Department of unconventional economic indicators: Subway car busking
Further proof of the deteriorating economy: Intensifying competition among the buskers on moving subway trains in New York City. When I first came to New York five years ago, there was one regular mariachi band that prowled the F Train. I'd see them once or twice a week on my commute. They annoyed the living hell out of me.
I don't know if on-car subway acts are unique to New York. These performers don't just sit in a subway, where they would be asked to leave. They wander from car to car while the train is rolling. They often bring saxophones, or mics and boom box backtracks. The only reliably competent performers are the breakdancing kids who do backflips and hand spins on the moving train. One group on my line likes to "skip rope" with their little cousin, i.e., two guys grab his hands and feet and oscillate him like a jumprope while the fourth guy jumps over him.
These days, almost every subway ride involves some kind of unsolicited musical "entertainment." There were two acts competing for the same car on my ride to Penn Station: a blind guy with a white cane singing "If You Think I'm Sexy Baby" and a group of teenage breakdancers.
Things must be really bad in Brooklyn. In Manhattan, I never see any of them. Granted, I only take the subway for two stops, but even when I go to Midtown I don't see buskers, except sometimes on weekends. On weekdays the trains are way too crowded for people to move from car to car freely.
Posted by: Alon Levy | January 26, 2009 at 10:37 AM
Is the song "If You Think I'm Sexy Baby" based on the Rod Stewart song, "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?"
Posted by: Eric Jaffa | January 26, 2009 at 11:21 AM
These days, almost every subway ride involves some kind of unsolicited musical "entertainment." There were two acts competing for the same car on my ride to Penn Station: a blind guy with a white cane singing "If You Think I'm Sexy Baby" and a group of teenage breakdancers.
I have to agree with Alon. Even taking this description as hyperbole, it doesn't describe my experience on the subway. I rarely see buskers on the subway--and I ride mostly in Brooklyn.
Posted by: parse | January 26, 2009 at 11:56 AM
I see three-man Mexican guitar bands on the R train in Brooklyn. They're very well received, and are no longer a novelty.
A fair amount of guys and a few girls on the express platforms in , playing various instruments, usually acoustic but sometimes amplified.
Including traditional Chinese music with a stringed instrument.
Posted by: The Phantom | January 26, 2009 at 12:24 PM
I don't see that many performers on the trains - mostly I see them in the stations. I don't like the break-dancers - they are too noisy and they take up too much space, but I like the 'Saw Lady'at Union Square (she has a blog where she tells what happens when she plays in the subway: http://www.sawlady.com/blog )and the Japanese singer on the 'L' platforms.
Posted by: Michelle | January 26, 2009 at 01:00 PM
It can depend on the route: on trains that go over the Manhattan Bridge, the time between stops on each side is, uh, ideal (?) for squeezing in "The Odd Couple," "Pink Panther," and "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."
I used to hate the guy who brought his soprano sax and boombox on to the train for that point (90's). Ugh.
At least I never heard "You Light Up My Life" from any of these people.
Posted by: Frank | January 26, 2009 at 01:03 PM
I don't see that many performers on the trains - mostly I see them in the stations. I don't like the break-dancers - they are too noisy and they take up too much space, but I like the 'Saw Lady'at Union Square (she has a blog where she tells what happens when she plays in the subway: http://www.sawlady.com/blog )and the Japanese singer on the 'L' platforms.
Posted by: Michelle | January 26, 2009 at 01:04 PM
Break dancers on the trains are really bad news. One slip and a passenger gets hurt
Haven't seen that for a long time.
--
parse is right in that the vast majority of rides ( as per my experience ) will not involve musical accompaniment.
As far as I can tell, most passengers like it when the musicians board. They're not pushy. They get on, sing their tune, pass the hat, and poof, gone when the doors open at the next stop.
Posted by: The Phantom | January 26, 2009 at 01:26 PM
I got kicked in the head by a breakdancer at one point. I was cranky and told them to get off the train and wait until it wasn't rush hour so they could move around.
