlfriend, 'cuz as he walked away, the boyfriend tackled him from behind, slamming him up against the metal box that holds the traffic signal electronics.
I was in the middle of "Hallelujah", and tried to keep going for a while, but as the tourists scattered and some other guys tried to pull the combatants apart, I gave up and decided that the song, and the evening, was over. I packed up to get out of there as fast as possible, but it takes a while, and by the time I was able to roll away, it was all over. I guess I could have resumed, but the corner was now empty, and the magic was kinda gone...
Click 'Play' to hear the "podcast version" (it's really just me ramblin' on about this gig). (3 minutes)
Chino is really far away, but it's a paid gig, and it turns out to be a pretty nice place to play. It's not even really a "mall" -- it's what we used to call a "shopping center". Just really a bunch of stores that share a parking lot. And the gig is at the "food court", which isn't even really a "court", it's a linear row of restaurants with outdoor seating in front of them. I set up in the center, looking at the fountain (grrr) and the parking lot behind it, and people come and eat on the tables to the left and right of me, mostly obscured by pillars so I can't see them, and they can't see me.
All that, and there's no foot traffic at all except people coming by to eat. The potential audience is probably 10 or 20 times smaller than at Irvine Spectrum. But, unlike Spectrum, where I'm lucky to skim off a couple percent of the constant tide of people streaming by me, at Chino, almost everyone who comes by wanders over to see and hear me better. I get almost the same number of listeners, from a far smaller number of people, and make almost as much in tips (plus I'm getting paid, not charged, to play).
Lots of people came up from who-knows-how-far-away tables, just to smile or give me a thumbs up, and frequently put some money in the jar. A pair of bicyclists stopped to listen in for a while, and then walked their bikes across the plaza just to tip me. Toward the end, a couple came by and sat down, listened for a while, and then got up to move their chairs 10 feet closer, presumably to hear better and be able to make their requests easier. Nice, nice people out there.
Of course, the downside is my old nemesis, the fountain...
Click 'Play' to hear the "podcast version" (it's really just me ramblin' on about this gig). (5 minutes)
Nice weather, nice crowd. Lots of teenagers, and lots of young families. My brother and his wife came by, but their expected group of friends failed to show up.
I'd bought some more of those glowing balls, and some glowing stars, too. I figured that if a few glowing toys across the front of the stage was cool, lots of them would be even better. And they were quite an attraction. It didn't take long before there were lots of kids, rearranging them along the stage, playing with them, and then inevitably running off with them.
I'd also brought the three toy tambourines, and pretty soon I had to try to keep track of 10 different toys as the kids ran around with 'em. I'm not sure I was even playing the songs right, I was so distracted. At least with the tambourines, it's easy to figure out where they went, 'cuz no little kid can possibly hold them still and quiet, song playing or not, but I have too much to worry about already just keeping the songs going -- I can't be trying to monitor all these toys, too.
And to make things worse, a little girl sitting on the front of the stage had the idea of shaking a tambourine with one hand, and adding a drum beat by slamming a glow ball on the stage with the other. Those things are not actually designed to be used as percussion instruments, and as other kids joined in, pretty quick I had three of them broken, with the electronics module broken away from the body, (not to mention the ball lost up under the stage).
So, I've learned my lesson: more toys means more kids, but too many and it just gets completely out of control.
Anyway, around ten o'clock, some high school girls came by and were dancing with each other and boys pulled from other passing clumps of kids, and generally having a great time. They asked me how long I keep playing, and I told them the actual answer: As long as somebody's listening. They were flabbergasted by this, and said, "So if we're still here at midnight, you'll keep playing?!?" Yup, pretty much...
Click 'Play' to hear the "podcast version" (it's really just me ramblin' on about this gig). (5 minutes)
The city of Mission Viejo is holding a Wheelchair Tennis Tournament, and they decided to have a "social" for the sponsors and whoever. The guy running it emailed the Assistant City Manager and asked if he ought to have live music. The Manager replied and said that he ought to get that Keith Comer guy, he's "a one man show, not too loud". Wow. Now *there's* a glowing recommendation! I'm gonna have to put that on my business cards.
I was playing on the patio out in front of the "clubhouse" at the new fancy Tennis Center. There were only about 25 people, even at the peak. But apparently my sound carried out over the 8 tennis courts to my left, 'cuz I'd get little rounds of applause from out there occasionally.
Towards the end of the party, they asked me to take a break so they could do some speeches. I unplugged and sat down to noodle on my guitar until they were ready for me to play some more. Some of the people playing night tennis on the courts were going home and walked past me, telling me how much they liked the music. Two ladies asked me to come back *every* Thursday, because they'd "played the best tennis of our lives" because they were "dancing out there". Who knew?
Click 'Play' if you've got 5 minutes to spare listenin' to me ramblin' on about this gig.
Another very dead Tuesday evening. I think I may have to give up on Tuesdays for a while and maybe give it another try after Thanksgiving when I can play Christmas songs and there may be some people out shopping in the little stores along Forest Avenue.
