Keith at the Sawdust Festival -- Friday, 26July2013

This was my second Sawdust date, this time at the "Grill" stage, which is a tiny little deck built into the corner next to the Greek restaurant in the south corner. The good part is that you have a built-in audience of people having dinner there. And, since there are 12 tables with 4 chairs each, you can potentially have 48 people as an audience -- assuming you're not chasing people away...

And I did, almost always, have a full house, though I suppose most of them showed up for the food. But, I did notice that almost no one left before my set was over, even after they'd finished eating. So I guess they came for the food, but stayed for the music. On the other hand, the ones standing around out behind the tables weren't eating, so...

It was really quite pleasant. Quiet, good sound, friendly people out for some entertainment. And chairs. Very important, those chairs.

I put song lists out on the tables, and got lots of requests. Indeed, the only problem was that half-hour on, half-hour off schedule, which seems like about 5 songs, and it was disappointing when someone would ask for a kind of lame one. I always wanted to maximize these short little sets with by best stuff.

But I guess people were liking what they heard, lame ones or not, 'cuz I made $93 in tips. Lots of "big money" in the jar, too -- 9 fives and 2 tens, despite nobody buying a CD. I guess people who can afford to pay $12 for a pita have more disposable income than I'm used to.

K&W in Laguna Beach -- Wednesday, 24July2013

It seems strange, but weeknights when there are fewer people out seem to work better than crowded weekend nights. The people that do come by seem to be in less of a hurry on weeknights.

Anyway, we had a pretty good turnout, and people listening basically the whole time. I got a few pictures with my new guitar-mounted stealth-cam, but Warren got much better shots of the dancing guy and his granddaughter than I did.

Lots of great friendly people -- one couple early on had come all the way from Sweden (though probably not specifically to hear me sing...) And we brought in $71 in tips, on a Wednesday, so we must have been doing something right.

Keith at Chino Marketplace -- Saturday, 20July2013

This was my first time at this one. There had been thunderstorms in the early afternoon, but I went anyway, 'cuz it was clearing up and I never want to be "that flakey musician" that no-shows. Not to mention that I wouldn't'a gotten paid...

It's a nice outdoor mall, but more like Riverside (shops that share a parking lot) than Irvine Spectrum (where all the shops share an interior promenade). Hard to describe. But the bands are meant to set up over in the food court, so at least people have a place to sit, and a reason to, other than me. I just don't get why the property managers always put the live music right by the Giant White Noise Generator (a.k.a. fountain). Every time.

Anyway, I guess the rest of the mall isn't really a Walking Around kinda place, 'cuz two separate couples listened for a while, went off to browse around, and were back listening to me about 20 minutes later. I suppose being the Least Boring Thing is still something.

So, presumably because of the weather, there weren't many people out, but those that did come by were quite generous, and I had a few kids to pass bubbles out to. I'm always nervous about giving out bubbles when there's a fountain nearby -- I'm afraid some kid'll get the bright idea to pour the stuff in. And I'm doubly afraid to tell them, "Don't pour this stuff into the fountain!", for fear of putting the idea into their heads. Fortunately, it hasn't happened so far...

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- Friday, 19July2013

It was a pretty quiet Friday -- maybe summer is winding down. (Or maybe I should reconsider wearing my "Laguna Hat" at Spectrum -- it might be a bit too much for stuffy old Irvine.) When I got there, the four comfy chairs had been moved over into the corner, so I waited until they were empty and moved them back over to be pointed at the stage. I was hoping that it would imply that they were "for" people who were listening, not just hanging out. Kinda worked, too.

I only had a few kids, and never enough to get a party started. Some enthusiastic listeners, but mostly pretty quiet.

I did get the chance to try out my remote-controlled iPhone camera, but it turns out to be a bit restrictive that I can't aim it towards the action, since it's affixed to the music stand. On the other hand, I can spin it around and take a selfie...

Towards the end, I had a group show up, and one lady came over and started asking for songs from the list. She just stood there and had me play 5 or 6 songs before her family dragged her off. She listened to each one, and at the end would say, "Brava! Now play..." and demand the next one. It felt like some kind of test or something...

K&W in Laguna Beach -- Tuesday, 16July2013

Both corners were occupied when we got there, so we set up in the Hurley Alcove/Cave. I'd brought some battery-powered lanterns to help with the gloom, but after two songs (and before it was completely dark), the Fingerhut Gallery corner opened up, so we moved over there.

Which may have been a mistake. We had almost no response all night, except for a nice lady who stopped short when she realized I was playing her Favorite Song, "Homeward Bound". And since they were stopped, her husband asked for "Sounds of Silence" and then they had to hear "Alison", just because that was their daughter's name.

Their attention and the small flurry of interest that it caused from other passers-by turned out to be just about it for the night. Next time, maybe we ought to stay in the Hurley Cave, and see how that goes.

Though we did have a batch of high-school girls who came by with a plate of cookies that they really wanted us to take some of, even though I pointed out that I can't really sing while I'm eating. In retrospect, I think they may have had an idea to "do something nice for the poor homeless guys downtown". Do I look that scruffy?

Keith at the Sawdust Festival -- Wednesday, 10July2013

I've been trying to get into the Sawdust Festival for several years now, but they book it up really early and I've never managed to get my application in on time. This year, I sent it in right after I was reminded by driving past the "Sawdust Festival Winter Fantasy" signs at Christmas. Finally!

They gave me three gigs, one on each of the three stages. This first one was the biggest and best stage, called "The Deck". It's right in the middle, slightly up the hill so it overlooks the whole place. There are benches for an audience, and it's kind of nice to play towards the waterfall. But it's also a thoroughfare to the upper booths, so there are frequently people just wandering right through.

Which doesn't bother me, of course -- I'm used to it from Spectrum and the street corners.

The weird part is the schedule. They're pretty adamant about the Festival being about (selling) The Art, not The Music. So they make the bands play a half-hour on and a half-hour off, alternating between the upper Deck stage, and the two ground level stages ("Tavern", and "Grill"). This has exactly the desired effect of preventing people from staying seated (and not browsing Art) for more than a half hour at a time.

It's a bit annoying, knowing that if you manage to accumulate an audience, it'll be compulsorily broken up at the top of the hour. But I guess that gives you a chance to accumulate another one...

The weird monsoon weather presumably kept a lot of the crowd away, but those that came seemed to like my stuff. In the breaks, people wandering through kept mistaking me for a real musician and asking me when the music started, and promising to come back for it. And they mostly actually did.

