Day 2670

Day 2670
Saturday March 21st 2026
Winchester

There’s a middle-aged bloke singing at MY weekend spot, The Square. How dare he?! I won’t be beaten, though, because just down the road there’s a sunny spot next to the phone box and that’ll do me. I got a 50p coin during the first song, Albatross, but that was it for awhile. A short bloke with a Man City rucksack walked past and shouted ‘Shut up!’ so that was nice. Man City, no wonder he’s a miserable bastard.

Twenty minutes in and not much more dosh than when I started…a bloke with beer can and fag comes up –
‘Right, you play and I’ll sing’ he demands.
‘Sorry?’
‘YOU play. I’LL sing.’
‘No, it’s not going to happen.’
He starts to walk off then turns around – ‘You want some of this?’ – he hold out his fag, which I think is a joint.
‘No, you’re alright’ I say and he stands at the cathedral grounds entrance and shuts up for Tales Of The Unexpected and La Vie En Rose, which I know he won’t know, perks up for Everybody Want’s To Rule The World then buggers off.

I don’t mind this spot as I can be heard from the people in the grounds, tourists coming from the cathedral (although they’re not very generous today) but the constant slow traffic turning to go up to The Square (and back) gets on my wick after a bit and a lot of it’s cars who are following the satnav, trying to get through the other side but you can’t drive past The Old Vine, so they’re all stopping, reversing and coming back.

After an hour and a half, I’ve collected a mere £10.20, which isn’t really good enough so I decide to do Bond then pack up…and guess who’s back –
‘You’re double-stringed.’
‘Sorry? Oh right, yeah, it’s a twelve string guitar.’
‘Yeah, you’re double-stringed. I seen many guitars and you’re double-stringed.’
Very perceptive, anyway, enough of that. I pack up and look at it as a rehearsal for my gig (Duncan’s 70th) at the tennis club tonight. He only wants me to play an hour so I might take a chance and do it with the 12-string. I’ll dig out the double gigbag, take the Squier along as well, soundcheck both guitars and see what he thinks.*

*Both passed the audition so I did it with the 12-string.