K&W in Laguna Beach -- Friday, 30May2014

When we got to The Corner at 6:00, there were some kids there with instruments, waiting for the rest of their "Vinnie and the Hooligans" bandmates to show up. They're a rowdy five-piece neo-bluegrass/folk band, and quite good, and a lot of fun. We decided to move down to the alcove in front of the Laguna art college gallery/shop. We set up out at the curb, facing into the alcove which has some benches for people to sit on.

But it was mainly futile. The kids on the corner were way more fun than we are, and most of the foot traffic is on PCH, across the corner, not up Forest Ave where we were. We had a few people come by and eat their ice cream on the benches, and they mostly seemed appreciative, but it was slim pickin's.

Finally about 9:30, the Hooligans packed up so we moved down to our proper place on The Corner. Btu lying right in the middle of the corner area was a black and white dog, surrounded by kneeling people petting him. Seemed odd, but we set up our stuff anyway, figuring they'd move on pretty soon. When they didn't, I asked one of the lingering Hooligans what the deal was, and he told me that the dog was due to be put down tomorrow.

Ouch. I get that the owner wanted to bring the dog out for one last night with people, but that's quite a mood killer. No wonder the Hooligans gave up.

So I stalled for a while, but finally decided that most of the people milling around were not there to have their evening clouded by grief, and the Hooligan said, "Go ahead and play -- the dog likes music." So I started up, quietly, with my usual "Hotel California", which seemed neutral enough -- not too happy, not too sad. The dog's owner smiled at me, so I guess it was OK with him, too.

So I was stuck with trying to find songs that wouldn't offend the dog-mourners, but pretty soon a tiny oriental lady and her husband who were sitting on the far-away bench moved up to be right in front of us. She was apparently unaware of the dog-drama, and just wanted to hear some music. Once she started picking the songs, the onus wasn't on me anymore, but I guess I was worrying too much 'cuz nobody seemed to mind whatever song I played.

She stayed for quite a while, picking songs, clapping, and smiling her huge smile. And finally the guy took the dog home, freeing me to feel OK about whatever song she wanted to hear. She eventually came up to buy a CD, and was flabbergasted that they were only five bucks. It was great to have such a sweet appreciative fan come by just in time to assuage my bruised ego from how much better the Hooligans had been doing than I was...

It also helped that a lot of people started coming by and hanging out. We had a pretty great last hour, and ended up staying until 11:00. That's pretty late, considering I had spent most of the night thinking, "This ain't happening -- after this song, I'm done." "OK, one more, then I'm outta here." Never quite worked out, though.