I didn't have many people at any given time, but at least a few all the time, and most of them quite engaged. What was really flattering was the vendors all around the stage kept coming over to stand at the edges and listen, and many of them would applaud from their remote locations. Apparently they were glad to have someone on that stage that they actually liked. One artist guy came back again and again to insist on "Over the Rainbow" as my closing song for each shift (which was gonna happen anyway), and to bring in a request from "Dave at the glass blowing booth" for "Hallelujah".

So it was fun. Weird to be there for four and a half hours but only get to play for two and a half. But it's a paying gig, and I made a little more in tips, and it's a very pleasant place to play.

K&W in Laguna Beach -- Tuesday, 09July2013

We lucked into the ice cream corner again, and had lots of nice people just about the whole time, except when some of the scruffier homeless guys were occupying the bench. They tend to make the tourists a bit nervous...

For some reason, "Blackbird" was Top of the Pops, and was requested three times. One lady listened for a while, came over to put something in the tip jar, and said "You guys are too good for this". That was a pretty nice thing to say, but unfortunately, she didn't have any practical advice about where we should/could be playing...

We also had some "help" from a guy named Spider, who plays around there sometimes, but this time he was pretty drunk and being obstructionist. I don't know if he was grumpy because we had the best spot, or because we sounded better, and were doing better, than he could. Just one of the things you deal with in the anarchy of street music...

Along with the street brawl that some teenagers started up in the outdoor alcove of the restaurant next door, and thundered right through the "stage" and across the street. Right in the middle of, you guessed it, "Blackbird". I carried on for a half a verse, but gave up. When the excitement died down, the lady who had requested it said, "I guess you'll have to start over". Pretty much.

But other than all that, it was a pretty good night.

One thing that's always bothered me when I play, is that, naturally, the best stuff happens while I'm playing, not between songs. Of course, that's when my hands are occupied, so I can never get any good pictures. But my day job recently supplied me with a new iPhone, which has a pretty good camera built in, so I figured out a way to trigger the camera with a remote control, and stuck the remote to the back of my guitar's headstock, where I can reach the button with my left thumb -- the only movable piece of me that's not otherwise occupied while I'm playing. (And with my wireless guitar and mic, I can even walk out in front of the camera and get pictures of myself, as above.)

So I was able to get some pictures of a sweet old couple dancing to "The Way You Look Tonight". It was doubly cute, because the same couple had been by last summer, and danced then, too. Click here to check 'em out in my blog post from last August 28:

http://y7alanzo.blogspot.com/2012/08/k-at-laguna-beach-28aug2012.html

That time, Warren just stopped playing to grab his camera -- this time he didn't have to.

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- Saturday, 06July2013

It was unexpectedly not-incredibly-hot, so there were lots of people out. Before I even started, I had a cute little girl, who just needed any kind of music to start her dance, which was just bounce/hopping up and down. So I played my usual "Hotel California" first, and then "Twinkle Twinkle" for her. She was quite thrilled -- maybe too much so, because she spent the next hour coming up to say "Twinkle Star!" at me between literally every song.

I played other songs just to keep the adults from walking away, but I'm not a monster -- I ended up playing "Twinkle Star" 4 times before her mom finally had pity on me and took her home.

Later on, I had 4 or 5 kids that were kind of dancing along, so I thought I could get them more interested if I gave them some fingerlights. As soon as I started handing them out, though, a million kids came out of the woodwork. I literally gave away 20 or 25 lights -- it was completely out of control. They're supposed to be for kids who are really there to listen or dance along, not just every kid at the mall!

A little while after that, a bunch of parents kind of joined the crowd of kids -- they usually stand out at the edges. But I had this huge crowd of kids, and then the parents, too. And one of the moms asked for "Old MacDonald", which I don't know, but figured I could fake the chords, and probably remember the words, so I fired it up, and the crowd doubled again! Probably the most "successful" song I've ever played, and I didn't even know the chords! I don't really want to turn into Raffi, but I'll definitely keep that one in the line-up (and learn it properly).

Anyway, I had lots of nice people all night, and ended up playing until 11:30 again. I didn't quite manage to break the $200 line like last week, but at $187, I came pretty close. And seven people liked what they heard enough to take home a CD. That's always flattering.

K&W in Laguna Beach -- Friday, 05July2013

Most folks had this Friday off since the day before was 4th of July, and the tourists certainly did, so we went down in the afternoon to try our luck.

There was a guy on the ice cream corner already, but he was ready to quit, so we moved in. The problem with afternoons, though, is that there's a 3 hour limit on the parking meters, and you can't even really just go put more money in, 'cuz there's also a "move your car after three hours" law. So we played from 3:00 until 6:00, and had to quit to get our cars on home. (After 7pm, the meters turn off and the rule doesn't apply.)

Anyway, a good turnout, and good tips ($67). We had a young family stop by and listen for a long time. I gave the kids some bubbles of course, and they ran around and/or danced. After a while, they coerced me to play/fake some kids' songs that I don't know like "You Are My Sunshine" and "Old MacDonald".

As they were leaving, the little boy came over to say thank you and goodbye, and I sat down on my curb/stage to listen to him impart some serious advice: " When a little boy and girl come by here, play them a really great song."

I'll have to keep that in mind...

K&W in Laguna Beach -- Tuesday, 02July2013

It seems strange that we're having way better luck on these Tuesdays than on the weekend nights. I guess for vacationers, it's all the same, but on weekends, it's nearly impossible to get on the ice cream corner, or sometimes even to get one of the fallback locations. There's a bit less traffic on weeknights, but the people seem a bit less frantic, and more willing to hang out and listen to the guy in the funny hat for a while.

We went down at 7:30, and found *nobody* on any of the spots. So we had the ice cream corner, and the audio space, all to ourselves, all night. There was a group that was asking for country/cowboy songs, which I have a few of. When I asked where they were from, expecting something like "Texas", it turned out they were from Rancho Cucamonga, just a couple of hours away. But maybe they're cowboys out there..?

Later on, we had a group of 4 Asian couples. I couldn't hear them talking to one another, so I finally asked where they were from. I was relieved to hear it was Korea and not Japan, 'cuz if they were Japanese, I'd'a felt obliged to try to sing "Sukiyaki", but I've only got it 3/4 learned, and I'm not sure it would have gone well.

Anyway, we had people listening pretty solid all evening, and I started up a Kids' Dance Party when a family of 5 or 6 blonde kids came by. The 10-year-old had clearly had some lessons, 'cuz she was executing some impressive moves.

We pulled in $77, and sold 3 CDs -- one to a guy who complained that he had to make his own change for a twenty out of the jar. I told him he didn't *have* to make change...

