The common misconception goes that buskers are musically talented tramps. An open guitar case or upturned hat constitute a tacit invitation for you to show your appreciation with a few coins, but most see it only as begging. Passers-by deliberately overlook the stash of CDs on sale, never mind the expensive equipment being used. No, because this is the street, buskers must be singing for their supper.
This may well be true in some cases, but as Christian McLaughlin's excellent profiles of five of London's best buskers in this week's TIME OUT shows, buskers are usually highly proficient/professional musicians honing their craft in one of the most difficult live environments.
At the showcase put on last night in Shepherd's Bush Green's public toilet-turned-hipster-members-club Ginglik, the buskers proved once and for all that you can't be a chancer or an amateur to hold your own on the streets. You have to be amongst the best at what you do. Either that or you need a good gimmick.
The night was made up of two undoubtedly prodigal musicians: Steel Pan Sam, who subverted the idea that Pan Steel drums are only for Caribbean and Calypso music with a towering rendition of KISS FROM A ROSE by Seal; and MC Xander, whose replication of woofer-blowing drum n' bass got the seated spectators twitching restlessly.
The other three acts had the gimmicks: Beppe Nieddu droned out on a didgeridoo, which must sound great in resonant tube tunnels but suffered after the two opening acts; Milli Moonstone played an Indian Sarangi, which has lots of sympathetic strings apparently, but she later lost the confidence of the audience with her standard hippy-dippy acoustic guitar fare. I missed PunctureKit; he makes a drum kit out of his bike. Nothing like some Afro-beat to sort a slow air leak.
Why the councils in London don't actively support and foster street entertainment like this is beyond me. TFL have been heading the right way but their introducction of an 0845 number to book spots, essentially a pay-to-play scheme, is causing mild controversy.
Anyone out there have any buskers in their city they particularly want to big-up?
