Diary Of A Busker Day 590 Sunday July 13th 2014 Winchester (Opposite Oxfam, Time: 2:38-5:12pm).
A mammoth – even marathon – set, down the arse-end. This was mainly because when I came into town, there wasn’t a space anywhere. The order of play from The Butter Cross down: The Butter Cross – Young Sam. The cathedral grounds entrance near Pavilion – two young strummers (close your door on them, you bitch!)…as I cycled down from there, poor Rick Tarrant was sitting outside The Eclipse because as long as someone’s up at the Pavilion spot – his favourite, he can’t set up. Around the corner from Vodafone – a puppeteer. And at the alleyway opposite Marks & Spencer – Frank. So, choc-a-bloc, as the saying goes.
At Oxfam, three old blokes stop – not to contribute, but to admire and ask questions about my new old bike parked against the wall next to me. One bloke said he ‘saves’ old bikes like mine. They took some photos of it, then, as an afterthought, put 10p in the bucket, as they stopped me from playing for 5 minutes. Now, 10p is well under the average if I work it out as £10 per hour…I don’t know how many minutes 10p works out for but it’s definitely less than 5! Actually, I didn’t mind: I’d done 45 minutes and wanted a short break.
A bit later, during When I’m Sixty-Four, Frank walked by on his way home and he said, ‘You can play that for me in about 4 months time!’ So, he’s 63 (obviously) – he must be the oldest busker in town.
Once again, I lie about the £5 CD, feel guilty, and let one go for £8. In fact, I lied twice. The second time was to a woman who was sitting with her boyfriend or husband over the road outside Cafe Blanc. She came across, wanted a £5 CD, I said she could have the £9 one for £8, and she could take it over the road to peruse it before she – or the boyfrend/husband – bought it. She did, and came back with a £10 note and DIDN’T WANT ANY CHANGE! She put the note in the bucket, saying, ‘We’ve really enjoyed listening to you, anyway’. In fact, they were there well over an hour…which wasn’t as long as one of the Drongos, who was there for my entire duration. Firstly, on the bench opposite, then hanging around the Gospel Hall doorway on my right.
Near the end, there was a man who came out of the Gospel Hall and was handing out flyers. He was doing it for a long time, then he came over and I thought he was going to ask me to move, I mean I’d been there more than 2 hours. But all it was was a request – for While My Guitar Gently Weeps! So I did it after tuning up from the Yellow Bird/Wheels section. I did it as the last song, and he must have been pleased – it brought forth clapping from him! and also from another man across the road AND a table of FOUR outside Cafe Blanc. Cheers! (I reckon the first guy was the catalyst).
I forgot to say, I did Danny Boy for the first time in ages and it got a couple of donations, although I really messed up one bit.
Earnings: £38.80p (Including 2 CDs)
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