After we'd packed up, as I was sitting on the bench counting the money so I could split it with Warren, some high school girls came up, and one of them told me that she was getting married tomorrow (which I doubted, but I played along anyway), and did I have any marriage advice. I thought about it for a while, and told to just be sure to marry your best friend. She wrote that down in her little note/autograph book next to her description of me ("Top hat musician"), and had me sign it. I wonder what that was *really* about...

Keith at Foothill Ranch Towne Center -- Sunday, 30June2013

Three gigs in a row: Three and a half hours on Friday in Laguna, five and a half more on Saturday at Spectrum, and then three more hours on Sunday. The tips of my left-hand fingers were hamburger, and those last twenty minutes were excruciating. But the show must go on...

I played this place a couple of times two summers ago, and it's a strange environment because it's so echoey under that rotunda. This time was a little better, because now I'm entirely wireless, so I could walk out to the other side of the space and see what it sounded like. Basically, there's too much natural reverb already, so I had to turn off the reverb effect in my rig.

Started off with just one small family, but then an older couple came by, got some lunch, and then sat at the table right in front of me -- the one that most people avoid like the plague. The lady said, "I'm gonna sit right here, so I can hear you!" I'm pretty sure she coulda heard me from anywhere in the place, but whatever.

I gave her a song list to read through, and after a few songs she looked up and asked, "Do you take checks?" She figured that each request cost a dollar, and since she was gonna ask for five songs, and didn't have the cash, she was gonna write me a check for five bucks. I told her that that wasn't necessary, that I'd play whatever she wanted without any "payment", but she was determined. I played her songs (which turned into six, in all), and then she decided to buy a CD too, and ended up writing me a check for $11. Thanks?

Anyway, it was a perfect venue for me -- lots of young families to play kids' music for, and lots of older people who loved my song selections. I made really good tips, sold four CDs, and the gig actually pays money, so it was a great time and lucrative too.

The ancient Thai lady who runs the Thai food place kept coming out and telling me how great I sounded. So when I shut down at 3:00 and was starving, I went in and ordered some lunch. She gave me a two dollar discount.

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- Saturday, 29June2013

It felt like a pretty normal night at Spectrum, but it was Pretty Darn Good for a Pretty Long While, and turned into a Big Night. I finally broke the two hundred dollar mark -- by one dollar. It's a good thing that I played that One More Request from the pack of supermodel Persian girls -- even though I'd announced (at 11:30) that I was packing it in -- 'cuz their three bucks put me over the line.

Earlier, around nine o'clock, my wife came by with the dogs, and got to witness the huge Kids' Party that I'd started by handing out fingerlights and bubbles. I guess simply *buying* an audience is one strategy...

But I think it was the most people I've ever attracted at that place. It got to where the people who were streaming by were physically impeded by the crowd that had formed. I've never seen that happen before.

Anyway, Big Night, though I don't know exactly why. I think the "good part" may have started earlier than usual, and I guess there was just a lot of people out, with the nice weather. And I played for five and a half hours. None of those features are unique, but apparently, taken together, they added up.

K&W in Laguna Beach -- Friday, 28June2013

The competition for good spots to play has heated up in recent weeks. It occurred to me that, on a workday, there's no way for me to get there earlier than the homeless and/or school-less guys, so I figured we might as well just go down when "the good part" starts, 'cuz it won't affect our odds of getting a spot anyway. So we met down there at 7:30, and of course, found all the corners taken.

But we had a secret plan. There was a Hurley store just two shops up from the ice cream shop, but it's gone out of business. The front of it is set back from the sidewalk into an almost perfect "orchestra shell". Nobody else has thought of playing there yet, so we were able to get it. The sound is great, and it looks great in the daytime, but when the store is closed, there's no light. And since we started late, pretty soon it was *very* dark in there.

I had brought a little book light that I used to use for my paper music book, so I set that up, but it was way too little. Still, people stopped to listen pretty often -- but with no bench to sit on, they didn't stay very long.

Except one crazy/drunk guy who thinks he knows Warren (though Warren doesn't know him), who just *loves* our music, and loudly proclaims it at the end of every song. And interpretive-dances along with each of them. It was kind of cool at first, but as he got more and more demonstrative, he started to scare the regular people away. And after a while, he started singing along in his remarkably strong voice, to the point where Warren had to go over and ask him to sing more quietly.

Anyway, we played from about 8 until 10:30, and only made $26. Not sure if that's because of the crazy guy, the darkness, or the lack of benches -- probably all three. So it's no substitute for the main Corner, but it'll do in a pinch. But I'm definitely going to bring my camping lantern next time...

Keith in Laguna Beach -- Tuesday, 25June2013

When I got there, Tom Monroe was playing at the ice cream corner, and "Tom & Tommie" were waiting to take over, so I just set up on the Fingerhut side. But it was pretty slow going, so when the gallery closed at 7:00, I moved over into their side-door alcove -- it has great acoustics, but the gallery ladies chase you away if you try to play there. It sounded better, but I wasn't getting any action there either. But after a half-hour or so, little Tommie came over to tell me that they were leaving, so I could have The Corner.

I wondered why they'd hung out for two hours to get The Corner, and then only played for 20 minutes, but I found out -- the ice cream store's music was really loud, and T&T play acoustic-only, so they couldn't compete.

But I can, sort of. And I had way better luck with the crowd now that they had somewhere to sit, and a reason (ice cream) to. I even started gathering small clumps of standing people, as the after-dinner crowds let out of the restaurants after 9:00 or so. (And when a kid came out of the ice cream shop to dump some trash, I said, "Hey, could you turn that down a little?", and he unexpectedly just said "Sure!", and did.)

I ended up playing for five and a half hours, though the first half was lame and the last half was great. So great I pulled in a record $105 in tips. A big part of that was from a lady who listened for a while, then got up and walked to the ATM, got out a twenty, and stuffed it in my jar. That's incredibly flattering not only for the dollar amount, but for the effort it took to deliver it!

K&W in Laguna Beach -- Friday, 21June2013

I got there just before 5:00 to find the Bluegrass boys (who go by the band name of "New Dogs, Old Tricks") on the ice cream corner, and Sanchez hammering a way on the Fingerhut side. And in a very disturbing development, New Dogs had made an agreement with Tom & Tommie (the semi-homeless dad and his 11-year-old daughter) that they would take turns spelling each other, thereby ensuring that no one else could get that spot.

I'd'a probably just gone home at that, but Warren likes to play in Acoustic Alley, despite the low traffic, so I set up there and he showed up a while later. The sound there is great for acoustic players (thus the nickname), but for me it's problematic because the sound in front of the amp out to the people on the sidewalk is kinda harsh, even though the sound behind it (and reverberating in the hallway) is deep and echoey.

