Diary Of A Busker Day 453 Monday September 23rd 2013 Winchester (1. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 1:42-2:22pm, 2. The Butter Cross, Time: 2:30-3:04pm).
Coming down the street, I hear a familiar sound: a somewhat jazzy flavoured guitar, and I know who it is – my old friend Kanan, who I met, along with Chris, way back in the open-mic days. Weird that I met Chris the last time I was out and now Kanan, having not seen either of them for years! Kanan’s at the Bellis/O2 spot. I say ‘I haven’t seen you play for awhile’, and he says ‘Well, I figure ’cause I’m picking up my guitar, I might as well play!’ – a logical thought, I suppose. I then ask if he’s still living here. ‘No, I’ve been in Salisbury for ten weeks’, he says, and the only thing I can say to that is ‘Right…that’s why I haven’t seen you!’
Down the road, that young whippersnapper Sam’s set up around the corner from Vodafone…so down to Oxfam…where 30 seconds into the first song – Albatross, George turns up, offering his usual gushing compliments and Chet requests. While he’s here, no one gives any money and, when eventually one old lady does, he says ‘See, they love it!’ The thing is – as I say to him, I need that to happen every five minutes. I mean, ideally, every MINUTE! But I’ll settle for every five. ‘We gotta get you some gigs, Marvin, etc…’ Then he’s joined by posh BrYan, who talks AT George for ten minutes, then walks off – no contribution. In fact George doesn’t contribute either, but I’ll let that go as he gave me £30 for a lesson at home – two lessons, in fact. After almost 40 minutes I’ve had enough. £3.60p, indeed.
Up the road, Sam’s sitting down, smoking a roll-up. I ask how he’s done. He says ‘Yeah, allright’. Kanan’s left The Butter Cross, but that twat from the RAC – Chris, is there. The idiot asks me how it went in Chichester the other day, and I honestly can’t remember, apart from the hassle I had with that equally twatish Mr. Jobsworth on the train, so I just say ‘You know, I can’t remember anything about it’.
During the set, which I’ve got to keep to half an hour due to Tom’s lesson just before 4, an old lady regular (OLR) comes up. She says ‘I could hear the sound through there (the alleyway) and I knew it was you’, and I’m a bit rude and interrupt – ‘Ah, you heard me and thought “I know who that is – I’ve heard that sound a hundred times before”, right?’ Her response was not noted down…
I don’t know what it is but there’s a weird smell around here, and not just today, some other days. A sort of ‘fatty’, kitchen-ey smell, meat or something, and not very nice – quite revolting, actually. I think it must be from one of the pasty shops, although it doesn’t seem to be noticeable a few feet away, at the spot opposite Bellis, which is strange…
Earnings: £8.33p