Worst and best busker?

loser2old4board

[QUOTE= Johnny Massacre RIP 2003[/QUOTE]

There is a nice plaque in memory of him up over the barber shop.
The location is fitting, because it would have been at eye level for him
while doing his act on the unicycle, but most people don't see it at street level.

ciano1

loser2old4board wrote: »

There is a nice plaque in memory of him up over the barber shop.
The location is fitting, because it would have been at eye level for him
while doing his act on the unicycle, but most people don't see it at street level.

Never saw him myself in person but there are videos!
What happened him?

aido179

In This Thread: Attack and criticize musicians with the balls to at least try to play in front of a crowd.

ಠ_ಠ

The only people that should be criticized are the romanis. Bring down the look of the city, add nothing to our society and rape your ears as you walk past.

I have seen most of the buskers you guys have mentioned (having done a small amount of busking myself, I try to pay attention to them) and most of them are not as bad as you guys make out. Board shorts I think would have a much better voice if he didn't try to sing as loud.

I also agree that anyone with an amp (regardless of instrument) should be fined. The street is not the place for an electric guitar IMHO.

loser2old4board

ciano1 wrote: »

Never saw him myself in person but there are videos!
What happened him? ]

He passed away in 2003 as a result of a car accident.

inisboffin

Don't ban amps, ban excessive loudness. You don't need an amp for a bad brass band or drum circle. Decibel meter use has been mentioned a bunch of times on here. Apply it to the loudspeakers from shops too. In London Underground buskers (used to at least) have to audition.

littleteapot

I think there should be a time limit as to how long a busker is allowed to stay in one spot. All of the buskers I mentioned in my list have a tendency to stay all day long, and all are really loud. It's just not fair on those who have no choice but to stay and listen.

ArtyC

All for buskers but Girl warbling caledonia with a very loud amp right now is ruining a lovely coffee break outside mccambridges. Wouldn't be moving as fast if she were acoustic

inisboffin

ArtyC wrote: »

All for buskers but Girl warbling caledonia with a very loud amp right now is ruining a lovely coffee break outside mccambridges. Wouldn't be moving as fast if she were acoustic

That the English girl with dark hair? She is a bit loud. You could always ask her to turn it down a bit, the nice ones do

ArtyC

inisboffin wrote: »

That the English girl with dark hair? She is a bit loud. You could always ask her to turn it down a bit, the nice ones do

Blonde girl. Never seen her before.... Here for the week is guess!

kraggy

Seaneh wrote: »

John_Rambo wrote: »

Is that the story there? We have them in Dublin too, more synthesizers, backing tracks and amps than a small Pink Floyd gig, all decked out in native American gear. They sometimes have Irish women groupies too, they look ridiculous.

Not native american, they are either Quechua or Aymara, probably Quechua, I've chatted to a few of them, all of them have been peruanos.

Nice lads really.

Quechua are Native Americans.

Seaneh

kraggy wrote: »

Quechua are Native Americans.

Yes, they are native to South America, but in general when people say native american they mean Quechan, Cherokee Nation‎, Navajo Nation etc, not Peruvian, Bolivian, etc.

Iwannahurl

littleteapot wrote: »

Is that the guy with the longish hair and the suit? He's a really sweet lad, not the full shillin' if ya get me. He's supposed to be quite a good artist though. He's in shopping where I work a lot.

My least favourite buskers are as follows:
1. Clodagh whatsername with the backing track and the moooooaaaning. Every feckin day lately. And who do you think you aaaare running round leavin scaaaaars collectin your jar of hearts.... ugh FML
2. The black bongo drummer. He's so rude and it's relentless.
3. Saxophone guy who sits on the bollards.
4. That big band, with the brass section, who were there during the week. I think they only came for the arts fest though.
5. Panpipes.
6. Anyone with a didgeridoo or any other relentlessy noisy "instrument".
That's all I can think of for now.

Anyone know where I work yet?

If I get the right answer do I win a voucher for Eason or Boots?

Iwannahurl

aido179 wrote: »

In This Thread: Attack and criticize musicians with the balls to at least try to play in front of a crowd.

ಠ_ಠ

I have seen most of the buskers you guys have mentioned (having done a small amount of busking myself, I try to pay attention to them) and most of them are not as bad as you guys make out. Board shorts I think would have a much better voice if he didn't try to sing as loud.

I also agree that anyone with an amp (regardless of instrument) should be fined. The street is not the place for an electric guitar IMHO.

When it comes to musical performance in public places, I'm afraid balls, however impressive, are no substitute for well-tuned vocal cords or a musical ear.

Fair play to the buskers who have a go, but if they want to make a few bob or get noticed, it helps to have a modicum of talent. Failing that, when they've made enough money from busking, could they at least consider investing in something along these lines: http://www.tc-helicon.com/products/voicelive-play/

I walked up and down Shop Street today, and the worst places to be were in between certain buskers, where the cacophony was head-wrecking. Frank Din-atra was painful, though enthusiastic. The best of the lot was a girl quietly(!) and pleasantly playing the uileann pipes while sitting between Oscar and Eduard.

