Diary Of A Busker Day 2567 Monday June 23rd 2025 Southampton.
Before I went to Southampton I saw a photo of Elvis from a 60’s film set and he was on a motorbike and wearing a pair of blue jeans and a yellow shirt. Well, I just so happen to have both of those (not the bike) so I thought I’d put them on in the hope some of Elvis’s adulation might rub off on me.
And I’ve finally worked out how to get to the more convenient mall entrance exit and not the one near Bargate. I get the lift at John Lewis, go to the THIRD floor, walk through the jewellry bit, out the shop and onto the main bit, turn left and keep going and I’m there. Also, it takes me past the toilets so I can visit there before setting up, which is what I did. The only problem is the water in the hand wash bit isn’t working, which is something I wish I knew BEFORE I put a load of soap on my hands! Still, I could use the water bottle filling bit in the waiting room to rinse the soap off.
Outside, there’s no one playing anywhere so I set up in the usual spot opposite the mall entrance. During the second song, Here Comes The Sun, two teenage boys come up and say ‘You know any Jimi Hendrix?’ so I stop and go into Purple Haze, which elicits looks of wonder from the boys; they look at each other and one says ‘wow, wow, wow!’ Then, after a few seconds one says ‘Know any Alice In Chains?’ I say ‘Sorry, no’ and they walk off. Ten minutes later they walk by, one showing me an Alice In Chains CD they’ve obviously just bought.
Four schoolboys, I reckon 12 years old, stop. One says ‘What are you saving for?’ ‘Um…food?’ ‘Are you hungry?’ ‘No, I’m not homeless. This is what I do.’ This seemed to satisfy them and they went off. Next up, a woman in a leopard print top and bottom comes up and starts warbling along to Here Comes The Sun – this is my attempt to play it all the way through. But she’s not actually singing the song, she’s just warbling a load of crap. After a minute, I’ve had enough because it looks like she’s with me, as in we’re a duo, and I’m not having it so I stop playing. I ask her if she’s alright and I get a load of gibberish back and then she leans in a bit close to my face and mutters something else incoherent. She stands about, swaying a bit then wanders off. Fucking drongos!
In fact, it must be Drongo’s Day Out today because a bit later, another woman comes up – I’ve seen her around here a few times, walking about, sometimes with a guitar, asking people for money. She says ‘Sorry, have you got one pound fifty I can have?’ ‘No, I haven’t, sorry.’ ‘Have you got a pound fifty I can have?’ ‘No, sorry’ and she seems to get the message and wanders off. And THEN…during James Bond a young bloke with a baseball cap and filthy shorts comes up with a joint in his hand and says ‘You’re crap, playing that tune, you’re crap!’ then walks off. I don’t know, maybe when young people say “crap”, it means the opposite, a bit like “sick”?
The coinage wasn’t going too well (my Elvis look didn’t seem to be working. I looked more like the Ukranian flag turned upside down and with a white beard)…but then I got a tenner during Life On Mars? so that sort of saved the day as well as providing me with something I haven’t had for awhile, namely a Song Of The Day. I did two hours and 25 minutes straight through before I’d had enough, and cleared £25.80 after taking off the £4.35 train fare.
After I got back from here a few days ago, I sent emails to The Titanic and Duke Of Wellington pubs but no response yet…