K&W in Laguna Beach -- Saturday, 16Nov2013

When Warren got there at 5:00, there was a girl just packing up her guitar. She was kind of a cowgirl, and when we got to talking with her, she claimed that Willie Nelson had stolen *her* style. She had a stick with a few "rings" from a tambourine in it, that she called a "Voodoo Stick", and she stayed for quite a while, playing along with my songs. And pretty well, too -- she had lots of finesse to play along appropriately for various styles, and she didn't speed up or drag the tempos.

Unfortunately, she and her friends jammed up the bench and kept the tourists away, so, although her contribution was nice, I'd'a rather done without it and had some space for a real audience.

But actually, even after they finally left, hardly anybody stopped to hear us anyway. There were plenty of people out -- they just wouldn't stop. Was it something I said? Even Warren noticed, and at one point said, "Tough crowd!"

One guy seemed to like us, though -- he came up and bought a CD, and then left. But about 10 minutes later, he reappeared and bought another one. I guess he figured he has his Christmas shopping all done now.

We had started around 5:00, and by 9:30 I was starting to think that we were wasting our time and might as well go on home. So naturally, people started to show up and hang out. We had finally got a pretty substantial crowd put together, when we heard a loud ruckus approaching. It was a group of Hare Krishnas, or kids playing at it, with drums and bells and singing. They got to the corner and circled the gate pole for a while, apparently oblivious that there was already someone there.

Then they went across the street, but settled into the alcove next to Fingerhut, where they were nicely projected, and so still too loud to play against. That went on for a while, and just when Warren had decided to go over to try to get them to move on, they left. Unfortunately, they went up the street, across, and back down to our corner again. But this time they circled the pole only a few times, and were finally gone.

A very "rock and roll" couple came by: big hair and makeup, leather, jewelry, etc. They were pointing and whispering about the various equipment Warren and I are sportin', but were clearly also enjoying the music. After a while, they even got up to dance. Then they introduced themselves, told me that they were also players, and wondered why we weren't playing someplace "real" -- something I've often wondered myself. The woman took my card, and her husband said "You've got management now!". I wouldn't mind that a bit...