By the way, and while I think of it, is there any system for organising the buskers in terms of location and time? There was a guy with a banjo outside Una Taffe's former emporium, and he was still playing and singing away as a band was setting up behind him.

inisboffin

Iwannahurl wrote: »

By the way, and while I think of it, is there any system for organising the buskers in terms of location and time?

It would take a bit of organising. London Underground has an elaborate online reservation system for buskers. Most of the regular buskers try to rotate spots if they play longer - but the 'prime' spots are snapped up in the summer, so people hang on to them when they get them I think.
Some buskers only know a few songs and sing for drink money, others have hours of music it's a big part of their income, some 'summer' buskers travel Europe using it as their wage.
A rotational system would be great for everyone, buskers and punters alike IMO but frankly, I can't see Galway City Council taking the initiative to mark pitches and manage it like in some places

Sponge Bob

The City has an Arts officer, they should run a bylaw that allows him to clear the talentless and unpleasant ones off the street.

We only need to get rid of the worst 10% of them or so. Most are excellent or perfectly acceptable. My pet hate is the idiot in High Street with the cardboard guitar.

dharma200

yeah, not only was Johnny Massacre one of th ebest buskers ever, he was one of the nicest people ever. I was with him when he swallowed his first sword, will never forget.

Also I have to say he was instrumental in making sure there was some sort of organisation within the local buskers, time slots etc. He was also avidly opposed to the local goons in the council having any sort of say on street entertainment.... there were alot of people representing him in the 2003 protest at council busildings over licensing for buskers.

Some buskers migh tbe pretty bad... but usually they do move on. It is busker protocol to move on after a cetain amount of time. Also alot of it is subjective. I might be a moron but I actually giggle every time I see pling plonk man... he is perhaps one of the more original guitar busking acts on the streets of galway, and he is a regular, coming to galway for as long as I remember.

I personally hate bongos, didjeridoos, and loud amplified mariah carey like vocal stuff. i also personally dont find human statues to be as awe inspiring as many people. I feel baloon makers have something about them that I wont say here, and those dudes pretending to play the pan pipes hilarious.

They all luckily can do there thing on shop street and thereabouts.... without it all walking the streets of Galway on a sunny day would be ****e.

R.I.P Johnny though. The truest friend and gentleman you could ever wish to meet. I miss him everyday x

inisboffin

Ah Mr. Plinky Plonk is only here one week or two a year, and he does give back to the community in the Macnas Parade.:D

Iwannahurl

inisboffin wrote: »

It would take a bit of organising. London Underground has an elaborate online reservation system for buskers. Most of the regular buskers try to rotate spots if they play longer - but the 'prime' spots are snapped up in the summer, so people hang on to them when they get them I think.

Some buskers only know a few songs and sing for drink money, others have hours of music it's a big part of their income, some 'summer' buskers travel Europe using it as their wage.

A rotational system would be great for everyone, buskers and punters alike IMO but frankly, I can't see Galway City Council taking the initiative to mark pitches and manage it like in some places

dharma200 wrote: »

It is busker protocol to move on after a cetain amount of time. Also alot of it is subjective. I might be a moron but I actually giggle every time I see pling plonk man... he is perhaps one of the more original guitar busking acts on the streets of galway, and he is a regular, coming to galway for as long as I remember.

My brother lived in Berlin for a while quite a few years ago, and availed of a highly-organised busking system on the U-Bahn. His MO was to learn a single song and a few guitar chords (in his case Knockin' on Heaven's Door), get on the train, play the song in one carriage, collect a few bob, then get off at the next station and work the next carriage. There would be buskers doing the same thing in front and behind him.

Mr Plinky Plonk can only be funny once, so I guess his longevity is due to the fact that there are so many first-time visitors to High Street. Those who wish he'd go away could encourage him by giving him cardboard "money"...

inisboffin

Iwannahurl wrote: »

My brother lived in Berlin for a while quite a few years ago, and availed of a highly-organised busking system on the U-Bahn. His MO was to learn a single song and a few guitar chords (in his case Knockin' on Heaven's Door), get on the train, play the song in one carriage

Busking on the trains in the London Underground is illegal now. There are 'pitches' marked with music notes, and you have to reserve them. Here's the link. It's different in other countries, and also people break the rules The 'system' on LonUn is pretty impressive though, and has a huge waiting list.

weirdtodamoon

I like Seamus the knacker dwarf.

Mrs OBumble

Sponge Bob wrote: »

The City has an Arts officer, they should run a bylaw that allows him to clear the talentless and unpleasant ones off the street.

We only need to get rid of the worst 10% of them or so. Most are excellent or perfectly acceptable. My pet hate is the idiot in High Street with the cardboard guitar.

But he's my favourite - and he never hurts anyone's ears.

And this (plus the rumour that plinky-plonk man is related to someone big in the Arts Festival world) is why the Arts Officer (who doesn't necessarily know a thing about music) wouldn't be silly enough to take on that role.

Iwannahurl

And if he did he might be branded a plonker.

thesandeman

Plink Plonk only does it for the craic. The Arts Fest is his holiday. He has/had a proper job in the UK and if he has retired he will be on a good pension. The busking is his way of keeping him occupied during the day.
JustMary is correct that he is related to somebody involved with the Arts Fest but that's just another reason for him to come to visit.
He actually kept a lower profile than usual this year. Only met him a few of the nights in his usual spots.