My Funny Valentine's Day

Love was in the air last night (not) when we took to the streets of Edinburgh for a special Valentine's Day set. Last year, in San Francisco, I practiced a bunch of special romantic songs for the big day (Love Me Tender, La Vie en Rose, My Funny Valentine, I Want You Back), put together a pink outfit (complete with pipe cleaner hearts on a headband), and then got rained out.

I practiced those songs again this year (plus Let's Stay Together), but opted to wear all black. There were bound to be grumpy anti-Valentine's folks out and about as well, and I thought I would get tips from more people if I didn't give in to the commercial craze by donning hearts.

I went over to Rose St. first, but there didn't seem to be much action. The stores on Princes St. were closing, and there weren't enough open restaurants for it to be worth my while. I headed over to the Royal Mile, considering setting up on North Bridge (but buses are loud), but eventually set up across from St. Giles Cathedral on the Royal Mile.

The Royal Mile just sucks this time of year!! Folks say it's great, but I'm doing really poorly there. It was pretty boring, but these interactions happened:

Tuesday, February 14, 2012:
1. Despite being Valentine's Day, I played all of my songs, including the completely non-romantic ones (such as "Werewolves of London" and "Chim Chim Cheree." I played the latter, and a family walked by and tipped, saying something about Mary Poppins. I confirmed that it wasn't a super romantic song, and he said, in a Scottish accent, "Mary Poppins is always a favorite!"

2. Parents walked by with their toddler, who was wearing a yellow and black snowsuit that made him look like a mascot for DeWalt. He got himself out of the stroller to listen, and just stood, transfixed, holding his papa's hand. After each song, he burst into applause. I guess this kid's used to shows! Cute.

3. In the evenings, Ghost Tours depart from the cathedral. They are led by folks in long black capes, and they have bigger crowds than any other tour I've seen. I'm in no hurry to do the tour, but it brings tourists along a haunted route, pointed out suicides from North Bridge, hangings where people survived in Grassmarket, and all sorts of weird things in graveyards. I felt a little bad for playing when they were trying to talk across the street, but oh well. I didn't have any scary songs to play, and wondered if anyone would recognize "This is Halloween." The guides brought their groups right by me, but no one tipped. Darn!

4. Something awesome happened. This young man wearing a lot of orange (hat, scarf, and more) stood across the street listening. Later, he came by and said that I had been playing some sort of theme song, and sang a bar. I didn't recognize it. I hadn't played Tetris or Wallace and Gromit yet, which just left the Godfather. He said it wasn't. He sang it again, but I didn't pick up anything. I tried my luck..."Twin Peaks?" "Yes!" Whattttt. "Where are you from?" "Sweden." Apparently Twin Peaks has made it to Sweden! And to think, I just posted on facebook my confidence that no one would recognize it over here. (Later, I was talking to an Englishman who also knows it--no way!)

5. I started playing my new "Let's Stay Together," and two men reacted. They said something like, "You started playing a song but then switched to another melody!" Didn't quite follow them. When the confusion abated, it was clear that they thought I was playing the intro song to Pulp Fiction. They sang it, and it did sound like the intro to Let's Stay Together. Hm.

6. A guy came up with lots of equipment. He said he had just gotten to town and wanted to meet the other street musicians. He's Czech and plays the didgeridoo. Obviously. He actually took more of my time that I would have liked, since I was clearly trying to play and make money! That's how you can tell he's an amateur. He asked about good spots, and I was stingy and didn't tell him about Rose St. "Yeah, the Royal Mile's totally the best!" This will come back to haunt me. Although I did truthfully suggest he go away from the castle, since there wasn't much happening in that direction, but he walked towards the castle anyway. I saw him walking back the other direction soon after. Nice that he's into meeting his colleagues. His name is long and complicated, but he gave me permission to call him by the first syllable: Dal.

7. And then...the evening-changer. A friendly young man approached me and told me about the "Uke Boogie," a monthly open mic night for anything except guitars. That's really cool, since, as you know, most open mic nights are boring guitar player after boring guitar player. Tonight was the night! He told me when and where, and encouraged me to come play. I did.

8. The Uke Boogie. So awesome. Made this the best Valentine's Day ever. This is an excellent place to meet weirdos, in a good way (my people). All sorts of cool shoes and unconventional haircuts, and folks were super nice. It took place in the basement of the Banshee Labyrinth, a punk/heavy metal club. In fact, it looked so scary from the outside with the black and neon green everywhere, that I almost pretended I hadn't seen the pencil sign saying "Uke Boogie" with an arrow pointing downstairs and left. There were lots of people there, and a good amount of performers, but it moved quickly and was great entertainment. A super chatty rather rotund woman wearing a shirt with an indecipherable pattern (legos? pills? atoms?) sang (she was later spotted knitting booties during other acts). A bearded man played piano and sang songs that were humorous, but I couldn't hear him! An adorably innocent and shy young woman played Uke, and romantically dedicated "You've Got a Friend" to her boyfriend, who is also her best friend. I want her to be my friend too. There was a long act from Todd, a fellow American. He does street magic. I'd like to talk to him more. I guess he's from Florida, and he played a sad song he wrote for his 15 year old daughter, who he recently saw for the first time in twelve years.

It was a supportive crowd when I got up there! I had no idea what to play, so I asked them and we decided that they wanted to hear both pretty songs and recognizable songs, and NOT romantic songs. I opened with "Werewolves of London" as my non-romantic song (although it's still shaky), then "La Noyee" from Amelie as a pretty song (this seemed like an Amelie crowd), then wrapped it up with "Dynamite," which everyone gets excited about whether or not they're supposed to be alternative and not even know current pop songs.

The hosts were Alex (who recruited me) and "Pockets," and they performed together a bunch. They both play ukes and sing, and Alex also plays melodica and glockenspiel (while wearing a partial tiger costume). Pockets also plays what I think he called a "banjulele," which is simply a ukulele-sized banjo which he supposedly made. Cool! Their songs were really catchy and funny. They ended the night with a cover of "Don't Stop me Now" with Pockets on lead uke and vocals, and Alex on backup uke, glock, melodica, vocal harmonies, and random banging on things. Brought down the house.

Everyone was super friendly; I was so happy I had found this group! After each act Alex instructed the crowd to "go crazy for [whoever just performed." Woo-hoo! The boogie happens on the second tuesday of each month, but they say they post other events on the facebook group for those who can't wait that long. They're also looking for a new venue, since they're over capacity at the current one. Awesome. Oh, and there was a raffle with prizes presumably purchased at charity shops all over the city. These included weird homemade art, a feather boa, and a Dr. Who Operation game. Maybe I'll win big next time.

Anyway, that's all for Valentine's Day playing! Off to practice "Pirates of the Caribbean."

XOXO