Today was our first Saturday back in town! Naturally, we set about to do our old Saturday routine. We got a bit of a late start (I was up late being a rock star with Kaiho so I had a lie-in). I arrived at Castle Terrace a little
before noon and was pleased to see that there were no other
musicians, at my regular end at least. Kat was right where I left her two months ago, selling the Big Issue, and I'm pretty sure that today she clinched the title of "favorite character of Edinburgh adventure." Kat is super nice, and we chat every week. However, I cannot for the life of me understand her accent! What was so nice about today was that she warmly welcomed me back. I'm so excited to get back to the routines, but of course very few people noticed that I had left. Kat had, and the big hug she gave me with what might have been kind words of welcome warmed my heart. George the haggis vendor wasn't there, nor was Robbie the porridge vendor, and I don't think anyone else ever knew me. One family, with a baby named Amelie, did show up and ask about my travels! It was a chilly day, but the good thing about my new percussion setup is that I'm essentially dancing the entire time, so I don't stay cold for long! The kazoo did stay cold though, and I was worried about the changing temperatures between when I was playing it and when it was idling affecting its sound. I didn't play great in general, partly because I'm out of practice but also because I was so tired. I played the intro to "Dynamite" at one point but then had no idea how the melody went.
The day started out quite slow. The first three things that happened were people taking photos but not tipping, someone tipping Flaca 20p, and someone else tipping Flaca 5p. Thanks. Anyway, here's what happened:
Saturday, 2 June 2012, Part I:
1. A woman came up and said, "Excuse me, this is the bagpipes?" Close!
2. A few songs in (after "Ring of Fire") a man commented that I have a wide range of music! Yeah!
3. A little girl and her dad were listening and dancing a little, so I passed over Flaca. My current song for Flaca to dance to is "Beer Barrel Polka." I've taken to speeding up the middle part and having the kid speed up Flaca as well, and today I was relieved when the mother said, "I think [Flaca's] getting tired!" giving me an excuse to comically slow down the song again. Hard to play it super fast!
4. A drunk guy stopped to chat, and suggested that I play at Pizza Express. He claimed his girlfriend played the violin there and earned "four rounds of £200." Wow!
5. I saw three Red Sox hats! That is all.
6. An adorable Asian toddler in an equally adorable red jacket stood at a safe distance with her parents. I picked up Flaca and the parents began to usher the little girl closer, but she shook her head. I withdrew Flaca, and she remained, tentatively listening from a closer distance. She kept making this face that was either smiling or on the verge of tears, I wasn't sure which. She was just so cute! Then when they left the mom said "Kiss kiss" and she blew me a kiss.
7. The loans sign got a few remarks today. One woman said that her son was also paying back loans, and another said "Hope you get a break!"
8. As I was packing up, some tourists were looking at a map and the woman said she wanted to go to the "Square Mile." Her partner corrected her, "Royal Mile?" Now the title of this post makes sense!
I packed up earlier than usual because I was really tired, and I took a nice break. Then it was time to hit up the Royal Mile! As I had predicted, there were a lot of new buskers who showed up while I was away. They were quite congested and it was hard to find a spot. There was Dieter in his usual spot outside the church, and a new guitar player in a corner of the church crouching down to tune his guitar. When I packed up and walked by again to leave, he was tuning again, which made me come to the irreversible conclusion that he had been tuning that entire time. There was the caveman or whatever guy. There's a woman with a million piercings and rainbow dreadlocks who I always see walking around, so she was there just standing around getting tips. Really? On the other side Charlie Chaplin was in his usual spot (he winked as I walked by) and there was a kid near him playing electric bass. He also had guitars and mandolins in cases right there. I bet he'd make more money just playing the mandolin than he does playing the bass while showing off that he owns other instruments. I'm quite hard on new acts. Steve had the circle pitch. My normal corner of High St. and Cockburn was empty, but right across the street in front of the Tron kirk was a homeless looking guy playing a recorder. Just sitting there, playing out of a music book, not actually busking really. Annoyed me that I couldn't have my spot because of a non-act. I went one block farther, but I hate going there because you lose a lot of foot traffic at Northbridge/Southbridge St. I also hated it here today because it's a steeper incline than the other spots which makes it especially hard to balance while doing foot percussion! After a bit, I saw the recorder guy packing up. I quit midsong, and left my audience of a bicyclist stopped at a light hanging to run to my usual corner. I didn't bother taking stuff off, and walking with my percussion feet was quite fun. Also helped clear a path in the crowd!
But then I guess he had faked me out, because he actually was still playing. Come on! I pretended not to hear (so bad, I know) and set up anyway. If he came over to complain, I would say "Oh, sorry, I saw you packing up!" and victory would be mine. He did get up, but he just walked away. Felt a little bad, actually, but only a little. It was better here, but still quite slow. Let's see what I remember:
Saturday, 2 June, Part II:
1. I was holding the kazoo, trying to warm it up, when a guy asked, "Is that a little pipe or something?" Slightly more family-friendly than that.
2. An older man came up really close to me, too close, and said "Hello there, darlin'." I asked him how he was, giving him a minute to take a step back on his own before I requested that he do so. He asked, "Will your boyfriend get mad if he hears me calling you darlin'?" This guy was seriously like 80. So I said, "Yes, he will, and he usually stops by on Saturdays." Off he went! That was easy.
3. I can not for the life of me read the next note. The most logical decoding of letters would be "Suoks." Or "suqii." This will come back in the middle of the night, I'll get back to you on this one.
