Diary Of A Busker Day 2412 Tuesday July 30th 2024 Winchester.
Only mad dogs and mad fingerstyle guitarists go out in the midday sun, especially on the hottest day of the year…so far. It was 30 celsius.
I found a bit of shade at the Buttercross and, jacketless, struck up the old Sigma 12 string, but it was very slow going, coinage-wise and it wasn’t helped by a bloke up some scaffolding drilling on and off (mainly on) for the first half hour.
Near the end there was a huge crash to my left. The homeless woman’s shopping cart had fallen on its side and the entire contents of her life were disgorged all over the pavement. To her immediate rescue came a young man who helped lift the trolley and help put everything back.
An hour and ten minutes earned me £8, which is appalling so I packed up and went to The Square, where I got the same amount for the same time. I packed up and came home but after awhile, thought “this just isn’t good enough, I’ll have to go back!”
I decided to wait for a bit, thinking there’ll be some people eating and drinking in The Square around 8 o’clock and so there was.
I played for an hour and forty minutes and collected around £40. There was even some clapping after quite a few numbers – obviously out of towners, fortified with alcohol!
The clapping was led by two young women – they didn’t look more than 18 – who were wearing what seemed to be white pants which were very, what’s the word…sheer? and rather short. It looked like they forgot to put all their clothes on but maybe that’s some sort of fashion thing. What do I know, I’m 62!