Yesterday marked my first Black Friday as a busker. Northampton, Massachusetts is the perfect place to perform on this day, since the residents are gung-ho about supporting local businesses. Sure enough, the parking garage was full: a good sign for having ample foot traffic. It was a beautiful day, and within minutes of setting up I had to shed several layers, eventually donning only my sleeveless piano dress and tights. The sun felt so good!
Buskers were out in full force. My friends The Coyote Choir were set up immediately outside Thornes, where the Salvation Army bell-ringer didn't even try to stay in rhythm--wtf? They sounded fantastic. I tried that side of Main St. first, but every few feet someone was set up: the old black guitar player who's been there for years, a young talented hipster-ish guitar player, and a saxophone player at the intersection. I went to the other side of the street and saw Steve, the veteran guitar player in his usual spot across from Faces.
I ended up around the bend outside Sam's Pizzeria. It seemed to be a good place, since there were people sitting outside and lots of foot traffic, but I was doing poorly. I finally realized that my back was directly to the sun. Great for me, but that meant folks had to look directly into the sun to look at me. D'oh. I moved to right outside Synergy. The management there gave me a really hard time. One employee came out and said "Oh, no! The owner is NOT going to be okay with this. You're going to have to move." I explained that it's the biggest shopping day of the year and that the buskers were out in full force and that once another spot opened up I would move. In this case, she had no legal leg to stand on. There are specific busking laws in Northampton, and I was not in violation of any. The sidewalk was six feet wide, I was on the road side, I wasn't sitting on a bench, etc. Regardless, I moved about six feet to my right so I wasn't directly in front of their door. A while later, the owner came out. She snapped at me, "I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but you're too loud. It's hard to hear customers as it is inside." She turned and went back in, not even demanding that I move, thinking it was just implied. I didn't point out that she could have just closed her door. I don't expect that kind of reaction in a city that promotes the arts as much as this one. Even so, I moved about six feet in the other direction. I liked it here because I could see my reflection in the store window, and could thus remind myself to smile and use my whole bellows, but the sun was at a weird angle and I kept tripping over loose bricks around a tree.
After a while I decided to take a break. I got a chai and went to listen to the Coyote Choir for a bit. My wrists and shoulders have been sore since I'm playing a lot these days around the house, so it's important to take breaks! I began my second set around 4:30. Steve had left and I took his spot outside of Faces. This was really great, since, as you know, once the sun sets I start playing better and everyone starts tipping better. The Faces crew never gives me a hard time. I had to put some sweaters on eventually, but the evening set could not have been better.
Here's what happened, in both spots:
1. I ran into a lot of former high school classmates who were home for Thanksgiving! Some ignored me while I ignored them, and others I exchanged pleasantries with. Some showed surprise at my current occupation, and others just said, "Hi Sophie" as if it wasn't the first time we were seeing each other in five years. The most interesting of these interactions was with Leland Moore, a unique character from high school. He confessed that he's in law school, and I told him that I would not have guessed in high school that that's where he'd be in five years. He said, "Howie did." Apparently another strange classmate, Howie, told him "You'll either be a Greenpeace hippie or a corporate lawyer." We all expected the former. These things happen!
2. There were adorable children out. The first was this little brunette girl who couldn't have been more than a year and half old. She was super serious, and didn't change her expression as I played my repertoire of kids' songs, but she flexed her hands as she watched mine. Finally I took out Flaca, and her mom manipulated her. It wasn't until she grabbed Flaca and had a go with her that she let her smile shine, and it was worth the wait. Such a pretty little girl! She had her do the dance that Flaca most often does at the mercy of little kids: bouncing flat on her back. She must have great abs! Another kid was out, and I asked for a favorite song to play. The answer was "Happy Birthday," even though it was no one's birthday. Another little boy danced all over the place, and asked for "more" after every song. He wanted "the cow song," after I played Old MacDonald once. Right when I set up some parents revealed their 7-week-old, who was about to hear her first accordion. It did not end well. They can try again in a year!
3. Two people were waiting to cross the street as I did Bad Romance. The man showed excitement, and naturally wanted to dance. The dance he did was the whole arms crossed, kick legs out routine that one associates more with Jewish weddings than with clubs. Usually I don't do the pop songs in an area as sophisticated and indie as Northampton, but I was playing everything yesterday so they came out, and people liked them, even here. Dynamite is still an ace card. No one recognizes Friday, even on Black Friday!
4. A strange thing happened: "I Want You Back" was sooooo good. I arranged the timeless Jackson 5 hit last winter, but it's been super challenging. For whatever reason, I was just nailing it yesterday. Hope it'll be true other days!
5. I had a very nice talk with Steve, and guitar player, as I was switching spots. He immediately offered me his spot, which I declined, but was so nice. He smiled as he jested, "Your music's great, but I don't know about that haircut." As I was walking away, he sang a song about me. I forget the words, but it used my name and rhymed with "fun." He's a notable colleague.
6. There was a guy between Steve and I sitting on a bench playing guitar. I wasn't sure if he was trying to busk, so I felt a little bad setting up so close to him. He came over at one point, and I was sure it was to complain, but he was just listening! I dusted off my old arrangement of "What is Love?" to which he did the Night at the Roxbury head dance.
7. People were reacting to my signs! Some commented on the loans, and other just read "Sophie's Smokin' Squeezebox" aloud to their party and chuckled.
8. A man came up to talk. He looked sort of haggard and held a paper bag with a bottle in it. He reminded me in appearance of the people in the Mission District of San Francisco who would see my money and ask me for it. I stood a little closer to the box. As it turned out, I very much misjudged this man. In broken English, he asked me to play an Argentinian tango. I told him, in Spanish, that they were very hard. But I said I'd try "El Dia Que Me Quieras," but then I couldn't find the key. He sang it anyway. We conversed in Spanish a bit (felt so good!), and he said I should go to Colombia, where he's from, to learn accordion songs. I said I would try. He took my hand and kissed it before wishing me a good night and leaving. This was a very nice interaction.
9. Someone told me about a band called Bela's Bartok that features accordion, I guess! They were playing at the Iron Horse last night.
10. Best donation ever: a standard alternative Northampton teenage girl came up and laid a single red rose wrapped in yellow tissue paper in my box. It looked so beautiful next to Flaca and the painted box. It touched me that she would give me such a wonderful donation at a young age, and it was such a perfect gypsy touch for my setup. She said "accordions are sexy." Damn straight! She and her friend lingered for a while, joined by more friends. I told her to pick a song, and she studied my set list and chose the Tetris theme song. Her friend confessed that his life was now complete after hearing it. They're great people, it's nice to know there's hope for teenagers!
11. There was an interesting sight that walked by twice: a woman with her real dog and her latex one. She had an adorable little white dog on a black leash. In her other hand, she walked the craft of a balloon man who had folded her a little white dog on a black leash. I wish I had a photo. Only in Northampton or Ptown.
12. I talked to a fellow member of the 99%, who asked about my loans. He was just laid off from his job so money was tight. He used to be in a cover band. Cool!
13. Around this time of year, Faces sets up a projector in their window that throws tiny green dots on the sidewalk in front of it. They move around and explode when they collide. This is great entertainment for people trying to figure out where it's coming from, and it was surprisingly not competition for me.
14. I met someone who works at Faces. He said he has his mother's old accordion. I told him he had to learn Jingle Bells by the time I was back in town.
I packed up because it's Thanksgiving and my family was going to the movies! In summary, it was a great day and I want to play more in Northampton. I have to always wear my piano dress since I got tons of compliments! The end.
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