Diary Of A Busker Day 677 Sunday December 28th 2014 Winchester (Opposite Oxfam, Time: 3:40-4:18pm).
I don’t know why I went out. I mean, I know it was cold: 5 degrees by the website…I don’t know. I hadn’t even thawed out from a trip into town, and I went out again less than an hour after I got in.
I started with Albatross and the fingers had almost had it before I’d got to the end of that one song. At one point I looked at my watch thinking I’d done half an hour and I’d only done 20 minutes, and I thought ‘I’ve got to do more than that’. I messed up When I’m Sixty-Four. The left hand fingers were going on the wrong strings. That’s how out of control they were due to the cold. I couldn’t feel them on the strings, all I could feel was pain.
I managed almost 40 minutes, finishing off with a repeat of Albatross. A donation came from an American bloke of about 25. He said ‘Very Dave Gilmour’, so I thought ‘I bet this guy doesn’t know what this is’, and he didn’t. He’d never heard of Albatross, although he’d heard of Fleetwood Mac. And I thought everyone in the world had heard Albatross! I mean, they might not like it…in fact I’m not sure if I like it. Anyway, he’s now enlightened as to what it is. I did point out I was attempting the work of about FOUR guitars on that one, but as he didn’t know it, I don’t believe he was impressed! Still, he seemed to like it.
Just before I got on the trusty steed, the guy who had been handing out the God leaflets in front of the Gospel Hall to my right, came over and said ‘So, how have you been? Had a good few hours?’ I said I’d only been at this spot but now my hands were in pain. He said ‘I was looking forward to While My Guitar Gently Weeps’. I said I couldn’t play anymore as I was in pain. He then said ‘I saw Steve Miller (rich and warm, I bet) do that last night’, and I didn’t bother to ask if he’d seen him live or on the TV and I think he could sense I wasn’t in the mood for a conversation. He said ‘Well, you better go off and get warm’.
When I got home I went back on the weather website and it was now THREE degrees (they were good in the 70’s, they were) – no wonder I couldn’t play. I can’t believe I got through almost 40 minutes.
Earnings: £9.90p
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