MY RESPONSE, AGAIN AS YET UN-PRINTED, THOUGH BH MORGAN'S LETTER CELEBRATING THE NEW BY-LAW PROPOSAL HAS ALREADY BEEN PRINTED. LEVEL MEDIA PLAYING FIELD??? ME THINKS NOT!
BUT YOU CAN READ IT RIGHT IN FULL RIGHT HERE!
TO: "LETTERS TO THE EDITOR", BATH CHRONICLE...... TUE August 1, 2000
FROM: GRAHAM WALKER AKA: GROD GRODDLER "The Banned Busker Of Bath"
Monday July 31st, 7:30pm and the Abbey Square was again almost deserted. One chap sat on the bench reading a book, two girls having a coffee, the BINK`s cafe staff stood idly having wiped all the empty tables several times. As normal it wasn't worth busking just yet, I'm only allowed an hour, so I bought the Chronicle to read and awaited a larger audience. Two minutes later we were all laughing hysterically as I read out BH Morgan's latest rant from Fantasyland, entitled "Tourist Area is now a Haven for Crime."
Apparently, starting from 6pm to the early hours on a daily basis we should have been witnessing stabbings, physical and verbal attacks from loud drunken undesirables urinating on the Pump Rooms walls. Reality though is quite different, but BH Morgan rarely goes there.
I have sat in that Square many evenings over the last few weeks at exactly the time of night he is referring to. The timetable is fairly normal.
6pm most tourists and vendors leave for their suppers, leaving in full view the beggars and homeless, who were already there. With no one to beg from they tend to gather and chat, and most being drunk are occasionally loud, sometimes abusive, mainly at each other. In the meantime the bin men empty the center bins and are on hand to report trouble or potential trouble, the security cameras also keep watch .
At 7:20pm the sweeper van comes round the streets and Squares making any busking impossible. At around 7:45pm the tourists begin to reappear on their way to evening events, including some into the Square for the Ghost Tour starting there at 8:10pm , sometimes I play a short set while they wait.
After the Ghost Tour leaves at 8:30pm I then perform a concert until around 9:15pm when I break to let the Bizarre Comedy walk pass through. This popular walk attracts extra people to the Square wondering what is going on, they normally stay after it has left for the second part of my set until 10pm. The latest time allowed by the Busker Code in July/August, 8pm all other months.
Except often now the Square is so quiet or I am drowned out by the Cafe's hosing down the pavement, closing early because of the lack of customers, I either go home or occasionally play until 10pm outside the Disney Store for the passing tourists. While others take over from me at this spot, I do not personally break the Code and work to it and the law.
The main problem I have found in attracting an evening audience in Bath 's Abbey Square is simply the fact I have been banned for nearly two years from using an amplifier, on the basis of four complaints over an entire summer, including those of BH Morgan. The audience now simply has difficulty hearing me, especially my guitar and has forced me to radically re-structure my set and do songs I can perform more loudly, though can sing quieter songs better.
The amp gave a professional sound and allowed those entering the square to hear what was going on, a concert of popular quiet ballads. Now they just see in the distance a lone figure in the center of the Square trying to sing loudly acoustically and maybe wrongly puts some off entering the Square , especially after letters like Mr. Morgan's rubbish.
However, many others and I enjoyed the impromptu concert on Saturday evening of two classical guitarists from the guitar festival. Playing amplified at 10:45pm they filled the Square with tourists, forcing the few drunks who were previously there to go elsewhere, hopefully home. Just as happened with my amplified sets two years ago, though not so late. Crowds scare off undesirables.
The ban on my use of an amplifier is not only a ban that BH Morgan endorses, but helped me gain and has brought much attention to in his letters to The Chronicle. He has also tried by deceitfulness to tar my name, fortunately quite unsuccessful ly as I get much support from locals and the tourists who are enjoying my un-amplified set during the day and sometime evenings. Yet he recently wrote in complaining of the amplifiers of those playing streets away, and now of undesirables camping out in the empty square on evenings when I'm unable to raise an audience.
He seems not to realise he is now largely the victim of his own justice. Two years ago I performed a set of soft ballads regularly in the evening in the Abbey Square, using by his admission, a mode st amplifier. I was quite new to the area and found it difficult to get a day pitch in the square. I generally waited until other buskers had gone and played the two squares during the evening to the 10pm deadline. None of the other regular buskers fan c ied venturing out in the evening, largely due to the perceived problem of drunks, addicts and undesirables.
It gave me a chance to become established. I knew I was taking a risk with my personal safety, but I also had financial problems. I had though been a professional performer for 10 years and dealt with most situations. Instead I had the best summer of life.
I found my blend of ballads and humour kept large audiences of couples and families there and have photos and video to show it. BINK's cafe did good trade and the public benches were normally full. Some of my audience would then join the Ghost Tour, the one's who stayed were treated to an evenings concert of popular ballads. There's even with a comedy interval when the popular Bizarre Comedy Walk stops in the Square, when I always make way, unlike some other acts. Because once my evening set became popular 2 years ago, other acts began to give it a try, and at least gave some variety.
