A huge THANK YOU must go to the people of Port Adelaide.
They say that when one door closes, another door opens. After the downer of being expunged from busking at Westlakes, I went down to Port Adelaide last Saturday morning, and played through lunch time. I was set up on the West-facing wall of Foodland, facing the large car park.
I have to say the punters were quite generous on the day. So much so that I was able to pass a few bucks on to Bruno, a local identity who is frequently seen down the port bumming money or cigarettes. Easy come easy go I say, and Bruno is one of those people who, if I have a bit to spare on the day, I’ll always pass on a bit to him so I was glad that the locals were in a giving mood.
Thank you people of the Port, you’ve done yourselves proud.
Well, it seems the odd squeaky wheel gets the oil. A small number of shop owners at Wesfield Westlakes have put an end to the live entertainment myself and other buskers have been supplying (free) there.
Whilst I’ve had nothing but positive feedback from passers-by and shop owners alike, it seems that a couple of those who would rather have canned doof-doof blasting their customers have taken it upon themselves to shut the live stuff down. You see, people don’t pass on the good comments to management. There’s no need to. Only those who want to complain and whinge will go to the trouble. And they have.
The management themselves have expressed regret at having to take the action of shutting us down, they said they enjoyed the ambiance live music added to the centre, but that they must keep their paying leaseholders happy, and that they’ve had word from national HQ that the busking must stop, citing legal concerns. Seems the whingers have gone right to the top. There should be no legal concerns. Even though when busking I am just a ‘beggar with a permit’, I have a $20million legal liability policy just in case some litigious bastard trips on my guitar case and wants to sue.
Anyhow, seems not much can be done, though I am thinking of a well-worded letter of complaint to Westfield HQ myself… stay tuned!
A big THANK YOU goes out to Ellise and Lidia at the Westfield shopping centre at Westlakes. They have kindly given permission for me to busk INSIDE the shopping centre in inclement weather. Several other buskers have also taken advantage of this opportunity. Of course, permission must be sought and gained from the management, but I have found them to be very accommodating.
Here’s me at Westlakes with my new(ish) Martin six-string acoustic and my also new(ish) Roland AC-33 acoustic amplifier.
Dave Smith at Wesfield Westlakes shopping centre.
Now this Roland amp is just the best thing since sliced bread, for the busker who wishes to retain the acoustic sound of their instrument whilst enhancing their vocals with a chorus effect that works just great. It’s a true stereo amp and so the chorus operates by splitting the output between the channels and altering the phases relative to each other, to give a huge ‘wide’ or ‘broad’ sound. Oh yeah, it runs on either mains power OR eight AA batteries. I use rechargeables and I get at least five hours out of them without showing any signs of fading, so I have no reason to doubt their quoted life of over 8 hours of operation.
Add to that the Fishman controls on the Martin (which does it’s own phase-shifting trick) and this setup sounds so professional, yet so natural too, WITHOUT being unnecessarily loud (an important consideration with other traders closeby).
I know this must sound like an advertisement, but I have no association with either company but I DID research heavily before making my purchases. Having done that, I could not be happier with the setup I now have!
On Friday April 4th I played at the Largs Bay RSL club, on Carnavon Terrace, Largs North. A really good bunch of people who enjoyed my romp through the sixties with them. Had a few get up dancing which is always nice, and played several requests for a few folk. Whilst ‘Coward Of The County’ is a bit out of my comfort zone, they all sang along with it so I can’t have mashed it up too much! Sang ‘What A Wonderful World’ with Peter, he’s got a good voice so it was fun to have a blast with him. All in all a good night was had by everyone.
Yesterday I had the pleasure of playing for the Tubercular Soldiers Aid Socitey of SA in the city, and I had an absolute blast! For about an hour I played a selection of colonial music (they had a colonial theme day) which included a large selection of Banjo Paterson poems which have been put to music over the years.
The audience were mainly seniors in their 80s and 90s, and they all seemed to love the event. Some even sang along to a few of their old favorites. Great to see such an elderly crowd jigging and clapping along with the music. Makes it all worthwhile!
After the music, they laid on a wonderful lunch and we all had a good chinwag, as well as a colonial knowledge quiz, so I didn’t leave ’till around 2:30. It was a great gig and they said they’ll be glad to have me back there again.
A special thanks to Betty Howard and Ian Anderson who booked me for the event, and looked after me so well. I met some lovely people and will look forward to the next time I play for them.
Just thought I’d update my stuff a bit, it’s been quite a while since I posted to this site.
I’ve changed the location I mainly busk at now. Due mainly to another busker who refused to cooperate in any way but insisted on taking over the area near the lighthouse with the assistance of a loud amplifier… and also a constant battle with the elements under the lighthouse (wind, sun, rain…) I went down to Westlakes shopping centre recently to see how things might go down there.
Not only did I find the public very appreciative, but also the Westlakes Management (particularly Ellise McCoombe, the marketing executive) were actually encouraging, something I did not expect of a modern shopping complex. So much so, that now I busk indoors at the food court, after having established myself as having enough talent not to scare off the public or upset the traders 🙂
All in all, I am enjoying my time there. I have mainly been doing Sundays, but might give Saturdays a try for a while. Stay tuned!
I spent much of the weekend at the recent Tall Ships Festival in Port Adelaide busking on McLaren Wharf. Saturday August 31 saw tens of thousands of people come to see the ships. On Sunday (September 1st) I did a couple of hours in my usual spot, under the lighthouse. During the morning the tall ships departed, a sight not to be repeated very often in Port Adelaide I guess.
Then just after the ships departed, I heard an amplified didgeridoo, and I realized Willydidj was over in the busker’s pitch. I had met Willy several weeks before but not heard him play until now. All I can say is WOW!
I’ve heard a fair bit of didj playing in my time, and I have to say that Willydidj performs to international standard. He has a CD out and it’s well worth buying if you like awesome original music. Check out his website thedidgeridoohunter.com.
Willy was also kind enough to use his performance to bring awareness to the plight of dolphins in Japan.
In inclement weather market management are kind enough to allow me to busk inside. The traders seem to enjoy it as it brings more people past their wares, and they get to hear tunes they may not have heard in years!
Back in April 2013 I was busking in my usual fair-weather spot, when I noticed a senior gentleman and a younger woman taking a keen interest in the Australian songs I was singing. Then in a very strong German accent the gentleman said “That is Banjo Paterson isn’t it?”. I nodded that he was correct. Then between songs, the pair approached me and introduced themselves as father and daughter (or granddaughter?) on holiday from Germany. Dieter (the gentleman, with the woman translating) then told me that he loved Banjo Paterson poetry but that he had not heard so many of them put to music before. He probably knew more Banjo Paterson poetry than many Australian youth, a sad indictment on our education system.
