How do people react to them?
I have been known to drop them a few coins, if only because I applaud the fact that they are doing something to try and get some money rather than just sitting in the street with an upturned hat and a sign. I have even been known to give money to a guy playing blues, a genre I don't like much, purely because I thought he was reasonably competent and didn't like the way some of the onlookers were treating him like shit.
BUT - they have to have a modicum of talent. I will scream if I hear one more wailing off-key rendition of "Wish You Were Here" or "Knocking On Heaven's Door." I have to get a certain amount of enjoyment from hearing them. It has to sound better than silence, or the sound of car horns and piped music from the shops.
The thing that is starting to bother me is this. It's becoming quite rare here to encounter a busker performing with just his voice and his own instrument ("his", because they are nearly always male). Most of the time they have some kind of sound box as well, and the problem is often that I have trouble figuring out how much of what I hear is recorded sound and how much is being produced on the spot by that guy with his guitar or whatever.
I used to regularly see a guy who used to sing, operatic kind of stuff. He played no instrument - the backing came from a couple of speakers that were positioned one on each side of him. invariably he would be in an alcove, such as a shop doorway, that enabled the sound to echo and amplify. The question was, was the singing also coming from the speakers? I would watch him for minutes at a time, trying to decide. At times I would be sure he was lip-synching; other times I would think "no, he's actually making those sounds." the way the sound echoed around the alcove made it very difficult to pinpoint the actual source, and made me suspect that was the reason he had chosen that location.
I almost never give money to street performers who have sound equipment set up. If I can see that it's just them and their instrument, then I might - they don't have to be Jeff Beck or Elton john, they just have to be decent to listen to. But I wish they would expand their repertoire. If I ever encounter a busker playing a Porcupine Tree song, I shall probably drop them a $20 note - after I recover from my shock.
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