4. A woman with a pretty sea foam green beret popped by a couple times, and she said she has an accordion, but it is much bigger. She asked what buttons I had, and I told her majors, but showed her my minor sevenths and open fifths. She totally didn't get it, which made me feel super knowledgeable.
5. I looked up the Royal Mile and saw two men setting up what looked like a speaker. Uh-oh. I was already scoping out people to watch my stuff so I could go complain, but the speaker was facing the other way and it was okay. The microphone was held by an old man with long white hair and a white beard. He was wearing old overalls under a denim shirt (Kaiho jokes about playing a show in "double denim," this guy could be an honorary member). What he did was speak, preaching the bible. Of course. After a while he turned the speaker around, which was quite loud, but he was nice when I waved over and gestured that he turn the speaker around again. "I'll try not to drown you out!" he bellowed. Well that's nice.
6. There was also a protest against BBC for something they did at Eurovision something something. Megaphone, banner, walking.
7. Of course there were hen and stag parties as well as people dressed for weddings. There was one particularly interesting group featuring male pallbearers wearing just red loincloths carrying what can best be described as a Semana Santa-type float. It bore an upside-down cross, where the groom lay, in a suit, presumably crucified. I really hoped that this was just a stag party activity and that they weren't actually bringing him to his wedding in this manner. One hen party went by and I easily had time to finish my song and start "Here Comes the Bride." As usual, they reacted but didn't tip. Guess they spent all their money on expensive pink cocktails. Hmph.
8. I've been playing with The Final Countdown, getting ready to arrange it properly. In the meantime, I played the instrumental bit just for fun, and one girl got really excited with me. Can't wait!
9. As I mentioned in a recent post, I've been playing the Brazilian song "Tico Tico" for as long as I've been busking, and only one person has recognized it. However, today two people reacted to it and excitedly identified themselves as Brazilians! Yeah!! Finally!
10. I was playing "The House of the Rising Sun" and a man walked by and matter-of-factly stated "It's been the ruin of many a poor boy."
My favorite songs to play were of course Kaiho's. I'm getting quite good at Call Me, Hot Water, and Rest My Bones. I still need practice on Home, and today I tried out Rebs' Song and Halloween. I didn't put in a super long day, but it was good to get back to it! And tomorrow I'm booked to play at the Stockbridge market! See you there.
But then I guess he had faked me out, because he actually was still playing. Come on! I pretended not to hear (so bad, I know) and set up anyway. If he came over to complain, I would say "Oh, sorry, I saw you packing up!" and victory would be mine. He did get up, but he just walked away. Felt a little bad, actually, but only a little. It was better here, but still quite slow. Let's see what I remember:
Saturday, 2 June, Part II:
1. I was holding the kazoo, trying to warm it up, when a guy asked, "Is that a little pipe or something?" Slightly more family-friendly than that.
2. An older man came up really close to me, too close, and said "Hello there, darlin'." I asked him how he was, giving him a minute to take a step back on his own before I requested that he do so. He asked, "Will your boyfriend get mad if he hears me calling you darlin'?" This guy was seriously like 80. So I said, "Yes, he will, and he usually stops by on Saturdays." Off he went! That was easy.
3. I can not for the life of me read the next note. The most logical decoding of letters would be "Suoks." Or "suqii." This will come back in the middle of the night, I'll get back to you on this one.
4. A woman with a pretty sea foam green beret popped by a couple times, and she said she has an accordion, but it is much bigger. She asked what buttons I had, and I told her majors, but showed her my minor sevenths and open fifths. She totally didn't get it, which made me feel super knowledgeable.
5. I looked up the Royal Mile and saw two men setting up what looked like a speaker. Uh-oh. I was already scoping out people to watch my stuff so I could go complain, but the speaker was facing the other way and it was okay. The microphone was held by an old man with long white hair and a white beard. He was wearing old overalls under a denim shirt (Kaiho jokes about playing a show in "double denim," this guy could be an honorary member). What he did was speak, preaching the bible. Of course. After a while he turned the speaker around, which was quite loud, but he was nice when I waved over and gestured that he turn the speaker around again. "I'll try not to drown you out!" he bellowed. Well that's nice.
6. There was also a protest against BBC for something they did at Eurovision something something. Megaphone, banner, walking.
7. Of course there were hen and stag parties as well as people dressed for weddings. There was one particularly interesting group featuring male pallbearers wearing just red loincloths carrying what can best be described as a Semana Santa-type float. It bore an upside-down cross, where the groom lay, in a suit, presumably crucified. I really hoped that this was just a stag party activity and that they weren't actually bringing him to his wedding in this manner. One hen party went by and I easily had time to finish my song and start "Here Comes the Bride." As usual, they reacted but didn't tip. Guess they spent all their money on expensive pink cocktails. Hmph.
8. I've been playing with The Final Countdown, getting ready to arrange it properly. In the meantime, I played the instrumental bit just for fun, and one girl got really excited with me. Can't wait!
9. As I mentioned in a recent post, I've been playing the Brazilian song "Tico Tico" for as long as I've been busking, and only one person has recognized it. However, today two people reacted to it and excitedly identified themselves as Brazilians! Yeah!! Finally!
10. I was playing "The House of the Rising Sun" and a man walked by and matter-of-factly stated "It's been the ruin of many a poor boy."
My favorite songs to play were of course Kaiho's. I'm getting quite good at Call Me, Hot Water, and Rest My Bones. I still need practice on Home, and today I tried out Rebs' Song and Halloween. I didn't put in a super long day, but it was good to get back to it! And tomorrow I'm booked to play at the Stockbridge market! See you there.
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