In busking in the evening I expected I would face the problem of drunks, and undesirables. Sometimes it's how you handle a situation. Drunks would often come round the corner singing loudly and more often then not would simply respectfully stop on seeing lots of people in the square, listening to my quiet ballads and they'd silently pass through the Square.
If they didn't and attempted to interfere, I'd normally switch to a sing-along like "American Pie" and they then would happily dance and sing along. The audience generally watches somewhat bemused and even joins in. Having a micro phone also makes prospective troublemakers realise I am capable of shouting for help and being heard a long way. My actions diffuse any trouble and normally it ends up with them throwing money in, thanking me then walking away merrily singing to the next pub and I returned to the my audience and ballads.
Sometimes the homeless people turn up on their way to Julian House Night Shelter, some drunk, some on harder substances. I then sing the "Streets of London" especially for them, allowing my audience to identify with these homeless people's real-life current problems and feelings. Again, these people have never have caused any serious problem for my audiences or me, other then attempts at begging .
I am pleased to say I have never been attacked in 3 years of regularly busking in the evening in Bath. Most of the regular beggars, addicts, homeless and Big Issue Sellers know me because like them, I work on the streets. They know I don't give them money, because they know I have my own financial problems, which is why I busk. Most of these people are seeking respect and prefer a "Sorry, No" to simply being ignored. They normally wave and shout a "Hi" when they see me around town and I shout "Hi" and wave back and occasionally we chat.
Letters like Mr. Morgan's only incite people to violence. I have no knowledge of the attack on any busker guitarist by four yobs, alleged seen by Mr. Morgan, this despite asking other busker colleagues and local traders if they'd seen or heard anything.
If true, it crosses my mind that someone might have attacked a guitarist/busker believing it to be me, incited by BH Morgan's letters. Full of misrepresentations of actual facts and downright lies about the Busker Code and me, often trying to label me a lawless troublemaker, rather then a popular act in Bath struggling against a ridiculous ban.
If the attack is untrue, call me a cynic, it could even be perceived as disguised incitement for someone to do this to me, or try to scare me from performing in the Square. For this reason I do agree with him on one aspect, and that is for an increased Police presence in the square, especially the evenings.
When an individual or group enter the Square looking troublesome, if there are only a few tourists there, the tourists quickly leave. It is hard to build an audience whe n this happens, yet a large audience detracts troublemakers. Many times a potential troublemaker has simply stopped in his tracks because they've suddenly realised that all eyes of my large audience is now on him.
The other evening two Policemen passed through the Square on two occasions while I was performing to a small audience. On the second occasion one seemed to make a beeline for me. Instead he promptly marched out the square a drunken yob that had just earlier approached me while I was playing and tried, unsuccessfully, to wind me up.
In fact I brought up this very subject of a higher Police presence in the Square with City Manager David Dixon several weeks ago. I even suggested that two uniformed officers outside the Pump Rooms would give a photo opportunity for tourists, added status to the Pump Rooms, and their sheer presence would deter undesirables entering the Square. And on-hand for any trouble in the nearby busy streets.
I also suggested busking be extended until midnight from June through to October. Possibly then some of the other acts might venture out in the warm summer evenings and attract the tourists back to the Square for some cheap evening entertainment without the threat of verbal and physical abuse from beggars and troublecausers. Including some foreign school children on trips and rugby away supporters, as well as undesirables.
Which presently is something all genuine buskers on the ground have to deal with on a day to day basis and are not helped by letters of such idiots as BH Morgan, who safely watches from his window two flights up.
If the square is now eerily quiet and dangerous in the evening , you only have yourself to blame. One wonders whatever possessed you to choose to live there, you are clearly not suited to living in a City center. Bath City center is paradise to most UK cities centers, which is why the tourists are attracted here. Even I chose to live in a quiet area of Bath rather then the City Center, which would be more convenient for me work wise.
I chose Bath because the risk of attack is far less then Bristol or Swindon and Bath has a tradition for busking over centuries, it's nothing new, nor are drunkenness and vagrancy and problems they can cause.City Manager Mr. Dixon though denied there were any real problems in the Abbey Square and simply smiled shaking his head at my idea of increased Police presence.
Interestingly though, he seemed to express to having no personal objection to me busking again with my amplifier in the evenings, agreeing it would maybe help solve the problem. But he didn't want to go over the Environmental Health Officers and 2 Magistrates heads that imposed the irreversible ban 21 months ago.
So the song remains the same, quiet and difficult to hear, so we all go home early. But strangely, BH Morgan's problems not only remain, but worsen!
Graham Walker AKA Grod Groddler "The Banned Busker of Bath", Bath. email:[email protected]
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