Category equipment dork

I arrived on Nicollet mall at about 4:30 and headed towards Peavey Plaza
I thought it might be a good spot because of the outdoor concerts that were going on
It turned out not to be for several reasons
For one, no one was tipping at all (after walking further down the street, I saw lots of people getting tipped)
Secondly, I guess the city didn’t want me competing with a major event because just after the band started oplaying, a cop car pulled up and a woman got out with a book of tickets in her hand
I didn’t even let her get the words out of her mouth before I told her “I am packing up and leaving right now”
She asked me if I had a permit and I told her that I had looked for one online and couldn’t any mention of one
I had also asked several cops on my multiple visits about it and none of...

Just posted a vid of the new concept I have for a drumkit
This lighter concept will allow me to tour more freely in a smaller vehicle

Here is a video of my firdt attempt at busking on Nicollet Mall
I had a good time and worked out some bugs

Hopefully, it will be nice next weekend and i will be able to do it again

One of my biggest  barriers has been the sheer amount of equipment that it takes to do what I do
Playing a show is literally a full days work
2 hours of breaking down and packing the performance setup into The Van
1 hour of waiting around the club for someone to let me in
2 hours of unloading into the club and setting up (usually not including a torturous sound check)
30/45 minutes  to perform (usually for 3 people and the sound guy)
2 more hours of breakdown and packing back into The Van 
45 Minutes of lading from The Van to the house
It’s been a while since I played a gig that made any of this worth it so I stopped for a while
The idea of touring by myself  isn’t very practical either

The idea of a mini-kit came from trying to figure out how to get to Japan
I needed a compact dru...