Diary Of A Busker Day 2491 Wednesday February 5th 2025 Chichester.
Back to Chichester for the first time in I don’t know how long, maybe even a year. There’s a bloke with a mobile hot dog/burger stand in front of The Cross – I don’t want to set up right in front of him so I walk down North Street and set up not quite as far down as the old M & S spot, near the “Murray Or None” Nelson statue. The temperature is 9 degrees and no wind so not so bad as it’s been back in Winchester. I’ve got the Strat which fits quite nicely into the Aria case – the green case looks so much smarter than the usual floppy black gigbags I normally use and it’s good it can be used for both guitars.
I manage two hours – I didn’t want to play that long but it took well over an hour to make the £14.75 train fare back and I didn’t want to finish there without some kind of profit. I was almost done and thinking there wasn’t much to write about when a man in his 40s stands nearby with a newly-purchased floor sponge – or whatever a stick with a blue sponge attached is called. I was playing Sleep Walk and at the end he comes over and says ‘My dad was the drummer in The Shadows.’ I can’t think of his name, only Hank Marvin and Jet Harris. This bloke obviously clicks that I don’t know his name – ‘Tony Meehan and I’m Keiran’ he says. ‘Ah, right, yeah, of course’ I say. ‘And you are…’ – he looks at the inside of the case ‘Marvin – Hank!’ We both laugh at the Shadows connection. I say ‘I did Wonderful Land about ten minutes ago. I’ll do it again as you’re going off – not that I’m telling you to go off!’ He says it’s nice to meet me – ‘sorry I haven’t got any change’ and goes off with his broom thing and listens while I do Wonderful Land – he listens to the whole thing then gives me the thumbs up before he heads off which I think is very polite as most people who request something, listen to about ten seconds then wander off.
After the two hours I packed up, walked to a bench near the cathedral and had my packed lunch of two sandwiches; peanut butter, and cheese and sandwich spread. Then back up North Street to the coffee place – large Americana for £3.60, and warm up/toilet stop, then out again and set up at The Cross – the burger bloke had moved a few feet further away. I did an hour and 25 minutes there, sold 5 CDs, which was pretty amazing, then back home. It’s a bit of a hassle getting there, with changing trains and waiting out in the cold but it was worth it as the profit was £62.07 after the train fare was taken into account, and it got me out and about. I hadn’t booked either of the spots – at the first spot, a man who knows me from Winchester asked if I had to book. I said ‘you’re supposed to but it means applying for a permit every two months and I can’t be bothered with any of that now.’ ‘What if they ask you to leave?’ ‘Well, no one’s come along yet so I’ll take my chances. I mean, they’re not going to arrest me. I don’t know, maybe I’ve been lucky today.’