Anyway, right away a crazy lady taxi driver parked nearby and came over, immediately complaining about the singles she found in the tip jar. "People don't know how to tip! These should at least be fives!" It was hard to disagree with that sentiment...

We didn't have much audience at all, most people just zoomed on by, but a couple of ladies happened to park in the spot right in front of us, and when they got back from dinner or whatever, they got back in the car, rolled down the windows, and listened for several songs like we were a Drive In. They were the best audience we'd had all night. Maybe I should start bringing some folding chairs...

K&W in Laguna Beach -- Tuesday, 18June2013

Even before we started, the organizer of the Fete de la Musique showed up. He'd had to rush around to see all the bands at the Fete, so he wanted to hear more of my stuff, I guess. Or maybe it was by way of apology for how badly the Fete went for me...

Anyway, he stayed for a long time (and left $20 in the jar, more apology), but even without him we had a constant stream of people come by for music and/or ice cream. Indeed, I wanted to try out a new song, but didn't have a "nobody's here" moment to do so until around 9:00.

The new song is "Sukiyaki", which was a big hit in the US in 1963, but I'm learning it to play for the many Japanese tourists that come by, now that it's summer. It has a beautiful melody, though the words have nothing to do with food. The actual title (and first line) translates as "I look up as I walk", and the rest of the first verse is "So that the tears won't fall; remembering the spring days; but I'm all alone tonight". The British record company that brought the song out of Japan decided to rename it to something easier for English speakers to pronounce and associate with Japan. A Newsweek columnist likened it to releasing "Moon River" in Japan, but calling it "Beef Stew".

Anyway, I'm learning it all phonetically since I don't speak Japanese, but I know roughly what words mean what, and I've heard a *lot* of spoken Japanese so I hope my accent won't be *too* bad. Of course, the other trick is recognizing when some Asian tourists are Japanese as opposed to Chinese, or Korean, etc. But though I don't speak them, I can tell the languages apart, so if I hear them talking...

When I did finally try out a few verses, it turned out that somebody *was* listening, 'cuz a lady came up a few songs later and asked "Was that 'Sukiyaki' you played a while ago? My dad had that 45!", and put some money in the jar. I guess it's a hit already!

We had lots of people stay around, and although it was a work night, the new batteries I bought let us play until 9:45. I sold out of the 4 CDs I brought (I know, I know, bring more!), and we made $84 in tips, a new record, I think. There was one couple who listened for a long time, and finally got up to leave, only to come on back across the crosswalk and sit back down when I fired up "Homeward Bound". Sometimes it's like a superpower...

Keith at Don the Beachcomber -- Saturday, 15June2013

We had a kind of spontaneous Reunion dinner of the "Mariners", my old "song and dance" group (now called a "show choir", like on "Glee", but not nearly so elaborate) from high school. It was sparked by Dirck (who now goes by "Todd"), and who has been playing clubs for the last 35 years. He had a special show planned for the next Saturday, and invited me to come and get up to sing a few songs.

I got there promptly at 8:00 when he said that they would start, 'cuz I thought that maybe he had me in mind as the "opening act". But he really wanted me to go on far later, so I ended up sitting there, getting more and more nervous waiting for him to call my name, for almost 3 hours.

But it's his show, and I was glad to get to play, whenever. I got up and told everyone that I was pretty nervous to be on an actual stage, since I usually play in outdoor malls and street corners, and maybe it'd help if they'd all get up and walk quickly past the stage, carefully avoiding eye contact...

I started with "You've Got a Friend", which I can play in my sleep, but of course, not when I'm awake and under pressure. After that, I got a couple of little girls up and gave them bubble wands to blow bubbles at the front of the stage while I played "Over the Rainbow". That went over well with the crowd, though I think I may have set up my own upstaging with those cute girls...

Then Nancy insisted on my doing "Sweet Baby James", which I do well enough, but not very often because it's just not very impressive. But she likes me to do it so she and Dirck can sing harmonies. Which they did.

I finished with Jackson Browne's "These Days", which I usually do really well, but we were having a lot of feedback trouble at first, and to solve it, Dirck had turned the monitor way down, so I couldn't hear myself well enough to really push it. Still, it went over well enough, I think.

At least everybody told me that I did great. My sister was there, and David from the Mariners. Since I had my "music bag" with me, I pulled out a CD and gave it to him. He was apparently impressed by it, and in return for it has offered to get me a pair of designer jeans (his business is doing the special "washes" for jeans manufacturers). He asked for my size, and sent me the webpage of the guy he's gonna get them from, so I looked, and they're $375 and up! For a pair of jeans! So I guess since I charge $5 for a CD, if he actually comes through, I'm gonna have to give him 74 more CDs to catch up!

Keith at Fete de la Musique, Laguna Beach -- Saturday, 15June2013

Well, in inverse to the Downey version of this, that I thought would be terrible but turned out to be great...

Last year this event was pretty fun. But this year was the worst experience I've had in Laguna. There were many more bands (38, up from 28 last year), so I was way too close to a very loud Flamenco guitar guy (with jazzy and very loud backing tracks), and a kind of folkie jug band. The Flamenco guy was so loud that people could hear him when they were in front of me, and they all just breezed on by. Either his music was way more fun/good/cool than mine, or people are fickle and just wanted to sample everything. Let's go with the latter explanation...

But either way, it was certainly the antidote to the swelled head I got from the show in Downey last week!

You can catch 14 seconds of me playing "Leaving on a Jet Plane" (and Jim & Warren, and the Flamenco Guy) in this video from the local on-line "newspaper".

Keith at Long Beach Towne Center -- Friday, 14June2013

This was the last one of the Long Beach gigs that I signed up for, and it'll probably be the Last One, period. It's ridiculous to drive up there for an hour-long set, especially when nobody's there yet at 6:00. Even if I got the "second shift", it's only an hour and a half, from 8-9:30 -- still not worth it.

And this one was particularly screwy, since I got an email 2 days before, telling me that I'd been shifted to 7:00 (with no explanation of why). Not really a problem, but what about the "band changing" gap -- which they seem to think takes an hour? Will I be shorted even further to change out the equipment?

Anyway, it turned out, in one way, to be a good thing I was on later, because traffic was terrible and I'd'a been 20 minutes late if I was supposed to be on at 6:00. But when I finally arrived, I found out why the schedule changed -- they'd double-booked me in the 6:00 shift. And to make it worse, it was the Amateur Hour kids from last time. But I suppose I'd rather have them as my opening act than the other way around...

K&W in Laguna Beach -- Tuesday, 11June2013

Now that summer is here, even weeknights are pretty good down there, and we get people from all over the world zooming by without stopping, not just locals.

