Diary Of A Busker Day 2520 Friday April 4th 2025 Winchester.
The Buttercross is out of bounds due to a loud singer with loud backing tracks who’s been there since before 10 o’clock when I came into town to take some coinage to the bank. The Square, usually dead during weekdays, is now being repopulated, I assume this is due to the warmer weather and tourists. As I’m setting up there, a man walks by and says ‘Looking sharp, nice one.’ I’ve got my Next waistcoat and jacket, black jeans (which slightly let the side down) and a T.M Lewin white shirt in immaculate condition, picked up yesterday or a fiver from the Help The Aged near Reading train station. A bargain.
So, good weather and a nice positive comment before I start up. However, the mood quickly changes…I’m two minutes into the first song, Albert Ross, when an enormous red Biffa van, which has just come up Market Street starts reversing into the area I’m in, and it’s actually speaking – “STAND WELL CLEAR, VEHICLE REVERSING” followed by a BEEP, “STAND WELL CLEAR, VEHICLE REVERSING…BEEP, etc.” Biffa’s reversing slowly but inexorably on the way to flatten me and I’m wondering if the bloke’s actually seen me. In fact, it’s only when I’m convinced he hasn’t that I go to unplug the guitar, intending to make a dash to the left and leave everything else to be flattened by Biffa. And just then, Biffa stops, the driver’s door opens and out comes Mr. Biffa – ‘alright, mate’ he says as he comes to the back of the lorry to inspect something. Then he’s back in the cab, moves forward a bit then parks outside Three Joes, gets out and walks off down the street past The Old Vine, leaving the engine on, which is so loud, I can’t play and be heard above it but at least I haven’t been run over.
Mr. Biffa returns some minutes later, with a big yellow bin thing which he puts in the back of Biffa which swallows it up, returning the empty bin which Biffa takes back to wherever he got it from, then comes back…and puts a £2 coin into the case, saying ‘Sorry ’bout that.’ Well, all is forgiven. What a decent chap! A couple who had observed Biffa seemingly reversing into me come over and have a laugh about it – I said ‘I know, I was convinced he hadn’t seen me, I thought I was a goner.’ After that, I resumed Albatross and had a chat with a couple who donated and told me about last night when they saw a Fleetwood Mac tribute band at The Anvil in Basingstoke.
Things returned to normal after that…the shop owner twat who hates me came out to dump something from a cup down the drain outside his stupid shop – possibly just to let me know he was there because it was just after the hour when he came out. Whatever, I carried on for another half hour but the coinage seemed to have dried up by then so I packed up, walked the bike to The Buttercross – that bloke was STILL there, down the road and set up opposite Republic Of Pizza And Desserts, not far from the Gospel Hall doorway spot. The coinage was slow but helped by a woman from one of the stalls coming over with a fiver.
Two young blokes stopped and asked if I played ‘anything religious?’ I said I didn’t. ‘Why not?’ ‘Because I just don’t but you can have James Bond.’ And that’s what they got. That wasn’t long before I packed up, so a 50 minute set which brings the total playing time to 2 hours and 20 minutes.