Neither the German nor Chinese people who had promised on Saturday to come back to see me again actually showed up, of course. Fortunately, I had sweet little aging hippie Robin come by and stay for almost the whole night. She loves my stuff, and unfailingly reminds me that she has my CD at home. I tried to play other songs that I'm working on or that were at least different from what she's heard before, but she eventually complained that she likes "Original Keith" better, meaning, I guess, that she wanted me to play the songs from the CD. I guess James Taylor has that same problem with "Fire and Rain"...
There were two families come by with little girls, so I played some kids' songs and gave out some finger lights. A little while later a man came up and asked me if I "had any more of those". I fished a few out, presumably for his (unseen) kids, and then he asked me "How much are they?" Unclear on the concept. I'm not really there to sell toys, though that might be a thing that would work. Not sure the cops would like the idea, though.
I ended up with 20 bucks in the jar, 10 times less than Saturday night just three days prior. I think the numbers may be trying to tell me something: "Don't quit your day job."
Click 'Play' if you've got 4 minutes to spare listenin' to me ramblin' on about this gig.
Since Warren is in Italy, I knew that he and Jim wouldn't be at The Corner, and although I'd already played two hours at the Farmer's Market at lunchtime, it was Saturday, so I went down. And I got there at 5:00 to make sure nobody else was already there.
Of course it was slow at first, but it got a *lot* better, and I ended up playing over six hours until it was finally dead enough to quit. And by then I pretty much *had* to quit because my fretting hand was starting to cramp up.
I had a young couple sit and listen to several songs, so I gave them a List, and noticed their German accents when they requested some songs. After a while they came over and asked me if I was going to be there again "this week". I usually go down on Tuesdays, so I told them so, and they said that they'd be back.
Then some crazy vacationing girls came by (with their boyfriends) and were singing along briefly, but they had to get to a dinner reservation.
Later on, some well-dressed Chinese people came by, and started requesting songs. The ladies got more and more involved until they were hooting and hollering, and competing with each other for the next request. And as the ladies were enjoying themselves, the men kept coming up and putting money in the jar, again and again. Sweet!
When they finally had to go, they came up to take a bunch of pictures with me, and asked if I was going to be back there again. So I told them that I'd be there on Tuesday, too. I guess I'm committed to Tuesday!
Then about 10:00, the crazy girls were back, crazier than ever. They came up and were singing (poorly, but enthusiastically), and their craziness caught on with the people on the bench 'cuz before long I had 8 or 10 people standing all around me, singing away (and yet more standing back, watching the fun). I actually have a "Sing-Alongs" section in the book, but I very seldom have a need to invoke it. We did "Hey Jude", "Sweet Caroline", "Mister Postman", and I can't remember what all else.
And even after they left, the party atmosphere lingered, so I kept playing. One appreciative guy told me that I must be "The Psychic Musician" because I "always know what song to play". I think that it may be more likely that I've been doing this for a while, but thanks.
Anyway, I had a great time and scored an all-time record tips night at $210. That's better than I've ever done at Spectrum (and without the $50 "setup fee")!
Click 'Play' if you've got 7 minutes to spare listenin' to me ramblin' on about this gig.
The Farmer's Market is actually shrinking -- even fewer booths than before. But I guess that's not my problem, as long as I'm getting paid...
Since I'd just been there two weeks prior, and mostly there's only the people working in the booths, I felt like I should try to play some different stuff. One song that I seldom play, but lately seems to attract people when I do play it by request, is "American Pie". I fired it up, and almost immediately two families came right over. The moms were trying to get the kids to dance, and singing along on the chorus ('cuz, how can you not?). I've been avoiding it 'cuz it's such a cliché, but with a few verses removed so it's not so darn long, it's consistently a big hit on the streets. I'm gonna have to play it more, and maybe even put it on the Request List.
The little girl in one of the families that I "captured" was telling me all kinds of stuff, but mainly demanding and endless string of "One more!" even though her mom was trying to get her to her haircut appointment. Such a cutie!
This blog post. Let me read you it.
It was my birthday, so since my daytime was a usual work day, I wanted to do something fun for the evening. Of course, it was our usual Tuesday night for Laguna anyway, although Warren's on vacation in Italy, so I was solo.
Unfortunately it was really, really dead. But lucky for me, Silly Patty came by even before I got started, and stayed all the way through (she probably felt sorry for me, especially on my birthday, having no one to play for).
But right at first, there were some young families getting ice cream. I had just bought some little toy tambourines, so I walked over to the little girl (maybe 7 or 8 years old) and handed her one, and asked her to help me out on the next song. She gladly came right over and stood on the curb/stage right next to me. There was also a little 4-year-old boy, so I gave him one too, but he just kind of ran off with it. I played "Mister Postman", and the little girl really went for it, shaking the heck out of the tambourine, ignoring any actual rhythm, while her parents took pictures and video with their phones. That was fun, but they took off right after the one song.
Later on a couple came by and cuddled on the bench while I played their two requests, but that was it for the evening -- except for Patty's "private concert". She's heard all my main stuff, so it was actually kind of fun to do some of the lesser-done songs, like "I'll Never Find Another You", "Mister Bojangles", "Love's Been Good to Me", "I Only Have Eyes for You", and "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" for her.
I guess the upside was that although there was almost nobody to play for, there were no drunk rowdies, either...
This blog post. Let me read you it.