No, actually the tourists are there for the Laguna Experience, and tend to stop. My daughter thinks I should do all "California songs" -- "Hotel California", "California Dreaming", etc. I kind of agree, but draw the line at "California Here I Come".

We had a young family, with a little girl who would dance with abandon while we were playing, and as soon as the song was over, run back to hide behind her mom or the stroller. The parents were talking to her and each other in German, and they stayed a long time, so we assumed they were tourists. But when Warren asked them where they were from, they said, "Oh, we live here!" (but, yes, originally from Germany).

Anyway, we did pretty well ($41), and I sold a surprising 6 CDs. Maybe the tourists are more inclined to buy one to take home? I'll have to print up a whole bunch...

Keith in Laguna Beach -- Sunday, 09June2013

It was a very nice Sunday afternoon, so I thought I'd go play some, but apparently Tom had the same thought, and had already claimed Greeter's Corner in front of the ice cream shop. So I set up across the street by the Fingerhut Gallery. Sometimes it's almost as good, but this time, it was pretty bad. Nobody stopped at all for the whole hour and a half that I played there.

But then I looked over and Tom was gone, so I moved across the street, and things immediately started looking up. It was nice and warm, so there was always someone on the bench eating ice cream, and, whether they liked it or not, listening to me. But I always tune the program to match what I think people will like (profiling?), and they usually end up involved.

But I only had 45 minutes of battery left by that time, so the fun didn't last very long. I'm afraid that this will be a preview of how the summer will be -- lots of competition for the one good spot, and not worth your while if you don't get it.

Keith at "Make Music Downey" -- Saturday, 08June2013

I really only signed up for this because it was near my mom's house, and I figured it would be a chance for her to come see me. Also, it was being put on by a lady I know. It was "inspired by" the "Fete de la Musique" like the one in Laguna, which was fun last year (and I'm signed up for again this year).

But it was actually set up like the one in New York, and was more like a Jazz Festival -- 61 bands, rotating quickly on six simultaneously-running stages. Your time slot includes your setup and teardown time, and most bands get a half hour (!), while the headliners get a whole hour. I got 45 minutes, in a little art gallery with two rows of folding chairs.

I was starting to expect a travesty, and when I got there early to scope it out, it didn't assuage my fears much. There was a 5-piece Hawaiian band playing to about 8 people. As I came around the back of the shop, I got roped into helping bring in a retired 86-year-old dentist's electric piano. He was up next, just before me. He and his two granny-singers play at retirement homes, and brought in about a dozen fans.

They all left when he was done, so when I started there were 4 people there: three ladies, and the piano guy who was going on after me. (My mom wasn't feeling up to going out after all, so she wasn't there.) The place was in an ancient row of shops, concrete walls and floor, plywood ceiling, and incredibly echoey. I turned my system reverb all the way off, and it was still like singing in a shower, in a canyon.

But I was there to play, so I played. I started with "You've Got a Friend" and "had" the three ladies already. I followed up with "Homeward Bound", "Jet Plane", "Over the Rainbow", and "Hallelujah". Every time I'd look up, there were more people. They'd come by the doorway, hang there for a minute, and then decide to come on in and sit down. Every song was greeted with huge applause (though I suppose it sounded better than it really was, augmented by the echoey room). One of the original three ladies would applaud at the *beginning* of songs that she recognized.

By the time I was done, the seats were full, and there were half-a-dozen people standing just inside the door. Must have been 40 people in there. I don't know who paid them all to show up, but I'm glad they did...

Lots of older folks like me, but several Latino teenagers who were just as enthusiastic (and who came right up to take pictures of me with their giant cameras). There was no place to put out a tip jar, and it wouldn't have felt right anyway, but two guys came up and dropped money at the edge of the stage anyway. When Frank (who was running the show) came up to thank me after my time was up, the applause was so loud that he said instead, "Should we let him do one more?", and the crowd went wild with "Yes!", and "Let him stay!", so I got to close it down with "Let It Be". And in that final round of applause, two ladies stood up to clap.

I threw a stack of business cards on a chair as I left the stage, and at least 20 of them disappeared. I should have brought out some CDs, too, but I was taken completely off-guard by the whole thing. As I was packing up in "the back", a little old lady who had asked me, out of the blue, if I "like my car" (my wife's Honda Fit) as I was parking out front (and turned out to be the Director of the Downey Symphony) came up and said that she had no idea that I was "so terrific" when she talked to me about the car earlier. She asked where I was from, and I told her, but that I was there because my mom lives in Downey. She told me to tell her that she'd "done a wonderful job" with me.

Another lady then came up and introduced herself, told me how much she had enjoyed it, and said that she had seen "a white aura all around me as [I] played, coming and going". Well, thanks, but you might want to talk to someone about those hallucinations you're having...

I suppose a lot of it was that people were surprised to find someone playing pretty well, and tunes they knew. Most of the other acts were amateurs and local garage bands. Compared to Hawaiian music or blue-hairs singing "Chattanooga Choo-Choo", I may have been a breath of fresh air...

Anyway, rather than the fiasco that I was expecting, it was the best gig I've had in ages. The downside is that now I have to wonder how to find other places to play that are, you know, indoors, and where people are actually stationary. And if you don't count the gas money, I came out five bucks ahead, and afterwards had a nice lunch and visit with my mom. Win-win.

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- Friday, 07June2013

I started right out with a cute little girl who ran around "dancing" for every song, regardless of style or tempo, and basically froze whenever a song would end. Maybe she thought it was "Musical Chairs", um, without the chairs...

She stayed a long time, and her mom just sat and watched, holding her little brother. After a while I decided to give her one of my bubbles handouts. She played with them a bit, and then, of course, her little brother wanted some. He was only 2, and confirmed what I've learned about the really little ones -- they don't know where their mouths are, so they blow, but not at the actual bubble wand. They're also not entirely aware of how gravity works yet, and usually manage to just pour the bubble stuff on the ground while their attention is elsewhere. I see a lot of scoops of ice cream land on the ground for the same reason...

When I have little ones like this, I always play "Twinkle Twinkle", which sounds really great fingerpicked and with the harmony box on, and follow it with "Itsy-Bitsy Spider". It's a crack up to see the tiny ones' hands involuntarily come together as they start (trying) the spider hand movements. For a lot of them, their hands come together before they even know they're doing it -- Pavlov style. It's funny and cute, but also a bit disturbing -- what else are we ingraining in their little brains?

At one point, a teenage girl walked up and handed me a note. I hadn't even seen her listening, but she was impressed enough to dig up some paper to write on (a Target receipt for some ice tea), and march up to hand it to me in person. Very sweet.

