Pre-Pride Friday

Yesterday I mentioned opening of i360 and completely forgot about Brighton Pride coming up already tomorrow! This definitely has much greater impact than the tower - Brighton will be packed! Unfortunately it won't be packed for me as I will be working my other part-time job... For that reason I made the most out of it today! Over five hours busking with another personal best - that's what I call feeling of accomplishment. 

The day began at famous Brighton Pavilion Gardens - one of the most regulated busking spots in Brighton. That's right - the new rules are "still in place" and "buskers are being kicked out" after one hour of playing on every occasion... At least that's what I told Gary and Lionel (I finally found out their names) when they came to take over me playing in the gardens for two and half hours... God, I hate lying, but I felt like I had to. If I had told them I was in the garden for more then two hours, they would go straight to the garden administration and complain how unfair and huge this is... Even though straight after I left they also played for more than an hour - happy in peace. The thing is - when they get a chance to play more, they will definitely do so and not say a word about it, but once someone else gets to play more, they'll go and shout out loud about it. Perhaps they've been kicked out few times after playing for one hour, but to be honest - it's their problem and they shouldn't hang it on other buskers, that's what I think... 

Moving on - I enjoyed playing in the gardens. One particular moment has stuck in my memory - a group of teenagers singing "Someone Like You" and "Clown" along my piano accompaniment - it was a really special moment. It has never happened to me before and they absolutely loved it too. In the end we made a nice group photo (which I hope will appear on Twitter at some point) and wished each other well. 

Dave has been with me all this day from the very beginning. Thing about Dave - he loves to be around people and when I busk he always engages with my audience in a very positive way. Sometimes he tells them about me and it works as an ice-breaker, people become more interested in me. Sometimes he makes up a joke about zebra playing the piano and people become more relaxed watching me play. It's almost like he is welcoming my audience and making them feel home. It's not as he is talking to every single person, but when he does - that's how I see it. 

We both had a quick lunch after leaving the gardens and went to my next busking stop - Bond street. Sun was still on the right side of the street when I came - that's something I always pay attention to when I come to play at this spot lunchtime. Later on sun changes direction and spot becomes rather "dark". I find when I play in shade people don't notice me as much.

The hour went quite quick. Once again - lots of kids around; it helps to play in a narrow street - I like to surprise children when they walk past right in front of the piano. Some curious ones tend to lean down and look into the nostrils of the mask to see if Zebra is real. I often notice them leaning down and scare them with a sudden shake of my head just before they manage to see my face. It's always lots of fun. 

Someone gave me a "Dairy Free" chocolate instead of the money. After I finished I had a little peace myself (as I'm on the special diet) and gave the rest to Dave. I also gave him £4 because he went to Poundland for me before to get the batteries for my amp. He also tends to take pictures of me and then he spends his own money to print them off at Boots before handing them to me. I think he deserves much more than £4 for all the things he has done for me, but he never wants to take any money from me. I convinced him by saying "it's for the printouts, its basically for me". Only then he agreed to take it. 

By the way - here is a little video I made of Dave showing "how it's done". If you can't play the piano, but really want to become a busker - this is what you do :D

My last stop of the day was East street crossroads. I tend to go there around 3-4pm when the sun enlightens the spot like a stage light. Street was quite busy when I came with many street sellers set up for the Brighton Pride and selling various rainbow colored accessories. I set up opposite few South Americans selling various bracelets and little wooden pan flutes. They didn't really mind me playing. My street-seller-friend was also around there holding his little son Omar in his hands. He came to talk to me before I began playing. It reminded of the last year when we met for the first time - it was actually on the Brighton Pride and I had a picture of us somewhere on the computer... 

I played an hour before having a little break and then carried on for another hour. Good thing about this spot - no one else really busks in here, so I can play for as long as I want. My brother in law came to see me with his parents at one point. Dave left for a bit to get himself a beer and brought me some mixed fruit. Street sellers came few times to exchange a note into coins. At that point I noticed someone left a £10 note and again I didn't notice who it was just to say "Thank you!"...

I finished playing at 5:10pm. I wrapped all my day's earnings in zebra blanket and gave it to Dave for a wild guess of how much money is in there.. I couldn't really guess myself, but it was definitely more heavy than usual.. Turned out to be the most money I ever made busking in one day. Perhaps one day I will set a new personal best, but as for today I've done my best and enjoyed every single bit of it. .