Diary Of A Busker Day 2429 Friday August 30th 2024 Winchester.
Coming into the High Street late in the afternoon, there’s a girl strummer at the top spot…and Claire dancing in front of her! Well, I’m relieved she likes a variety of music and not just the old crap I play. I don’t go up to her – I wouldn’t want to interrupt her when she’s having such a good time, but wind my way around the back of the monument, through the alley and into The Square.
Again, I’ve got the double-neck, in fact I’ve had it every time I’ve been out since I first dusted it off a couple of weeks ago. It weighs a ton but the way I’ve got it strapped to my back, with the bottom of the gigbag balanced on the case in the cart on the back of the bike, I don’t notice the weight. It’s only when I get off the bike and the gigbag has nothing to rest on when I notice how heavy it is.
I reckon there are mostly out-of-towners outside the eateries today, as from the first song, I get a decent amount of clapping; residents of Winchester would never do that! In fact, it provides me with one of the best moments of my busking life. Just after 5 o’clock, the twat from the Hambledon shuts up shop and comes out. He couldn’t have timed it better because it’s right when I finished Here Comes The Sun to tumults of applause which he couldn’t not hear. Haha. He fucking hates me.
During the set, I’ve got my eye on the alley way, watching out for Claire but she never turns up. The clapping continues after most songs, which is a very pleasant change from the usual indifference, although I start to feel a bit self-conscious about it, especially in the more enthusiastic instances, such as after Layla and Life On Mars? Still, I’m not complaining.
At 6:30, I’d done an hour and a half and was about to stop when a man came up and asked how long I was going to be – he was waiting with his partner to do a set. I’ve seen them before and they’re quite friendly. I said I was just leaving so they were welcome to take over.
While I was packing up the bike, a man on the bench was curious about my “back story”, so I gave him a very quick shortened version; left Canada when I was 21 to seek fame and fortune, Polydor record deal came and went, played in loads of bands, became deaf, etc. He then mentioned the Priestgate incident – he’d read about it in the papers, so I gave him a brief summary of that; wrote the letter, the church got loads of bad press, got summoned by Dean Catherine, and I told him who it was – the Vice Dean, but couldn’t remember his name.
Anyway, I asked this bloke if he’d keep an eye on my stuff as I was dying for a piss and wanted to bomb down the road to the public loos. He agreed, so I got on the bike and went down Market Street but the toilets were shut and so was Pret and Nero’s so I came back to The Square, thanked the bloke and rushed back home but thinking about it, I should have just gone into Three Joes. Maria wouldn’t have minded, I mean, I’ve just been entertaining her customers…for free!