For the last few hours, I had one lady in a wheelchair that she apparently didn't really need ('cuz she'd get up out of it once in a while), who's daughters were off shopping, so she just listened to me all night, quite obviously enjoying every song. She made "music friends" with another couple who showed up to listen, also clearly at the right age to like my sound and stuff. That was fun.

I ended up playing until 11:30 again, even though "quitting time" is 10. Sold like 9 CDs, and brought home $169. Summer nights are good to me.

K&W in Laguna Beach -- Thursday, 06June2013

I keep swearing off Art Walk nights, because all the musicians show up so it's so hard to get a decent spot, and even if we do get a good corner, there's liable to be someone loud on the other one. But worse, most of the people use the Gallery Map as a guide to where the next glass of free wine is located, and therefore have no time for street music. But, I don't seem to be able to resist, so I agreed to meet Warren down there, but only if we managed to get a good spot, and there wasn't any obnoxious nearby noisy competition.

I got there a few minutes before five, and obnoxious noisy Sanchez was already on the gallery corner, but I grabbed the ice cream corner anyway. The gallery ladies can and do call the cops if they think you're too loud, so Sanchez is kept (somewhat) in check when he's there. Or so I figured. He started off quite moderate, but got louder and louder as the night progressed. Near the end, I asked some people on the bench if he was as distracting to them as he was to me, and they said that once I started playing, they couldn't hear him at all -- so that was a relief.

Early on, an Indian family strolled by, with several youngsters, 2 or 3 moms, some dads, and Grandpa in full Sheikh getup: all white clothes, turban, tied-up beard. They stopped to listen for a while, and then Grandpa gestured to one of the sons, who brought over a black metal teakettle, and lifted the lid so Grandpa could take out a handful of rock candy pellets, which he proceeded to hand to Warren and I. I didn't know what it was, but Warren tossed some into his mouth, even before one of the sons explained that it was candy. With that assurance, I tried a bit too, and it was tasty, but made it a bit tough to sing. I'm not sure what the significance of all that was, but it must have been something portentous or there wouldn't have been one whole son dedicated to hauling around that teakettle...

We also had an enthusiastic girl from Columbia come by and ask to be in a picture with us. She commented that she needed a guitar, so Warren offered to let her hold his. She couldn't play it, she just thought she needed one to fit in.

Anyway, we did OK at $42, but that's two bucks less than the night before, with many many times as many people zooming by. We're just not as attractive as free wine, I guess...

K&W in Laguna Beach -- Wednesday, 05June2013

I decided to go down to Laguna the day before Art Walk, just in case Art Walk itself turned into a total bust (or a "just turn around and go home"), as Art Walk can tend to be. I wanted to have at least one night this week that was fun. And it was quite pleasant -- not a lot of traffic, but no competition for real estate nor air space, either. And people weren't in such a hurry, so we had some nice folks stop for a while (and made $44).

With the weather getting nicer, it's becoming feasible to go down on almost any night and find friendly people to play for. As summer approaches, and vacationing tourist become more and more prevalent, this is probably a bad sign for my "playing addiction"...

Keith in Laguna Beach -- Sunday, 02June2013

I meant to go play for the late afternoon and be home for dinner, so I went down there at 3:20 and was setting up on The Corner when I realized that I didn't have the little battery that runs everything. So I drove home, debating all the way about whether I'd just give up, or drive all the way back. But I had nothing better to do, so I fetched the battery, a slice of reheated pizza, and went back. There was, amazingly, still no one out on either Corner, so I set up and played, but by then it was 5:00, and quite cold and gloomy, and quite dead.

But I had another reason to go down there. I had had an inspiration -- I remembered buying some big vinyl three-fingered "Mickey" gloves, like, 20 years ago, so I dug them out of the closet and took them down to kooky heir-apparent Greeter, Mikey. He wandered by a while after I started, and I don't think he was even planning to "greet", but, when he saw the gloves, he freaked out and had to give 'em a try.

The combination of the gloves themselves -- and Mikey's amped-up enthusiasm with having them -- sent his dancing/waving act sky-high, and drew like 5 times more attention than he usually gets. People were standing and just watching him for 5 and 10 minutes at a time -- laughing, taking pictures and video, and ignoring the stiff with the guitar...

Fortunately, it takes a lot more energy to greet than to play, so he tired out and left, after thanking me a few dozen times, and my "business" picked up. I played to a lot of nobody, but I'd somehow brought in $50 anyway by the time the batteries gave out at 8:30.

Near the end, a girl wandered up and sang along with me for "Let It Be". Afterwards she revealed that she's a "busker" herself, and had made $120(!) that afternoon, playing by the shopping area along the docks in Dana Point. I'm gonna have to check that out if/when the corners in Laguna get too busy in the summer...

K&W in Laguna Beach -- Saturday, 01June2013

Jim couldn't make it again, so I got to play another Saturday with Warren. We managed to snag Greeter's Corner in front of the ice cream shop, and nobody obnoxiously loud was playing on the opposite corner, so we were in great shape. Except the ice cream shop has installed a new sound system and they can't turn the outside speakers off anymore, and there was a new kid manager who has decided that loud dance music sells ice cream.

Warren tried to reason with him, but it was mostly no use, so we had to just power through the distraction. It's OK from where I am, when I'm in a song, my monitor speaker is louder than the shop's music, but I worry about what it sounds like for people who are situated in between my amp and theirs.

Anyway, we had a pretty good night. We were surprised to see a pair of *very* tall girls, totally dressed and made up and on 6-inch heels, who had apparently come down to have their mom (also very tall) take pictures of them. I offered to let them borrow my top hat, which they did, but insisted that I join them in the picture, too. It's a good thing that I had my cowboy boots on, or I'd'a been the shortest one in the picture.

There's a nice little old foreign guy named Sid, who drives a taxi and started parking (illegally) nearby so he could listen to us while watching the taxi to see if anyone approached it, whereupon he'd jump up and run over to let them in. He did this all through last fall and winter, and is clearly a big fan (and friend) of ours. We hadn't seen him for a while, but he showed up and saw the 4 CDs that I'd put out. He came over and asked if I had any more, which I didn't, so he got out a twenty and bought them all. Apparently, he's been playing the CD in his taxi, and people love it and want to buy it from him, so he needed some inventory! Who'd'a thunk?

Anyway, Saturdays are always pretty good. I could have done without the new distraction of the loud ice cream store music, but at least it wasn't Sanchez. And we brought in $45, plus the twenty for the CDs. Not bad.

Keith at Mission Viejo Farmer's Market -- Saturday, 01June2013

When they switched the Farmer's Market from Fridays to Saturdays, it made it easier on me to appear, but apparently harder on half of the vendors that they had lined up. They added an "Artisan's Alley" for craft people, but half of the "farmers" are gone, so it's pretty pathetic now. And the people who used to come out to shop seem to have given up, too, so it's pretty empty.