I commute on the A, for what it's worth, and am always annoyed by buskers, no matter how talented they are. I haven't noticed a drastic uptick in them, but I wouldn't be surprised, either.
Posted by: Stu | January 26, 2009 at 01:39 PM
The A train has a different set of visitors - I've many times seen people selling candy or AA batteries, things you don't see so much on other lines.
Posted by: The Phantom | January 26, 2009 at 02:05 PM
I was taking the 1/2/3 trains every day while I was living in Manhattan for a few months last year. Musical accompaniment was quite frequent, including on rides through Midtown. And I was aggressively panhandled almost daily.
(I still love the NYC subway for all its many faults.)
Posted by: Mandos | January 26, 2009 at 02:50 PM
I don't take the subway as much these days (bus instead), but I would see occasional in car performers on the orange line here in Boston. The T regulates in station performers to some extent, I don't know about in car ones.
Posted by: JohnL | January 26, 2009 at 02:50 PM
I see three-man Mexican guitar bands on the R train in Brooklyn. They're very well received, and are no longer a novelty.
One of these groups made me cry one day--not because they were bad, but because they were pretty good, I'd been drinking, and I'm a melancholy drunk.
Posted by: parse | January 26, 2009 at 04:36 PM
I haven't seen any such escalation in Atlanta but, then again, busking, public performance of any kind, even pan handling, requires a city permit and has restrictions attached.
Posted by: Thomas | January 26, 2009 at 04:43 PM
At least I never heard "You Light Up My Life" from any of these people.,
That’s because everyone knows that any district attorney would automatically classify the ensuing audience reaction as self-defense and/or justifiable homicide.
Posted by: cfrost | January 26, 2009 at 05:36 PM
To be more precise, the Mexican bands tend to include an accordian player, the rest playing guitar.
There's something wonderfully antique about them, and yes many are good - worth a tear.
I don't understand why some systems clamp down on this -- it's a really fun thing, and most of us like it.
Posted by: The Phantom | January 26, 2009 at 05:59 PM
Interesting -- I see subway car performers all the time both in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Also, I just was in Berlin and there are tons of buskers doing the same there.
Posted by: Matt | January 27, 2009 at 04:04 PM
I've seen on-subway buskers in Paris. They'll wait until the train starts moving before revealing themselves to the now-trapped audience. If I saw one getting on with a boombox (usually on a small, wheeled luggage cart), I'd hop off and get on the next car. They seemed to show up more on trains and subways with more tourists.
Posted by: Ranjan | January 27, 2009 at 04:26 PM
I think the overload is definitely to the right of the Brooklyn Bridge. I ride the F most every day, but pretty much just in Manhattan; I see one of the regulars maybe once per week. The simplest solution to them invading your headspace, as always: iPod earbuds...
Posted by: CT | January 29, 2009 at 12:48 PM
Boombox with loud music, or breakdancing which can injure in that confined space should be greeted with fines.
But then there's always this, which should always be encouraged.
Posted by: The Phantom | January 29, 2009 at 01:01 PM
busker photos taken in Times Square station
I wonder how many people to this for a living - or as a hobby / side job?
Posted by: The Phantom | January 30, 2009 at 09:50 AM
You may hate me for this, but I make it a point to give money to buskers, or even just panhandlers if I have a bit of cash on me. To me, it's part of living in this city. It gives us character and individuality. And there's some pretty awesome stationary buskers too. I once came across a guy playing Appalachian fiddle music.
I used to hate the mariachi guys. Now, I just smile at them and see them as people trying to make a living in America. More power to them - the people. You know, the huddled masses, yearning to breath free. Just consider me part of the welcome wagon. It's worth a few bucks a month to me to help these guys out.
Posted by: Josh Jasper | February 01, 2009 at 11:45 AM
Painfully precise point--
Not sure that anyone has seen mariachi bands in the subway
Mariachis wear dress clothing, and play horns, etc
What I have seen are guys in straw hats who play guitars and sometimes accordians
This is rustic informal music, not mariachi
Posted by: The Phantom | February 01, 2009 at 06:52 PM