This was the scene of a pretty successful outing about six weeks ago, so in my quest to play a show every day this week, it was a natural addition to the itinerary. I arrived just before 8pm and got set up and playing in short order. Maybe it’s from playing more shows this week, but I’m lately much faster at getting all the gear set up to play.

It’s an interesting corner to play on because a lot of people stop to check out the Lego models in the window of the light bulb store. Most people who linger aren’t paying much attention to me, because there’s a Star Wars space ship behind me.

But some linger to take in a song or two. Almost as soon as  I started, a friend happened by, and she was finally able to see me perform in real life instead of just watching videos online. But she soon left and I was on my own again.

A man at the bus stop across the street was kind of grooving and applauding between songs, and eventually came over to drop some small coins in the bucket. He apologized that it wasn’t more, but I told him truthfully, I was just happy he was enjoying it, and invited him to grab a bench. But no, he wanted to go back to the bus stop. Commuters!

Sometimes when playing on the street a special moment happens. A couple of people stop, then a couple more, and soon there’s a small crowd. I had just launched into a kind of epic song called “Entropy” as about 15 people watched. They were really with me, through all the stops, tempo changes, right to the conclusive final line. Much applause. A man impressed by the song asked me, “Which artist are you covering with that song?” I told him it was my own song–I am only playing my own songs–and he dropped a couple more dollars in the bucket.

But then the moment ended. I was taking too long to start the next song, what with catching my breath and trying to remember what I hadn’t played yet. The crowd took this lull as an opportunity to disperse, and I was all alone again.

A couple of other folks hung out to take in the last few songs, and I wrapped things up just before 9pm. (I don’t want to become a nuisance to the neighbors who have to go to work the next day.) I played my traditional final song “Used to It” and skedaddled.