The Didgeridoo Man

This weekend we played tourists in our own city (we like to do that sometimes) and discovered an amazing didgeridoo player in Seaport Village. The didgeridoo isn’t an instrument I think of very often, but whenever I hear one playing I’m mesmerized. I must not be alone, because a crowd gathered as soon as the man started playing.

His modest act captivated passersby. He sat behind his instrument in a small chair under an umbrella. Next to him stood an amplifier topped with a collection box for donations.

On each ankle he wore a thick bracelet of jingle bells, and an extra cluster of cow bells on one. One hand held an egg shaped shaker. In the other hand he held a short stick that he clacked against another on his thigh. That was the simple accompaniment to the echoes of the pipe. Long drones mixed with a combination of trills, clicks and growls called to mind the sounds of nature and the spirit of the landscape.

Besides the haunting music, the musician’s playful manner was welcoming. Every deposit in the collection box was met with a comical tip of the hat and a cartoony whistle, which delighted the kids in the audience especially. I noticed no one wanted to wander off without giving a grateful wave, which was returned with an equally appreciative one from behind the didgeridoo.

I found this short clip of him taken a couple of years ago by someone in Balboa Park. The sound on the video doesn’t do it justice, but you can get a sense of what the performance was like: