Amplified buskers

the beer revolu

OK, it probably me being an old fart but is anyone else sick of really loud, amplified buskers?

Some of them play at gig volumes. Those rebel, folky balladeer are ridiculously loud - I could still hear them playing outside BT from the bottom of Patrick's Hill, one day.
Then there are all these karaoke singers with microphones and backing tracks. Please go on x factor and leave me in peace with your 'great voices' and excessive volume.
Many really loud singer songwriters with plugged in acoustic guitars and amped up, reverbed voices. Book a gig, please.

And don't start me on that fella with his ginormous drawing taped to the footpath and his crap music blaring.

They're all just too loud. Unnecessarily loud.
I like music and I like buskers but the availability of cheap, portable amps is turning the city into a blaring, crap gig. If I want to hear loud, amplified music I will go to a gig.

There are, of course, some buskers that use amplification as in integral part of their sound and play at a reasonable volume.
Harmonica player, blues acapela guy, guy with trumpet, guitar and loop pedal and others play interesting stuff at reasonable volumes. I like the guy with the piano.

So, anyone else sick of the really loud, (imo) crap buskers (some are quite good, just way too loud)? Or am I the only cranky old fart?

Oasis1974

Wasn't Allie Sherlock busking in Cork for a while I mean look at the calibre of her. I reckon all the good ones are in Dublin now we're left with junkies looking for fix money.

the beer revolu

Oasis1974 wrote: »

Wasn't Allie Sherlock busking in Cork for a while I mean look at the calibre of her. I reckon all the good ones are in Dublin now we're left with junkies looking for fix money.

While that youngster clearly had some talent, I don't want to be subjected to her semi professional gigs on the street. She was way too loud, imo, for a busker.

Mardyke

I'd tend to agree. There should be no amps allowed.

Also, those religious freaks should be banned from the streets. Nutbags.

whisky_galore

Legalised begging imo.

ofcork

There is a youngfella always around now sings to backing tracks I agree though they are loud must be annoying working in a shop listening to that.

Oasis1974

Better off going the Dublin root with licences and 1 hour time limits bring the lot of them down to earth.

_Kaiser_

Was wandering around the town yesterday myself and noticed this alright.. Don't ask me for street names (I'm a regular visitor, not a local) but from the park where Hillbillys is on one side to the other end where the Bus station is there was practically one on every junction - guy with a sax playing Jazz (not bad to be fair), some lad with a guitar, bunch of students wailing Californication - way too much!

The Jesus freaks on Patrick Street and the massive 1916 drawing (with rebel music) outside Brown Thomas seem to be a regular feature as well.

Hangdogroad

ofcork wrote: »

There is a youngfella always around now sings to backing tracks I agree though they are loud must be annoying working in a shop listening to that.

That tall skinny fella with the beard?

steinbock123

Well I’m just back from London where the place is infested with them. On the tube, they play in the tunnels leading to the platforms, the amplification is so bad ,as in high, that I had to hold my ears passing some of them. It’s made worse by the arched ceiling and confined space. Don’t get me started on backing tracks being used. I thought that the point of busking was to show off your own talents, not those of a recorded band !!!
Ban all amplification and backing tracks immediately I say. If you can’t entertain a crowd with your own talent in its natural state , be that singing or playing, you should give it up as a career choice.

Nigel Fairservice

I don't mind so much if they're good. I saw a guy very recently who was excellent. He was playing acoustic guitar where Winthrop street meets Patrick Street.

Not too fond of the the opera guy. Don't think opera guy is plugged in, just has a very loud voice.

Oasis1974

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yxevUvfdBo

Peatys

Mardyke wrote: »

I'd tend to agree. There should be no amps allowed.

Also, those religious freaks should be banned from the streets. Nutbags.

I don't like seeing them either, but priests and nuns have to get around somehow

mean gene

The guy outside brown Thomas who brings a rolled up poster and sticks it on the ground and starts pencilling around it as if he just painted it -music blaring
I find this so annoying and wonder how he gets away with it

the beer revolu

mean gene wrote: »

The guy outside brown Thomas who brings a rolled up poster and sticks it on the ground and starts pencilling around it as if he just painted it -music blaring
I find this so annoying and wonder how he gets away with it

I always want to walk across his sh1te chalk drawing but I don't want to get into fisticuffs on Pana!

Hangdogroad

mean gene wrote: »

The guy outside brown Thomas who brings a rolled up poster and sticks it on the ground and starts pencilling around it as if he just painted it -music blaring
I find this so annoying and wonder how he gets away with it

He's been doing that for years. I remember him "painting" the Titanic when the movie came out and that was over twenty years ago.

zilog_jones

I thought there was talk a few years back about imposing rules on amplifiers? I guess that never happened. I'm fine with ones that don't use them.

seefin

mean gene wrote:

The guy outside brown Thomas who brings a rolled up poster and sticks it on the ground and starts pencilling around it as if he just painted it -music blaring I find this so annoying and wonder how he gets away with it

Never saw him setting up. If gave it any thought, assumed he had actually done the painting there. Feel totally conned now.

Twenty Grand

Oasis1974 wrote: »

Funny busker in Cork

I really don't think that's Cork...

Hangdogroad

Twenty Grand wrote: »

I really don't think that's Cork...

I'd say OP googled funny buskers in Cork and randomly picked it without watching it.

ofcork

Hangdogroad wrote: »

That tall skinny fella with the beard?

This guy is only 15 or 16 id say only seen him the last few months in vicinity of opera lane.

uptherebels

Mardyke wrote: »

I'd tend to agree. There should be no amps allowed.

Also, those religious freaks should be banned from the streets. Nutbags.

Imagine working in a hotel and trying to move them on from outside the property at two in the morning. (Buskers with amps, no religious freaks thankfully)

the beer revolu

An update on this.

The guy with the big chalk drawing has been replaced by two guys selling laminated prints.

Obviously, the best way to sell cheap "art" is to dress up as leprechauns, play high volume pop music and bang spoons-like instruments on your knees.

What does this add to the streetscape?

They cause serious noise pollution.
Create an obstruction on the path.
I assume they don't pay vat or income tax.
I assume the prints are unlicensed bootlegs.

Why are they allowed to set up an illegal shop on the street? I really don't understand this.

I'd understand a blind eye being given to some person quietly selling their wares, tucked out of the way..... but these guys??


Still plenty of "way too loud" buskers around, imo too. Some are quite accomplished performers - just way, way too loud. If I walk around the corner from a busker, I don't expect their sound to follow me and keep following me for minutes.

With people forced to queue for shops and dine outdoors, these performers can be extremely intrusive.

Level 42

the beer revolu wrote: »

An update on this.

The guy with the big chalk drawing has been replaced by two guys selling laminated prints.

Obviously, the best way to sell cheap "art" is to dress up as leprechauns, play high volume pop music and bang spoons-like instruments on your knees.

What does this add to the street scape?

They cause serious noise pollution.
Create an obstruction on the path.
I assume they don't pay vat or income tax.
I assume the prints are unlicensed bootlegs.

Why are they allowed to set up an illegal shop on the street? I really don't understand this.

I'd understand a blind eye being given to some person quietly selling their wares, tucked out of the way..... but these guys??


Still plenty of "way too loud" buskers around, imo too. Some are quite accomplished performers - just way, way too loud. If I walk around the corner from a busker, I don't expect their sound to follow me and keep following me for minutes.

With people forced to queue for shops and dine outdoors, these performers can be extremely intrusive.

hes one of them

opus

the beer revolu wrote: »

An update on this.

The guy with the big chalk drawing has been replaced by two guys selling laminated prints.

Obviously, the best way to sell cheap "art" is to dress up as leprechauns, play high volume pop music and bang spoons-like instruments on your knees.

Spotted & heard that carry on earlier, wonder what audience they think they are appealing to?

corks finest

Level 42 wrote: »

hes one of them

Must drive the poor shop workers barmy,live next door to a guy with issues who used until a few months ago blared all kinds of crap sometimes for 5/8 hours regularly, from rap, traffic reports to country, constantly roaring banging and hopping channels , but he’s got an excuse, noise pollution in town isn’t on

Hangdogroad

That rebel ballad/folk bunch outside Debenham get on my wick. They have the same prerecorded backing drum track to every single song. Don't get me started on those two gobshytes dressed as leprechauns with the spoons. Isn't one of them the guy who was doing the "paintings" for years at the same spot.

Edit: just saw comments confirming its him

Level 42

Hangdogroad wrote: »

That rebel ballad/folk bunch outside Debenham get on my wick. They have the same prerecorded backing drum track to every single song. Don't get me started on those two gobshytes dressed as leprechauns with the spoons. Isn't one of them the guy who was doing the "paintings" for years at the same spot.

Edit: just saw comments confirming its him

they are a pain in the hole those guys as is the old fella down one of the side streets off pana -I dont want to listen to their crap music

2 young fellas outside brown thomas yesterday one with electric guitar other with drums just pure rubbish noise i had a pain in my head as I walked by

iffandonlyif

+1 from Dublin. Mediocre buskers the length of Grafton Street, all amplified, because if any weren’t they’d be swamped by the noise of the others.

Some people must love it, because they generate a circle of people around them, obstructing one of the busiest streets in Dublin. But I find it an incredibly artificial experience to be continually leaving one busker’s bubble of sound and entering the next. I’d rather hear city noise.

Cork-export Allie Sherlock now sings there, too. Her contingent leaves a microphone and camera on the ground and has several industry-sized gear cases lined up behind her. That’s a mini gig in the street (from which she earns thousands on YouTube) and simply should not be allowed.

TheChizler

Never noticed how loud buskers were before reading this thread, was in town yesterday and it's all I noticed, thanks guys!

banoffe2

Would love to hear Cuan Durkin or Allie Sherlock how would I know day and time to hit Grafton St, is is always Saturday

Herb Powell

I mean.........this really just strikes me as things to be expected in a city?

I'd much rather live in a place where people are free to do this than a hyper-restricted approach. Rarely do I enjoy the buskers but that's not really the point.

Just walk on and get over it surely? I think ye're all being a bit dramatic/precious about it, honestly.

https://www.galwaydaily.com/news/buskers-slam-busking-bylaws/
It was restricted in Galway in certain areas.
Not sure how it is playing out since then.

zilog_jones

A lot of them are unnecessarily loud. Many do not need amplifiers at all.

And there are people with hearing and other issues who can't just "get over it" - they shouldn't have to put up with this every time they go into the city centre.

the beer revolu

Herb Powell wrote: »

I mean.........this really just strikes me as things to be expected in a city?

I'd much rather live in a place where people are free to do this than a hyper-restricted approach. Rarely do I enjoy the buskers but that's not really the point.

Just walk on and get over it surely? I think ye're all being a bit dramatic/precious about it, honestly.

It's not the existence of buskers that annoys me, it's the fact that the average volume is multiples of what it was 10 or so years ago.

Prior to the cheap availability of good portable amplification, I thought buskers absolutely added to the atmosphere of any city, whether I personally likes them or not.
No they are just noise pollution, imo.

Herb Powell

I get you, and I didn't know how to frame my point without looking combative/smarmy, promise that's wasn't what I was going for.

I just find it's very fleeting. Amplified as they may be, they're no louder than a car generally, which we've no bother with. I'm not sure if it's reasonable to be going into a city expecting a low level of noise, that's all, and they're definitely limited to a few spots in my experience.

the beer revolu

Herb Powell wrote: »

I get you, and I didn't know how to frame my point without looking combative/smarmy, promise that's wasn't what I was going for.

I just find it's very fleeting. Amplified as they may be, they're no louder than a car generally, which we've no bother with. I'm not sure if it's reasonable to be going into a city expecting a low level of noise, that's all, and they're definitely limited to a few spots in my experience.

I didn't take it that way at all. I know that there are things that really get to people that don't bother me in the slightest - we all have different buttons.

I suppose my point is that with current common volume levels, it's not fleeting at all you can often heat the one busker for several hundred meters. My op, tells of being able to hear that awful ballad group at the Start of McCurtain Street when they were playing outside Brown Thomas.

Comparing the volume level of some of these buskers to a car driving in the city is miles off the mark. If buskers were playing at the volume of passing cars, I never would have started this thread. The volume is usually multiples of the noise from a passing car.

To be clear, I would not like to see busking banned but I think it's come to the stage that we seriously need some volume control.
I completely get it that others don't agree and that it makes me look like an old fart.

Thing is, I am very into music and I play in a band. I like to play noisy and loud. However, I wouldn't, in a million years, inflict my noise on anyone who didn't actively chose to listen to it.

Meursault

I was in the city centre last Friday. Lovely day and nice atmosphere around the place. As I approach BT and the site where Debenhams used to be, I see two characters dressed up in cheap leprechaun suits, one of them hammering the daylights out of a tambourine while some awful music is being blasted out through an amplifier. To say it was cringeworthy is a gross understatement. They were flogging some pictures.

This is not busking. It is an embarrassment.

Further up the street, nearer to Marks and Spencers, there's a traditional band, again blaring the trad music while playing along to it with a full live set up - amps, mics, etc.

I guess these lads could play at least but it was like a stand off with the characters down by BT, with one group trying to drown out the racket from the other group.

If I was one of the retailers on that end of Patrick St, I would lose my mind, I think.

I'd love to know who supports these "buskers"

I appreciate that musical tastes are relative, and we all have our opinions, but regardless of what is being played, surely the standard could improve before they decide to inflict their tastes on everyone else.

Meursault

the beer revolu wrote: »

An update on this.

The guy with the big chalk drawing has been replaced by two guys selling laminated prints.

Obviously, the best way to sell cheap "art" is to dress up as leprechauns, play high volume pop music and bang spoons-like instruments on your knees.

What does this add to the streetscape?

They cause serious noise pollution.
Create an obstruction on the path.
I assume they don't pay vat or income tax.
I assume the prints are unlicensed bootlegs.

Why are they allowed to set up an illegal shop on the street? I really don't understand this.

I'd understand a blind eye being given to some person quietly selling their wares, tucked out of the way..... but these guys??


Still plenty of "way too loud" buskers around, imo too. Some are quite accomplished performers - just way, way too loud. If I walk around the corner from a busker, I don't expect their sound to follow me and keep following me for minutes.

With people forced to queue for shops and dine outdoors, these performers can be extremely intrusive.

Just saw this post now. I'm glad I am not the only one who finds this sh*t annoying. I can't believe they are allowed to get away with it. That's Ireland though isn't it? Do what you like, and nevermind how it impacts anyone else.

Imagine these lads trying the same in Germany or France, or wherever. They wouldn't last two minutes before being moved on by the police

Dbu

That grey haired fella playing the guitar and pretending to be an opera singer has to be one of the really bad buskers in Western Europe

the beer revolu

Dbu wrote: »

That grey haired fella playing the guitar and pretending to be an opera singer has to be one of the really bad buskers in Western Europe

Oh and only relatively recently, he's gotten an amplifier!

TheChizler

the beer revolu wrote: »

Oh and only relatively recently, he's gotten an amplifier!

Didn't mind him before, thought he was a bit quirky. Now it's just noise.

Pen Rua

At the height of the pandemic where Tesco in Paul Street used to have queues outside, a busker would pitch up outside the Wetherspoons and blast away. The noise would ricochet between the buildings. I used to try call home while waiting the in the queue, an it was impossible to hold a conversation.

Hangdogroad

Dbu wrote: »

That grey haired fella playing the guitar and pretending to be an opera singer has to be one of the really bad buskers in Western Europe

The guy who sings with a bizarre yodelling falsetto?

corks finest

Pen Rua wrote: »

At the height of the pandemic where Tesco in Paul Street used to have queues outside, a busker would pitch up outside the Wetherspoons and blast away. The noise would ricochet between the buildings. I used to try call home while waiting the in the queue, an it was impossible to hold a conversation.

Only in dopey paddy land would this noise pollution be tolerated,buskers without amplifiers no problem but those using them just make noise

the beer revolu

Hangdogroad wrote: »

The guy who sings with a bizarre yodelling falsetto?

He had two 'acts'.

He does his operatic type singing with just a cane. I haven't seen him do this in a while. It's pretty funny.

His other act is a sort of charismatic singer songwriting where he strums an acoustic guitar and sings oddly. He seems to have acquired an amplifier for this endeavour.


Up unit his amp purchase, I didn't mind this guy - he was an odd bit of colour and character on the streets. But I guess if all the other buskers have amps, he needed one too!

Herb Powell

Amp might change the game with him alright!

I think the first time I came across him I was like WTF and was a bit annoyed but I can't stay mad at him. it's too funny.

the beer revolu

In an interesting development, a couple of Gardaí were going around telling buskers to turn down today.

Bit of a pointless exercise, really, because as soon as they are gone, the fcukers turn up again.

Dan Dare

Meursault wrote: »

Just saw this post now. I'm glad I am not the only one who finds this sh*t annoying. I can't believe they are allowed to get away with it. That's Ireland though isn't it? Do what you like, and nevermind how it impacts anyone else.

Imagine these lads trying the same in Germany or France, or wherever. They wouldn't last two minutes before being moved on by the police

I read somewhere that Syd Barrett and David Gilmour were busking in France before Pink Floyd existed, and were arrested and held for a few hours. Hmm.

Meursault

I know taste is subjective - even though the consensus here suggests that the buskers around cork aren't great, (to say the least), but surely the Gardai can step in when the amplifiers are turned up to 11.

They must be making some money, so somebody must like them, but the guys taking up all that space outside BT, who aren't even playing an instrument should be moved on, at least. They're a nuisance.

Hangdogroad

Bunch of fellas sometimes outside Dunnes on Pana usually on a Saturday, mostly all they're doing is playing folk ballad cds (not their own stuff, Jim McCann etc) while sitting around chatting and holding instruments that they never seem to play.