beng
15 posts
Sep 29, 2009
4:46 PM
|
Hi everyone!
bit of a strange one this...so, i stood on the 4th plinth at Trafalgar Square and played my Harps for an hour. It would take too long to explain the whole thing, but to cut a long story short i stepped in at the last minute to fill and an empty slot...and the only thing i had in my bag was my G and A harps....
http://www.oneandother.co.uk/participants/Benjamin
i was very nervous...and forgot so much! i play the same few licks over and over, fluffed a bunch of notes, and obviously made a fool of myself. but i had one of the best nights of my life. it sags a bit in the middle, but picks up again at the end after i find my mojo!
anyway, this is my way of saying thanks for all the lessons, Adam. I gave modernbluesharmonica.com a mention right at the very end!
i'm feeling great - it was an amazing experience. and, well...if you give me the benefit of the doubt, I think i came close to finding a nice groove here and there :)
enjoy
ben
|
bluemoose
70 posts
Sep 29, 2009
4:53 PM
|
hummm...looks interesting Ben but it starts to load and then blows up FireFox. I'll try it later from home.
b.
Last Edited by on Sep 29, 2009 4:53 PM
|
Ant138
140 posts
Sep 30, 2009
12:11 AM
|
Great job dude, it looks like you had alot of fun up there, good harpin too!!!
----------
|
harmonicanick
391 posts
Sep 30, 2009
1:21 AM
|
well done Ben!
Looked pretty lonely up there, but you controlled your nerves well, you took your time and then yes you found a groove.
Were there a lot of people around apart from Nelson? The camera does not show
|
DaDoom
128 posts
Sep 30, 2009
1:27 AM
|
Great playing man! But never pick up the phone when you're playing harp :)
|
tookatooka
566 posts
Sep 30, 2009
1:45 AM
|
Well done Beng. Great job. Living art.
----------
|
GermanHarpist
637 posts
Sep 30, 2009
1:52 AM
|
The ultimate busking experience, I'd say!
----------
germanharpist on YT.
|
beng
16 posts
Sep 30, 2009
3:30 AM
|
thanks guys, I really appreciate the feedback. It's quite a full on 'first video' to post! It was certainly the ultimate busking experience. although thankfully no one pelted me with coins. it was really spontaneous. I was in town to buy myself some empty cigar boxes from Charing Cross road to make a stomp box, and decided to pop into the national gallery whilst i was near by. My friend works for the organisers of the plinth project so i popped my head into the office to say hi. next thing i know, the 9pm person pulls out...and she asks if i want to go on. I had my A, my G (suzuki bluesmasters) and some cigar boxes with me...so i figured i should just give it a go. I was trying to play loudly for the crowd, so i didn't pay much attention to the subtleties. If i'd thought more about the mic i had on and the video i might have taken my time and settled in a bit better. There was a small but vocal crowd who wanted entertaining, so i fell into my comfort zone all too often. I've been watching Adam for just over a year, and this whole thing confirms once again that you should always carry a harp with you. You never know where the day might take you...
Last Edited by on Sep 30, 2009 3:32 AM
|
Kingley
384 posts
Sep 30, 2009
4:22 AM
|
Sounds cool! Glad you enjoyed it and had fun.
Maybe you should get a battery powered amp and hit the streets of London now! :-)
|
beng
17 posts
Sep 30, 2009
9:01 AM
|
i bought a vox da10 a few days ago actually - i'm heading down to the southbank with my friend Tom on guitar to give busking a go...i reckon if i've done it on the plinth, it's not gonna get much more daunting
|
beng
18 posts
Oct 02, 2009
8:31 AM
|
Sky Arts called and asked if they feature my harp playing on their weekly round up show. So, if you get sky arts it's on at 7pm tonight. They asked me if the stuff I was playing was all original compositions....I told them that as much as I'd love to take credit for the 12 bar blues shuffle, it's likey I ripped off every note in blew
|
kudzurunner
729 posts
Oct 02, 2009
6:49 PM
|
I'm proud of you. You've more than done your part to keep the spirit of the instrument alive. Send me your email address and I'll send you a link for a free download of my Nat Riddles "El Cafe Street Live!" album.
Good tone. Nice vocals, too.
Are those two empty bottles of Heineken?
|
djm3801
227 posts
Oct 02, 2009
7:58 PM
|
Wow. Takes guts and you did well. Trafalgar square is a really neat place. I would have been scared just to be up there, let alone to perform. Congrats on your performance.
|
ElkRiverHarmonicas
263 posts
Oct 02, 2009
8:37 PM
|
brings back some memories... I was in Trafalgar Square once. There were five bazillion pigeons in it. What I thought was really weird, I was walking around and there's this statue of George Washington, which stood on soil imported from Virginia. I thought that was a very interesting juxtaposition.
----------
www.elkriverharmonicas.com
|
wheezer
106 posts
Oct 03, 2009
8:59 AM
|
Dave@elkriver,
Trafalger Sq. had been taken over that day by the U.S. film crew who were shooting scenes from the film where the U.S. forces captured the Enigma code machine from the Germans during WW11.
|
ElkRiverHarmonicas
269 posts
Oct 03, 2009
4:30 PM
|
Wheezer,
?
Dave;)
P.S. If the Germans were hiding the enigma machines in Trafalgar Square, no wonder the british broke the code so fast. ;)
----------
www.elkriverharmonicas.com
Last Edited by on Oct 03, 2009 4:31 PM
|
