WSJPHOTOS | JAY LAMM
By JAY LAMM — editor@wsj30.com
After a late Friday afternoon downpour, it seemed the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow could be found at Las Margaritas in Wake Forest.
Not true said one street guitarist, who performs for tips.
Mark Abbott, a street musician, who plays most nights near the intersection of Wait Avenue and South Main Street for patrons of restaurants Bodega, Las Margaritas and the Burger Shoppe, said the rain kept people home.
“Not too many people downtown tonight because of the weather. And it made everyone who did come to eat, obviously sit inside,” said Abbott.
After a rain delay, Abbott came back out to play his guitar, but couldn’t compete with the band playing on top of Unwined, a wine and yoga shop about a block away.
“They were too loud. I couldn’t hear myself playing my guitar. I don’t know what it is going to be like when everything reopens and there will be three or four businesses with bands playing at once,” he said.
“If I had been twenty years younger, I probably would have picked up my amp, walked down the block and drowned them out with my guitar. But instead I just gave up.“
Between the rain and the loud music down the street, Abbott decided to pack up and go home.
“It’s not like I was going to retire off of what I made tonight.”