But, they pay the musicians, so I'll just pretend it's rehearsal time and take their money. I suppose that the vendors and customers can hear me around the place, but as far as I could tell, I played the whole first hour to literally nobody. Then a few parents came by with little kids, and wandered off after a few songs.

I did have a few people come by and check out the table with the CDs on it, and I guess two people "bought" some. I say "bought" (with quotes) because, although three CDs were missing, there was only ten bucks in the jar. I think one guy bought a CD for $5, and there were five ones which were actual tips. But I think the lady that took two CDs must have thought that they were party favors. Oh well -- I was still way in the black for the day, but if they weren't paying me up-front, it's just so dead, I don't think I'd go back there.

Keith in Laguna Beach -- Monday, 27May2013

Since I don't bar-be-que, I had nothing else going on for Memorial Day, so I went down to Laguna. I was worried that all the other musicians would be out, and that I'd probably not even be able to find a parking space, but I was wrong on both counts. As I got there at 3:00, Tom & Tommie were packing up to leave, so I got the Ice Cream corner, and there were inexplicably no other musicians out playing at all, even though there were lots of people to play for.

I got a way better response than the day before from the tourists and beach people, and pulled in a very respectable $60 for a three hour shift -- at least I'm finally beating minimum wage! There was almost always somebody sitting on the bench, though admittedly, most of them were there to eat their ice cream. Still, with the ice cream as a catalyst, most of them seemed to end up at least a little bit involved with the music before they wandered off.

All in all, a fine way to spend Memorial Day, and I'm glad I went.

K&W in Laguna Beach -- Sunday, 26May2013

Me and Warren, reflected in the gallery window

It was the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, so we figured there would be lots of people out, and since everyone would have Monday off, a "virtual Saturday". We went down at 5:00, and found Tom and Tommie (a father-daughter duo) on the Ice Cream corner, so we set up across the street on the Fingerhut Gallery side.

Lots of beach people came by, but not many stopped to listen. I'm not sure why, but it seemed like a lot of girl-girl couples came by, and they did tend to stop. Sometimes Laguna seems like a town from the past with its small-town feel and friendliness, and sometimes it seems like the town of the future, with its easy and open attitudes toward people's proclivities. I love it.

But Silly Patty came by, so even when nobody else would stop, she was there to sing to. Unfortunately, the whole thing was cut short (at two hours and only 26 bucks) when the batteries in the amplifier went dead. They seem OK now, so I guess they just weren't fully charged.

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- Saturday, 25May2013

Nice summer weather, and the Saturday of a long weekend -- pretty much perfect conditions. After I had only played a few songs, as guy came over and bought one of each CD. I don't think that's ever happened before...

I got several kids' parties started. For the first one (always "Mister Postman"), I did my usual "Mashed Potato" lesson, and then the kids stood in a perfectly straight line and dutifully tried to do the dance like I'd showed them. I felt bad that they seemed to take it as a requirement, not a fun suggestion, so for the next Dance Song I made sure to tell them to do whatever they wanted. In Soviet Russia, dance does you!

Other than that, it was pretty normal. I did have a lady decide that I sounded like I could do Gordon Lightfoot songs well, so I confirmed her suspicions by singing "If I Could Read Your Mind".

And then, very late, a lady came by and sat down, and then in the middle of the next song, she got up and stood in front of me and made huge scooping/pulling arm gestures at me.

Since I wasn't in the throes of a baby delivery, I decided that she was trying to tell me to put more oomph into it, which I accordingly tried to do. She seemed somewhat satisfied by this, and looked at the list and chose "Love Hurts". She was thinking of the Anthrax version, but I do it in the original Everly Brothers style, and told her so. She wanted to hear it anyway, "as long as it's done with *passion*", so I fired it up -- with passion, or something like it.

Now, I'll fully cop to my normal performance style being more on the mechanical side than the passionate one. I'm quite concerned with getting the notes right, and delivering an accurate portrayal of the song. My sense of perfectionism requires that much, as a minimum. But it's definitely more fun when I can tell that someone is listening, and that's when I start to "work it", and put something more into it. This lady made that even more concrete -- specifically and vocally asking for "more", and it was great to try to deliver it.

Anyway, it was a great night. I pulled in $178, almost a record, and sold 11 CDs in all, totally selling out of the 8 "Favorites" CDs I'd brought. I had people listening continuously all the way until 11:30, when we'd "shut the place down". It's amazing how, as soon as I stop playing, I suddenly notice how much my feet, knees, lower back, and fingers hurt...

K&W in Laguna Beach -- Saturday, 18May2013

Jim couldn't make it again, so I went down to meet Warren in Laguna on Saturday night. Nice weather, lots of people. There was a guitar girl I've never seen before on Greeter's Corner, so we set up across the street in front of Fingerhut, which is a pretty good second choice. And since she was acoustic-only, she was bound to be a lot less distracting than Sanchez, while blocking him from taking that spot -- win-win!

I still prefer the Ice Cream corner for the better foot traffic, not having to worry so much about the Gallery Girls coming out to complain, and I think the tall-plants backdrop helps diminish the car traffic noise -- but the "monitor" effect of the sound reflecting off of the glass wall across from us is pretty nice on the Fingerhut corner.

It was nice to be without Sanchez for a change, but after a little while, the guitar girl disappeared and my nemesis, the Bluegrass Boys, took over the Corner. They're not nearly as loud and obnoxious as Sanchez, but they're just so much fun that they can be equally act-destroying. The last time they appeared, I might as well have just gone home as soon as they'd started, since all my potential audience hung out with them instead of me. But this time, although a lot of people stopped to hear them (as they should!), I was actually proud/glad to be doing quite well at the same time. It helped that they did me the accidental favor by getting frequently hormonally distracted and spent as much time chatting up the girls as playing...

Earlier in the week, I had gotten inexplicably inspired to learn "Feel Like Making Love" by Bad Company (?!?), and had worked out a passable arrangement for it. And it went over pretty well, too -- lots of singing along by passers-by, and I even saw one fist-pump -- so I guess it's worth pursuing.

When we play in front of Fingerhut, I put the tip jar on the ground in front of us, and it has a color-changing glowball at the bottom, to make it more visible. Most people notice it down there, but a group of 20 or so young men in silly British "bobbie" helmet/hats went by, and one of them kicked the tip jar over. He didn't even notice (they may have been drinking a bit...), but another guy behind him did and picked the jar up and fetched the money back in. While he did that, Warren asked him who they were, and he said that they were a British soccer team called "The Charlatans". After they wandered off, it occurred to me how ironic it was that a couple of hundred regular people managed to go by, but it took a soccer player to unwittingly kick the jar over...

