My friend Francis is a busking hero
And he explains one of the many benefits of real live musicians over piped-in sound:
"I may have saved a guy’s life while busking in the bus tunnel yesterday. He was old and threatening to fall backwards off an “up” escalator. He was keeled over on the handrail and his feet kept going up while the rest of him stayed in place. I didn’t see how he got into that predicament. His family was already at the top, unable to help him. I had to gently throw down my sitar (it’s REALLY hard to put a sitar down quickly!) and run up the escalator to catch him.
Tip your buskers, people! Canned music will just sit there and let you die."
"I may have saved a guy’s life while busking in the bus tunnel yesterday. He was old and threatening to fall backwards off an “up” escalator. He was keeled over on the handrail and his feet kept going up while the rest of him stayed in place. I didn’t see how he got into that predicament. His family was already at the top, unable to help him. I had to gently throw down my sitar (it’s REALLY hard to put a sitar down quickly!) and run up the escalator to catch him.
Tip your buskers, people! Canned music will just sit there and let you die."