Keith in Belmont Shore -- Friday, 14Nov2014

We'd completely written off Fridays in Laguna Beach, since too-loud-Sanchez had "claimed" the corner on Thursdays and Fridays. But I've been wondering if that really meant *every* Friday, all year round, or if we were staying away for no reason. So I drove down there.

And there he was. On The Corner, standing in front of the bench, with his stuff strewn across it. We always play across from the bench, so listeners can sit on it, but we're at the mercy of the drunks and crazies taking it over, disallowing the civilians access to it. I think maybe Sanchez hates the bums more than he likes a sitting audience.

And the repetitive nature of his music supports that -- he sounds kinda OK if you're just walking by, but if you stick around, it becomes clear that it's all the same, all night long. He doesn't need, or want, people to stay any longer than it takes to put a buck in his guitar case. I, on the other hand, always want the appreciative ones to stay as long as possible, tipping or not.

Anyway, since I couldn't play in Laguna, I went to Plan B: Belmont Shore. There are several blocks along Second Street with a vibrant nightlife -- lots of bars, restaurants, and ginchy stores, and people walking around to take it all in. Rumor had it that one could stand in front of the (obviously closed) Chase bank and play, and although Long Beach apparently has a no-amps law on the books, the guys who play there claim that the cops don't enforce it. I was counting on, at least, a first-offence Warning rather than a fine.

So I drove up PCH, passing through Newport (known no-amp law, with anecdotal reports of cops tightly enforcing it), Huntington Beach (why can't I play here?), Sunset Beach (bars, but no walking zones), and finally Belmont. By this time it was after 8, so I cruised up the street to see if there was anyone else out -- there wasn't. So I found the bank, parked, and dragged my stuff out.

But camped out along the sidewalk in front of the bank was a group of anti-war people, with card tables full of literature and portraits of dead soldiers lined up along the wall. I'm sympathetic, but I didn't want to set up close to them since their vibe wouldn't be conducive to my program, and I didn't want to interfere with theirs. So I went just around the corner of the bank, out of view of their setup, but still visible to passers-by. (They apparently weren't bothered: they smiled and shot me the Peace Sign as they left.)

Just as I was setting up, a kid rolled up on a skateboard, decided that the smooth marble floor and parking berms at this side of the bank were a cool place to skate, and proceeded to make really loud skateboard clacking noises. I figured he'd leave soon, or at least when I started playing, but, for the second time that evening, I figured wrong.

I started anyway, at very low volume -- new place, paranoid me. Lots of people walked by, and a lot of them broke the "no eye contact" street rule and quite a few actually smiled. And a grand total of nine of them pulled out a buck for me. But even so, it was kind of pleasant. Still had the Harley and Lambo noise problem that we get in Laguna, but not nearly as much. A cop car went by three times during the two hours that I was there, and although he took a good long look at me as he cruised by, he never stopped.

I did have a few people stop and listen just a bit. There was a bus stop bench right across from me, and a few people would sit there for a while, and one young guy laid down on it, closed his eyes, smiled, and tapped his feet for a dozen songs, but most people realize that it's not for general sitting.

About 10:00, I realized that, despite almost nobody stopping, I was having a good time. Part of it was a pretty good sound (reflection from the tile-walled bank?), but another part of it was because of the lack of "assistance". No bums scaring away the people (not that there were many), and nobody helping me out with loud drunken singing along or "funny" song requests.

Unfortunately, realizing that apparently jinxed it. Along came an old guy who promptly parked on the bus stop bench, and started shouting/suggesting 70's rock bands and songs, and bellowing pieces of "Oye Como Va" and "Sunshine of Your Love", as if I should, or even could, play them. He also took to shouting "Thank you!" at the end of each of my songs, as if he was the lead singer addressing the crowd. I initially tried to reason with him that those songs rather required a bass and drummer, but it didn't faze him, so I just started ignoring him and playing the most pointedly non-rock songs I know.

That didn't work either, so I packed up at 10:20 and went home. As I passed by the taxi broker guy, he asked me how I did. I told him: Not too well, but I presume that more people are out on Saturdays. He said that there were, but that the most people are out from 11pm 'til 2am. That explained why he himself had shown up at 10:00, and although it was an intriguing idea, I wasn't really prepared to test it out right then and there.