Diary Of A Busker Day 21 Tuesday January 4th Winchester High Street (opposite Phase Eight, Time: 2:15 – 3:15pm).
Only an hour today – too cold! Started setting up half-way in between two young strummers who were opposite WH Smiths and the homeless guy at the other end, whacking his drum. After a minute I hear a shout. I look around and see the homeless guy glaring at me. Was it him? I carry on and hear it again. I look at him again and this time he’s flung his arms wide open – I suppose he thinks I’ve invaded his pitch. Well, he can come up and talk to me. All he has to do is stand up, pick up his small drum or cup or whatever and walk over. I, on the other hand, have almost finished my set up and am not prepared to leave it to go over to HIM. I also do not respond to someone shouting to me. So there. Anyway, I’m at a safe distance from him, and it’s not as if I’m interfering with him, musically speaking, as he is not actually ‘playing’ anything. He is hitting a small drum, coffee cup, etc, in an entirely random fashion. An idiot could do that. A dog could do that. So I reply with a similar sweeping arm gesture and say “Yeah?” I then ignore him and finish setting up. When I look ten minutes later, he’s gone, and I’m wondering if he’s going to suddenly appear and hit me, or do something worse, so I’m looking around me while I’m playing. I’m not used to any ‘agro’ as such, so I’m a bit tense for awhile. I found out a bit later from someone that this guy moved to the alleyway, near the church.
…Later, during La Vie En Rose, I hear someone whistling the tune behind me. I finish, look around and see a man. “Was that you, whistling? I thought I was hearing things!” “Yes!”, so we had a chat while he waited for his wife to come out of the health food shop – “I’m 77 and I’ve just started playing the banjo…”
Earnings: £8.71p.