Anyway, we had a great response, and only got asked to turn it down by the Fingerhut ladies once (which was because they were hosting a guest lecturer). Lots of people stopped to hear a few songs, and I noticed that several of them came back around again later. And we made $97 for the evening, which felt pretty good considering the Bluegrass competition across the street.

Keith at Long Beach Towne Center -- Friday, 17May2013

When I first got signed up with the booking agent that covers Long Beach, Chino, and Riverside, I volunteered for every gig she'd give me. That included a Saturday that she was in a jam for back in February, this one, and two more. What I didn't really realize at the time was that I was volunteering to play for just one hour, as the "opening act" for another band, starting at 6:00, on a workday. All four of those particulars are, let's just say, far from ideal.

But the "only an hour" thing wasn't *so* bad, 'cuz they send out a sound guy with a big nice amp, which means I don't have so much setup and teardown time. And since I'm partway there already if I leave right from work, I got there in time, though 6:00 on a Friday is still a pretty dead shift, audience-wise.

It was a bit annoying that the band that I "opened" for was three 15-year-olds -- two girls who could barely play their guitars and listlessly sang while a boy bonked on a "cajon" drum/box. Everybody's got to start somewhere, but it rather diminishes the prestige of this gig when acts that ought to be at a high school talent show can get in...

But it was fun, once I got started. It's a really nice stage, and my aunt, uncle, and their granddaughter were there right from the beginning, so I had someone to play for the whole time. A nice man bought a CD from me as I was setting them out, before I'd even started. I said, "But what if I'm terrible?", and he said that if I was playing there, I must be good. I guess he hasn't seen those three kids play...

Right at the end of my hour, 5 or 6 teenage girls came by and were *really* excited to be able to choose a song, and they tussled and argued about each one. I ended up listening to whichever girl was shouting out a song I'd'a wanted to do anyway, but they were thrilled and danced around and screamed out their next choices as soon as each song was over. Fortunately, the sound guy let me run over my hour by 20 or 25 minutes so they got to choose several before I had to shut down.

I ended up with $46 in the jar, which is pretty good, and actually a really high dollars per hour rate, considering the short playing time. It's just ridiculous that this place tries to put on two bands per night, especially since they enforce a 9:30 curfew. That means the first band officially gets an hour, there's an hour of dead time for the changeover, and the second band gets an hour and a half. If they'd let one band play the whole time, 6-9:30, there'd be more music, it'd be worth the bands' effort to get out there, and this would be a great gig, not a lame one. Problem is, as long as fools like me and Amateur Hour keep falling for it, management'll have no reason to wise up.

Keith at Riverside Plaza -- Saturday, 11May2013

This was my first time at this new venue, but I figured it was another outdoor mall, so it ought to be similar to Irvine Spectrum where I've played many many (>125) times. I figured wrong.

At Spectrum, you're standing in the middle of a rush of foot-traffic, and you feel like the prow of a ship, splitting the flow and hoping that some percentage of the people rushing by will notice the music and slow down or stop for a few tunes. In Riverside, it's less of a "walking around" Fashion mall, and more of a bunch of utilitarian shops that share a parking lot. Sometime recently, they painted all the stores the same color so they can call it a "shopping center". But the types of stores and the layout do not encourage window-shopping -- you're there for a purpose, and you get in and out when you're done.

Except! There are some restaurants clumped together across from the movie theaters, and people seem to come out to eat there, and hang around at the outdoor tables listening to the band, which the management is smart enough to book 4 nights a week, every week. And when people come out of the theaters, since there's not much else to look at, they'll hang around the fountain that's out front, if the band strikes their fancy.

It was weird. People seemed to be there, if not specifically to hear the music, to at least give the music a try before going home. And once I got some people to request a song off the list, other people figured they could join in on that, and I got more and more requests.

The strange part, though, was that this was an actual city street that runs through the shops, and to set up for music, they rope off the wide brick crosswalk between the restaurants and the theaters, and call it the stage. So I'm standing right in the middle of the street, and people are hanging out on the left side of the street, or sitting at the tables on the right side of the street, and the space in the middle in front of me is apparently molten lava, 'cuz *nobody* will come and stand out there.

Until I finally broke that spell by handing out fingerlights to 6 or 8 little kids who then danced and ran around and played "ring around the rosie" out in front. The "turnover" rate was so low that the kids had lots of time to make friends and play together. I guess a lot of people liked my music, 'cuz most of them seemed to just settle in for the night. And their kids were in a safe and easily supervised space, so it felt like I was playing at a block party.

I suppose I did OK with my usual act, but it was clear to me afterward that this place requires a somewhat different approach than the high turnover Spectrum or Laguna street corner gigs -- and one that I'm completely unversed at. Having a long-term sticking-around actual audience makes it (theoretically) possible to develop some rapport and tune the set to the crowd. Not that I know how to do that...

The downside was that, because of the far-lower level of traffic, I only made $70 in tips, about half of what I make at Spectrum these days. But on the other hand, the Riverside gig pays money up front ($125), and Spectrum deducts $50 as a set up fee, so overall, Riverside is a much better deal, money-wise. But that's beside the point -- I'm not in it for the money, I'm in it for the experiences, and this was certainly a different one!

Now, this place is 50 miles from home, so it took me an hour and a half to get there and an hour to get home, plus gas, so it's not something I'd want to do every weekend, but it was interesting and fun to play under a completely different "feel". And the lady that books Riverside just booked me to play the mall in Chino, so now I'll get to see what that one is like!

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- Friday, 03May2013

Nice and warm out -- first gig this year where I didn't have to wear my jacket at all.

Had two little kids, quickly joined by a third, dancing for the very first song (which is always "Hotel California"). That's never happened before -- not to mention that it's not exactly a danceable song. Fortunately, for the really little ones, "music" equals "dancing time", and there's no requirement of any discernible correspondence between their "moves" and the music's beat.

We hired a consultant to help us with some software on a new product at work. He lives in Essex, England, and his name is Simon, 'cuz it's not Nigel (seems like the only two names they have over there, doesn't it?). He flew over for the week to get acquainted with the project as the players, and had the night off, so he walked over to hear me play. He sat at the tables, which are behind me, and worked on his laptop for a couple of hours. I looked around and checked on him every once in a while, and he'd grin and wave, so I guess he enjoyed it...

Anyway, a kind of low key night. I guess you can tell how well it went by the tips ($98), the CDs sold (4) and how late I ended up staying (10:45). Fair to middlin'.