Tonight was easily the strangest mix of events I've ever witnessed in one evening of busking.
I started out at 59th St (1 and 3 line), and got through about one song when I discovered that another busker had set up shop behind me. One of those "Music Under New York" fellows. (Sure I applied to be one too, but this guy is significantly less cool than I would be as a MUNY representative). This guy sings in a really obnoxious high-pitched voice and plucks some crazy African instrument with his thumbs...I used to think it was nifty, but now that he's got me all miffed, I'm gonna pull a human and be mad at him. I told him, "look, I know you're all official, but this is part of my livelihood, and since I was here first, you should probably go." He presented an official MUNY schedule, which apparently equals diplomatic immunity. I wish I coulda been like Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon II, when he shoots that guy with diplomatic immunity anyway because he's just that cool. I didn't have a gun or an original film to make a sequel out of, so I let it go and migrated down to 34th St.
It's a bad pitch. There's no freaking room, there are four potential platforms to receive the noisy razor subway cars, and everyone looks pretty miserable. Nonetheless, I made decent money and had a pretty good time before I had to head out to see my friends' improv show at the Magnet.
Afterwards, I thought I'd scope out 59th St again. Sure enough, it was free, and I set up camp. I don't know what it was...maybe a full moon?...There were soooo many cute girls out tonight! One group spotted me after getting off their train, stuck around to hear me finish my song, and then asked if I took requests! I did my best...I really need to expand my repertoire. After they left, more cute girls replaced them...I'm not usually a completely girl-crazy type, but I couldn't help but notice them tonight. It was awkward of course...I mean, what am I going to say? "Hey, so yeah, I'm playing my guitar in the subway. Wanna get a drink sometime?" It doesn't really work. At any rate, they all seemed to like the stuff I was playing, and that's more than enough for me.
I had applause tonight! On a couple of occasions I've had one or two people applaud after a song, and I was flattered; not only because of their appreciation, but also of their willingness to applaud a busker, someone who the general public does not congratulate or admire in the least. But tonight, practically half the station applauded after three consecutive songs! I was truly flabbergasted.
Later on, one guy asked if I knew "Save Tonight" by Eagle Eye Cherry. While I like the song, I didn't really know how it went, but luckily he was able to tell me the chord progression. I spun through the chorus a couple times, but didn't know the lyrics to the verse. A crazy group of college-age kids came in a little later and formed a little pow-wow around me, swing dancing to the Oasis song I was playing. And not in a mocking way, which has happened before. They were all super nice, and seemed to get a kick out of me interacting with them so nonchalantly (at least as far as I'm concerned, everyone should feel free to talk to me...it's not like I'm onstage and can't acknowledge the audience).
To top it all of, as that group was leaving, a hispanic-looking gentleman with a guitar strapped to him trotted up to be and began strumming with me. Being completely down for a jam with a stranger, we tried tuning for a second, but he clearly wasn't into such specifics, and wanted to get going with a song. Before I knew it, he was playing "Guantanemera"...now, if you're one of the three people that know me in this city, you'll know that I'm obsessed with this song. If you aren't, you know now. I couldn't believe the coincidence. We had a fun time harmonizing for all of thirty seconds -- then the train came and he was gone (with a promise that he'd be back after making two laps on the subway...seeing as how that would have probably found him returning to 59th around 4:00 or something, I decided he wouldn't be too offended if I went home).
Interestingly enough, upon returning home, I discovered a myspace invitation to a Be-In. The invitation apparently came from someone who saw me at 34th St earlier tonight and remembered my myspace URL. Pretty cool...Be-Ins seem like they'd be a lot of fun.
After my first stint at 59th tonight, by G harp blew a reed, so I snagged a new one on my way to 34th St. Unfortunately, I couldn't really use it much since it hadn't been broken in yet (wailing on a new harp is sure-fire way to demolish it early on), and it just so happens to be in the key that I play in the most. So, I decided to transpose all my songs up a whole step into A tonight, to match my other harp (it would have been too much of a jump to make them into C, my third and final harp). I was worried that I may not be able to sing some of the songs up that high (sometimes G feels like it may be pushing it), but it actually fit into my voice even better...I guess I must have a vocal break somewhere around G, though I've not given it much thought before now. Having the songs up higher tonight also made my voice travel a little better I suppose, which could explain why I did so well...I'm not sure. I'm only sure of one thing:
I have no clue how to meet girls in this city.
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