Street Corner Playing/audience Response

[helenjayne]

have never done it with a concertina. but occasionaly i have got out my harmonica and started playing. once sat on a wall at a goose fair that comes to our little town once a year. got very little reaction from crowds but the place was so noisey and bustley i dont think any one noticed at all. but i was only playing for myself and a friend. i kept the trend for that night going, and played on the bus home. got several odd looks from turning heads from a few seats infront but i did notice one lady drumming her fingers on her bag to the right beat. was quite bizarre, as soon as i stopped bob dylan came on the radio. cant remember which song now, but it was one where he plays his harmonica at the start.

 

most interesting reactions iv had was when i got it out of my bag in funky restaurant place after a meal out followed by drinks with some friends. Unfortunately for those in earshot, i may have perhaps had a few too many swigs of guinness.

 

strangely i remember being prompted towards the door not long after

Edited November 22, 2006 by helenjayne

[NTennyson]

Bah! I busk regularly with my bluegrass group in Kalamazoo, MI - 'bout 100,000 person city. Pretty small - and people love it! They ask what days we play and which corner. As long as we're not amplified and there's no complaints, the police don't give a hoot where we play.

 

In Chicago - where I go to school - I often play my fiddle outside Union Station. I get several hundred people passing in front of me every hour and no one ever even looks at me. People just walk on by, sometimes they slow down, and about 1 in 10 drops something in my case. I still make about $40/hour busking during rush, so I do it to pay for train fare pretty regularly. Sometimes the cops hassle me if I've been in one spot for too long but I think it's pretty good money so who cares, right?

 

I think it's a simple matter of being unobtrusive. Busking with horns or amplified instruments (like the guys with the fiddles and the pocket amps) can really seem to grate on people after a while. It's just too loud! But if your music really only stretches out, say, 10 or so feet away from you, it's a good deal. People get a pleasant surprise when they get close to you.

 

Of course, I don't really know how loud a concertina is, because my CC Jack hasn't arrived in the mail yet.

 

I say, go for it! Play really softly, so people can't hear you from more than a few steps away, and only look at people if they give you money, and then just a quick nod or "thanks" is all that's needed. I love busking - I do it all the time and I think the cities I frequent would be vastly improved if more (accomplished) musicians regularly shared their gifts on the city streets.

 

-Nate

[Rhomylly]

Maybe you should leave your case out in case someone wants to drop in money. Maybe that's what's throwing them!

 

Congratulations chainyanker!!! Making enough $$ for coffee and a donut (or equivalent) is where it's at!

 

I love busking, and look forward to living somewhere with more busking opportunities. But I'm also glad I don't have to rely on it for a living.

[chainyanker]

Congratulations chainyanker!!! Making enough $$ for coffee and a donut (or equivalent) is where it's at!

 

Rhomylly

im thinkin, if my wife will put on the monkey suit, jump around with a cup maybe i can make enough to make to east texas this year.

[Simon Rosser]

When I was at college and suffering the then normal penury, I occasionally used to busk at central london tube stations and, in the summer, in various parks. I always did quite well and though I occasionally got moved on it was always in a polite fashion. Playing a concertina certainly got me noticed and (I like to think) earnt me a bit more than say a guitarist. It was louder anyway!

 

When out with friends from school or college, my box generally went with me and in only a few pubs was I ever asked to desist. Most landlords in those days welcomed a bit of music and the Morris side were welcome everywhere. I was never offended by the few who didn't appreciate or want the music. I simply shut up and got on with my beer!

 

This is sadly not so often the case now and I rarely think to take my box with me unless we're playing at an organised function or an increasingly rare music pub.

 

I've heard a lot recently about a requirement for a licence in order to perform like this nowadays and I'm saddened if this is truly the case. Music is a real gift to all of us whether as players or as audience and anything that restricts its appearance in public life serves only to render us all the poorer.

 

I suspect that the occasional strange looks from passers by are more frequent simply because fewer people play and I've often had passing folk engage me in conversation, the general theme of which appears to be "I wish I could play". I'm no hotshot player by any means but I'm grateful to be able to play and suspicious of anything, institution or person that would restrict the proliferation of music in our society.

 

Keep on playing!

 

Simes

[Theodore Kloba]

I often play my fiddle outside Union Station. I get several hundred people passing in front of me every hour and no one ever even looks at me. People just walk on by, sometimes they slow down, and about 1 in 10 drops something in my case.

I've probably seen you! I work across Jackson St. from the station. Do you play along Riverside Plaza? I used to play there all the time, but I became too busy at work to afford the time at lunch.

Sometimes the cops hassle me if I've been in one spot for too long but I think it's pretty good money so who cares, right?

If it is actual Chicago Police hassling you, you'd probably have better luck if you remember that the way to a public servant's heart is through taxes and purchase a Street Performer's License. I never obtained one when I played, but I also had a sign that said (along with some fine-print explanations):

1. Please no money
   
2. No, it's not an accordion
   
3. This is not my job
   

If it's private security staff from one of the office buildings, then you're out of luck; much of Riverside Plaza is private property (as are many sidewalks in downtown Chicago, which are built over basement "vaults") and building owners can control what happens there.

I think it's a simple matter of being unobtrusive.

Certainly that helps. One time a coworker tried to join me with her snare drum. That got us booted out almost instantaneously.

 

In general, people here seem to be pretty kind to street musicians.

[Phantom Button]

I used to play there all the time, but I became too busy at work to afford the time at lunch.

On nice days I used to sit on the steps of the Saint Francis de Assisi Church in North Beach here in SF during my lunch hour and practice after eating my sandwich. There were usually about 5 or 10 other people enjoying their lunch hour and soaking up the sun, and they didn't seem bothered and actually encouraged me. One day as this was going on a rather large pile of newspapers piled in the corner began to move and a fellow that looked very much like a caveman emerged from underneath and growled at me, "CAN'T A MAN GET ANY SLEEP AROUND HERE?!!!"

[Mark Evans]

November 1984 Madrid, Shady Grove was embarking on our first European tour. It was a Tuesday and I had gone to the Retiro to walk and just enjoy the beautiful day. That fantastic park was full of people (some national holiday I assume). I ran back to the hotel and begged my bandmates to come back to the park with me. Why not play for these folks?

 

We pulled out our instruments and just had at it. What a crowd gathered! After a short set people came up and started putting money in our hands, smiling and trying to communicate! An Oriental child gave me some coins with square holes through their center (I still have them stashed away in a box). I was so profoundly moved. Odd, but that was for me the performance high water mark of my life.

 

In retrospect it took some measure of sand to just trust in the kindness and openess of strangers, and forever I will remember the suprise and delight on the faces as we played.

 

Beats some wag passing in front of you clappin' his hand over his ears, for that has been my alternate experience on occation.

 

If yer gonna gonna drink deeply of the good, ya have to at least let the bad roll off yer shoulder!